A Trump-appointed judge just handed his administration a bruising loss in its war against the trans community. What's bruising about it are her comments. She didn't just rule against the Trump Administration, she also accused its Department of Justice of misleading the court.
From The Advocate:
A federal judge appointed by President Donald Trump issued a blistering opinion Wednesday night, accusing the Trump administration’s Justice Department of "appalling" behavior, including misleading courts, manipulating the judicial system, and targeting transgender youth through what she concluded was an unlawful effort to obtain deeply sensitive medical records.
In a 24-page ruling, Rhode Island U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy quashed a federal subpoena seeking years of records connected to gender-affirming care for minors at Brown Health’s Rhode Island Hospital. She also barred the Department of Justice from obtaining, retaining, or disseminating identifying patient information tied to the subpoena. “The discrepancy between the honorable conduct expected of federal prosecutors and DOJ’s tactics in this case is unsettling,” McElroy wrote.
From the opening paragraphs, McElroy identified the case as a breakdown in trust between the judiciary and the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agency. “The United States Department of Justice (‘DOJ’) possesses immense prosecutorial authority and discretion,” she wrote. “As citizens, we trust that federal prosecutors, when wielding this awesome power against a state, a company, or certainly against vulnerable children, will play fair and be honest with its counterparts and the judiciary.” “DOJ has proven unworthy of this trust at every point in this case,” she continued.
. . . The Justice Department claimed the records were necessary for an investigation into possible violations of federal drug laws related to the off-label prescribing of puberty blockers and hormone therapy. But McElroy dismantled that legal theory in extraordinary detail, noting that federal courts, including the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, have long recognized that physicians may legally prescribe FDA-approved drugs for off-label uses. “The off-label prescribing conduct at the core of the DOJ’s theory is not illegal under the [Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act],” McElroy wrote. She concluded the subpoena “lacks a congressionally authorized purpose” and was issued “for an improper purpose in bad faith.”
. . . According to the ruling, Rhode Island Hospital had spent months negotiating with federal prosecutors over the subpoena’s scope and possible compliance. Yet while those discussions were still ongoing, DOJ attorneys quietly filed an enforcement action in the Northern District of Texas before Judge Reed O’Connor, a conservative jurist who has become a favored venue for Republican legal challenges. McElroy concluded the government intentionally concealed that move from the hospital.
Today, according to Chris Geidner, the Trump Administration has appealed the ruling. He also said that this is the latest in a string of losses for the Trump Administration when it comes to subpoenas targeting gender-affirming care for trans youth, so it will be trying a new tactic.
NEW: After a string of losses in its anti-trans project, DOJ turns to grand jury subpoenas in Texas.
— Chris “Law Dork” Geidner (@chrisgeidner) May 13, 2026
At least 7 judges have blocked invasive administrative subpoenas targeting gender-affirming care for minors, so DOJ appears to be trying a new tactic. https://t.co/Ck81DrwkYo
