Delaware, maryland ag's join 13-state coalition to keep biological men inside women's prisons

BALTIMORE, Md. — Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown joined 12 other state attorneys general this week in filing an amicus brief in Jones v. Bondi, urging a federal appeals court to uphold protections for incarcerated transgender individuals and preserve a block on a policy that would bar transgender women from being housed in women’s prisons.

The filing, submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, supports a lower court’s preliminary injunction against a Trump-era Bureau of Prisons (BOP) policy that eliminates staff discretion in determining housing assignments for transgender inmates.

The attorneys general argue that the Bureau’s reversal undermines the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), which Congress enacted in 2003 to mandate zero tolerance for sexual violence in prisons and to prioritize the development of standards for prevention and accountability.

Jane Jones, a transgender woman currently incarcerated, filed suit against the policy, and a lower court granted her a preliminary injunction blocking its implementation while her case continues. The Trump Administration appealed that decision.

“PREA’s protections are essential to the safety and security of transgender individuals and the prison population as a whole,” the attorneys general wrote in the brief, urging the appeals court to maintain the injunction.

The coalition contends that removing discretion from correctional staff will put transgender inmates at heightened risk and potentially violate their constitutional rights, stressing that housing decisions must consider individual safety, not blanket classifications.

The court has not yet scheduled oral arguments in the case.

Joining in submitting this brief were the attorneys general of California, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

New Jersey has not yet signed on to the matter.

State attorneys general push back against blanket federal prison policy they say puts transgender inmates at risk.

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