Ninth Circuit Reverses Injunction Ordering Transgender Women to Oregon's Female Prison

On Thursday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a preliminary injunction that would have automatically transferred most transgender female felons in Oregon to the state’s only women’s prison. The injunction, issued by Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke in April, mandated placement “consistent with each person’s gender identity” absent a documented security justification and certified a class of transgender inmates.

The appellate panel, composed of judges Eric Tung, Daniel Collins and Lawrence VanDyke, criticized the lower court for disregarding contrary evidence and relying on outdated statistics. It highlighted Oregon’s existing case-by-case process, which includes medical assessment within 72 hours and a follow-up at 30 days, and noted that only eight of the 117 transgender women inmates are currently housed in the women’s facility.

The court also vacated the class certification, stating the alleged harms were not uniform enough to warrant class-wide relief. The case returns to the district court for further proceedings.