Johnson v. Sanders

Overview

(10th Cir., November 5, 2024): The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held against an incarcerated transgender woman whose hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was discontinued by staff upon her transfer to a new carceral facility in Oklahoma. The inmate was originally diagnosed with gender dysphoria and prescribed HRT while detained at the county jail and she continued this treatment when she initially transferred facilities. After subsequent transfers, however, the inmate had her diagnosis reversed by a prison psychologist and had her HRT treatment discontinued against her wishes. She brought a deliberate indifference claim under the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment against staff for discontinuing her HRT treatment. The district court held that prison staff did not act with deliberate indifference to the inmate’s serious medical needs and the appellate court affirmed. Transgender women’s access to medical care and safe facilities faces heightened uncertainty as a recent Executive Order by President Trump directs federal prisons to house transgender women in men’s prisons and ceases funding for any gender-affirming medical care for federal inmates. This Executive Order has been temporarily blocked after transgender inmates brought suit, but the case remains to be heard in federal court. Read the full 10th Circuit opinion in Johnson here. Read the District Court ruling on the Executive Order here.

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