Key facts
- A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from obtaining sensitive medical records from New York City healthcare institutions that provided gender identity care to minors.
- US District Judge Katherine Polk Failla issued a temporary restraining order barring investigators from obtaining the records.
- The judge found the government's interest did not outweigh the plaintiffs' interest in privacy.
- The ruling is seen as a blow to the administration's nationwide criminal investigation into gender identity care.
- A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging policies restricting police cooperation with federal immigration enforcement in four New Jersey cities.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from obtaining sensitive medical records from New York City healthcare institutions that provided gender identity care to minors in recent years. US District Judge Katherine Polk Failla issued a temporary restraining order, a significant blow to the administration’s ongoing nationwide criminal investigation into the provision of gender identity care.
Failla, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, provisionally certified a class comprised of individuals who had received care from a New York City provider over the past six years. She stated that the scope of information sought by the government, including medical assessments, diagnoses, and revelation of plaintiffs’ transgender status, is significant and warrants the strongest constitutional protection. The judge found that the government’s interest did not outweigh the plaintiffs’ interest in privacy, as she could not conceive of a crime that would require such a broad disclosure of sensitive medical information for an entire class of people over a six-year period.
The ruling comes as judges across the country have criticized the probe, with some appointed by presidents from both parties viewing it as an effort to pressure institutions to stop providing gender-affirming care, which is not illegal at the federal level but has been restricted in some Republican-led states. The subpoena issued to NYU Langone Hospitals through a federal grand jury in Texas sought documents sufficient to identify every patient who underwent sex-rejecting procedures and all related records, as well as parental authorizations for minors.
Parents of children who received treatments in New York City asked Failla to stop the records from being turned over, fearing disclosure could expose them to retaliation. NYU Langone stopped providing gender identity care for minors earlier this year after the Trump administration threatened to pull federal funding.
Separately, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice challenging policies adopted by four New Jersey cities that restricted police cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. U.S. District Judge Evelyn Padin in Newark ruled that the government's efforts to challenge laws and policies adopted by so-called "sanctuary jurisdictions" run by Democrats have faced a series of court losses.