Judge weighs sanctions after Trump administration violates court order protecting trans prisoners

The Trump administration moved transgender women in federal custody into segregated housing despite a court order barring their transfer out of women’s facilities.

An attorney for the inmates told U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth that the administration had violated the court’s May order by moving the women into segregated units, according to the Associated Press. Lamberth is now considering how to enforce his injunction.

When Lamberth pressed Justice Department attorneys on whether the action violated his prior court order, administration attorneys said they had complied with the letter of the ruling.

Related: Federal officials force transgender women into men’s prisons despite judge’s ruling against Trump’s order

“Based on the words of your order, there was no violation,” Justice Department attorney Jared Littman said.

Justice Department officials argued that Lamberth’s prior order did not require the transgender women to be housed in the general population with other women and only prohibited their transfer to men’s facilities.

But attorneys for the transgender inmates challenging the administration’s policy say they should remain in the general population.

The case lists plaintiffs under “Jane Doe” pseudonyms and shields many of the briefs outlining the inmates’ specific circumstances from public view. But Lamberth has ruled in prior orders that the case can proceed as a class-action lawsuit and that transgender people constitute a legal class for the purposes of the case. That means the case could have far-reaching consequences for the treatment of transgender inmates nationwide.

Related: Court rules Trump can’t move transgender women to men’s prisons

Under President Donald Trump, the Justice Department has ordered transgender inmates to be housed in prisons based on their sex assigned at birth. Advocates say that policy directly violates provisions of the Prison Rape Elimination Act aimed at protecting transgender inmates from sexual abuse. The federal law was passed unanimously by Congress in 2003 following years of reported sexual violence in U.S. prisons.

Attorneys for the inmates say placing the women in segregated units violates the spirit of Lamberth’s order. They said the segregation had contributed to emotional distress and exacerbated depression tied to the women’s medically diagnosed gender dysphoria.

“This is a backdoor attempt to implement the executive order,” attorney Alexander Shalom argued in court. “The conditions are not in any way comparable to a women’s facility.”