D.C. Circuit vacates the transgender housing injunctions and remands for individualized findings

On April 17, 2026, the D.C. Circuit vacated the preliminary injunctions barring transfer of the plaintiff transgender women to men's prisons and remanded. The panel held plaintiffs have standing and acknowledged "ample evidence in the record to show individualized harms," but found the district court had erroneously rested relief on the categorical premise that transgender women in general must be housed in women's prisons rather than on plaintiff-by-plaintiff Eighth Amendment findings. The ruling reopened the possibility of transfers pending remand; the district court preserved interim protection on May 19, 2026 (through June 8, when the mandate would issue) and consolidated the three cases on May 13, 2026.