Federal Appeals Court Reviews Oregon Prison Policy for Transgender Inmates

In April, Judge Mark D. Clarke granted a preliminary injunction requiring Oregon’s Department of Corrections to presume placement of transgender women in prisons that correspond to their gender identity, unless a clear security justification existed. The ruling also provisionally certified a class of all transgender women in state custody and ordered the disclosure of their personal data. Oregon appealed, contending the order was vague, overreaching, and infringed on privacy statutes.

A federal appeals court temporarily blocked the injunction while reviewing the appeal, and oral arguments were heard before a three-judge panel appointed by President Donald Trump. The judges, particularly Lawrence VanDyke, pressed the plaintiffs’ attorney on the lack of evidence that transgender inmates desire transfers to women’s facilities. The case centers on two named plaintiffs, identified as “S.D.” and “J.F.”, with J.F. being Jessica Anne Marie Foust, a convicted rapist now classified as a vulnerable inmate who identifies as female. Additional class members include individuals known as “Z.Z.” and “L.B.”, both serving long sentences for violent crimes.