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Supreme Court Likely to Curtail Prisoners' Medical Care Lawsuits
Confirmed
In Short: The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could significantly restrict federal prisoners' ability to sue over claims of inadequate medical care.
The court’s most recent decision in 2022 rolled back Bivens claims, ruling that Border Patrol agents could not be sued. This case may further limit the scope of Bivens claims by nullifying the 1980 Carlson v. Green ruling.
The court’s decision could also impact transgender inmates, as it may prevent the Bureau of Prisons from implementing a policy that forbids hormone therapy and social accommodations for transgender prisoners.
Approximately 1,000 federal prisoners identify as transgender, and the Biden Justice Department had previously signaled that prisons must provide transgender-related medical care.
Lawyers for the Trump administration argued that the policy raised security concerns, while inmate lawyers contended that the policy would cause irreparable harm by denying necessary medical care.
The court also granted review in several other cases, including disputes over executive branch confidentiality, federal immigration law, and federal prisoners' rights to appeal convictions.
In June 2025, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked discovery orders related to these cases, directing lower courts to reconsider their scope.
Background
The Supreme Court has ruled that federal inmates seeking equitable relief must adhere to traditional equitable principles, which do not require a showing of harm.
What's confirmed
- The court’s most recent decision in 2022 rolled back Bivens claims, ruling that Border Patrol agents could not be sued. This case may further limit the scope of Bivens claims by nullifying the 1980 Carlson v. Green ruling.
- The court’s decision could also impact transgender inmates, as it may prevent the Bureau of Prisons from implementing a policy that forbids hormone therapy and social accommodations for transgender prisoners.
- Approximately 1,000 federal prisoners identify as transgender, and the Biden Justice Department had previously signaled that prisons must provide transgender-related medical care.
- Lawyers for the Trump administration argued that the policy raised security concerns, while inmate lawyers contended that the policy would cause irreparable harm by denying necessary medical care.
- The court also granted review in several other cases, including disputes over executive branch confidentiality, federal immigration law, and federal prisoners' rights to appeal convictions.
- In June 2025, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked discovery orders related to these cases, directing lower courts to reconsider their scope.
What's still developing
- The court heard oral arguments over a claim brought by a former federal prison inmate, Kekai Watanabe, who alleges he was denied medical treatment by officers at a Honolulu-based facility in July 2021 after he was beaten by other prisoners during a gang riot.
- Then, the justices said federal prison inmates could sue officials for deliberate indifference to their medical needs under the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment, which protects against cruel and unusual punishment.
- The outgoing governor can finalize roughly 40% of the commutations on his own, but the rest require approval from the California Supreme Court before his term ends in January.
- U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper granted most of the discovery requests, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declined to suspend his order.
- The court also granted review in Berry v. United States, involving the standards governing certificates of appealability in federal post-conviction proceedings.
- District Court for the District of Columbia, the justices will consider how much information federal courts can require from presidential advisory bodies when determining whether they are subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
- John Sauer argued that the courts had failed to adequately consider constitutional separation-of-powers principles and the Supreme Court’s previous instructions.
- The American Civil Liberties Union, which sued on behalf of three inmates, said the court should not “overturn a three decades-long status quo.” Since 1992, the Bureau of Prisons has “treated people with gender dysphoria with hormone therapy,” their lawyers told the court.