Federal Appeals Courts Issue Rulings on Military Trans Ban, Qualified Immunity, and Foster Care Rights

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a fractured ruling on the Trump administration's policy barring individuals with gender dysphoria from military service, upholding a preliminary injunction for current servicemembers while striking it down for prospective applicants, with judges disagreeing sharply in concurrence and dissent. The Third Circuit granted qualified immunity to a Philadelphia police officer who photographed a deceased man and shared the image, which eventually reached the victim's grieving mother, with a dissent arguing the conduct was so obviously wrong no prior precedent was needed. The Fourth Circuit reversed a district court's summary judgment in a case involving a Virginia inmate whose exculpatory prison footage was deleted, finding the lower court abused its discretion in multiple ways. Also in the Fourth Circuit, a class action by West Virginia foster children was reinstated after a district court dismissed it without notice or briefing, marking the second erroneous dismissal of the same case. The Fifth Circuit ruled that a New Orleans crime lab technician who was forcibly transported by police to take a drug test had his Fourth Amendment rights violated by the supervisor who ordered it, with no qualified immunity applying. These rulings, compiled by the Institute for Justice, reflect a broad range of civil liberties and procedural issues working through the federal appellate system.