In Scathing Ruling, Judge Blocks DOJ from Obtaining Medical Data for Trans Youth

"“The United States Department of Justice ('DOJ') possesses immense prosecutorial authority and discretion. As citizens, we trust that federal prosecutors, when wielding this awesome power against a state, a company, certainly against vulnerable children, will play fair and be honest with its counterparts and the judiciary,” McElroy wrote."

"“DOJ has proven unworthy of this trust at every point in this case. It has misrepresented and withheld information to both this Court and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. It did so in an obvious effort to shield it's recent investigative tactics - previously rejected by every other court to review them - from this Court's review, in favor of a distant forum that DOJ deems friendly to its political positions. Its representatives have, under oath, misrepresented salient fact”"

"McElroy accused DOJ attorneys outright of “subterfuge,” found that a senior DOJ official had made sworn statements that were “at best, deceptive, if not intentionally and knowingly false,” and quashed the administrative subpoena in full."

"The case landed before McElroy after the Rhode Island Child Advocate - a statutory state office tasked with protecting children - filed an emergency motion accusing the DOJ of forum-shopping the subpoena to a friendly judge in Texas while lying about both its demands and the negotiating history with the hospital, keeping patients, the hospital, and the courts themselves in the dark."

A federal judge condemned Department of Justice lawyers for misrepresenting facts to multiple federal courts while seeking names and medical records of transgender youth at Rhode Island Hospital. The judge accused DOJ of subterfuge and found sworn statements by a senior DOJ official were deceptive or knowingly false. An emergency motion alleged DOJ forum-shopped the subpoena to a friendly judge in Texas while misrepresenting its demands and the negotiating history with the hospital, leaving patients, the hospital, and courts uninformed. The judge quashed the administrative subpoena in full and criticized DOJ for withholding and misrepresenting information to both the court and the Northern District of Texas, describing DOJ as unworthy of trust when acting against vulnerable children.

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