Karnoski v. Trump
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
926 F.3d 1180 (2019)
- Written by Darius Dehghan, JD
Facts
Historically, transgender individuals were not permitted to serve in the military. In 2016, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter ordered the armed forces to enact a policy (the Carter policy) allowing transgender individuals to serve in the military. In 2017, President Donald Trump (defendant) released a memorandum (the Trump memorandum) announcing that transgender individuals would no longer be allowed to serve in the military. Secretary of Defense James Mattis was directed to develop a plan (the Mattis plan) for implementing the Trump memorandum. A group of transgender individuals (plaintiffs) brought suit, contending that the Trump memorandum violated their right to equal protection under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The district court issued a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the Trump memorandum. In 2018, the Mattis plan was completed. It prohibited military service by transgender individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria—a medical condition in which individuals experience distress due to an incongruence between their biological sex and gender identity—except under certain circumstances. Not all transgender individuals experienced the distress required for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. Moreover, the Mattis plan stated that transgender military members diagnosed with gender dysphoria after the effective date of the Carter policy but before the effective date of any new policy were permitted to continue serving. President Trump ultimately revoked the Trump memorandum and adopted the Mattis plan. Subsequently, President Trump filed a motion to dissolve the preliminary injunction against the Trump memorandum. The district court struck the motion, and President Trump appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
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