Judge refuses to move transgender inmate to women’s prison ahead of judicial review

A Federal Court judge has refused to temporarily order Corrections Canada move a transgender inmate with a history of sex offences out of a men’s prison into a women’s institution, but has agreed the judicial review in her case should be heard quickly.

The Nova Scotia lawyer for Amanda Cooper, 58, has argued she should be transferred to a women’s prison after undergoing full gender surgery, but Corrections Canada has denied the request, citing concerns about her risk and the safety of women inmates.

“In this case, the evidence in the record shows that … Cooper poses a high risk to federally sentenced inmates and staff if she is transferred to a women’s institution,” Justice Love Saint-Fleur said in a written decision issued Friday.

Cooper, who is from the Montreal area, identified as a man when committing multiple sex crimes against women. She was declared a dangerous offender in 2001 and is currently incarcerated at Millhaven Institution, a men’s maximum security prison near Kingston, Ont.

Cooper began identifying as a woman in 2020, and had gender surgery in 2024, giving her a vagina and breasts. She has said she fears for her safety in a men’s prison and is in self-imposed isolation.

She has sought a judicial review of a Corrections Canada decision to keep her in a men’s prison, and her lawyer argued at a virtual hearing last week out of Halifax that she should be moved to a women’s prison even before her case is fully adjudicated.

Since 2017, federal offenders can apply to transfer to a men’s or women’s prison according to their gender identity or expression, but Corrections Canada can deny a request for health or safety reasons.

Correctional officials have cited Cooper’s criminal background, which includes multiple sex offences against women, and her history of being fixated on female prison staff, concluding she is too high a risk to be placed in a women’s institution.

Cooper’s lawyer, Jessica Rose, has argued her client is now anatomically female, and based on Corrections Canada’s own policy should be placed in a women’s facility.

To the extent that Cooper is a risk, Rose has said there are inmates in women’s prisons who have hurt or killed other women, but Corrections Canada finds ways to mitigate the danger.

In her decision, Saint-Fleur said Millhaven “offers gender-related accommodations and supports to mitigate the harms experienced” by Cooper.

She did agree the judicial review should be heard on an “expedited basis.” No date has yet been set for the hearing.

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