Rhode Island judge turns back Trump attack on trans kids
ACLU of Rhode Island
 |
| If they really cared about child welfare, the DOJ would release the Epstein files |
The decision comes after an emergency motion was filed last
week by attorneys for the Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island (LCRI)
and the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island (ACLU) on
behalf of Rhode Island’s Child Advocate. The DOJ’s request to enforce the
subpoena for these records was filed and approved, without opportunity for
response, by a judge in Texas, not Rhode Island, all in one day at the end of
April. [See: Child
Advocate seeks to block federal government subpoena for private medical records
of minors]
In quashing the subpoena, the judge stated that it “lacks a congressionally authorized purpose, was issued for an improper purpose, and demands the production of records that cannot be obtained consistent with the constitutional privacy rights of Rhode Island children.” The opinion notes that seven other courts across the country have quashed identical subpoenas issued to other providers of medical care for gender dysphoria.
The motion filed by the Child Advocate noted that the
medical records being sought by the subpoena “contain the most intimate details
imaginable: children’s mental health struggles, experiences with bullying or
discrimination, family dynamics, sexual development, gender identity, trauma
histories, suicidal ideation, and deeply personal conversations with physicians
and therapists.” The judge agreed that “DOJ’s request for intimate medical
details from one of this country’s most vulnerable populations constitutes a
drastic overreach of its investigative authority.”
During yesterday’s hearing and in her written decision,
Judge McElroy also made clear that she believes the DOJ misled the court by
failing to provide all the facts about the interactions between RI Hospital and
the DOJ before the subpoena was issued. She called “unsettling” the
“discrepancy between the honorable conduct expected of federal prosecutors and
DOJ’s tactics in this case.”
All major medical organizations recognize gender dysphoria —
which occurs when there is a conflict between the sex a person is assigned at
birth and the gender with which they identify — as a medical condition that can
cause significant distress and that appropriate medical care can effectively
treat, including in minors.
The motion to quash was filed on behalf of Child
Advocate Katelyn Medeiros by LCRI cooperating attorneys Kevin
Love Hubbard, Miriam Weizenbaum, and Amy Romero, and ACLU of RI
cooperating attorney Lynette Labinger.
A copy of the decision and case documents can be found here.
See also: In service to those we love, we must keep fascists separate from power
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