A transgender inmate who sued Idaho after she was denied gender confirmation surgery will reportedly be awarded $2.5 million in legal fees.
Adree Edmo launched her lawsuit against Idaho and the state department of correction's health care provider back in 2017, the Associated Press reported.
She was imprisoned at the time at a men's facility, serving out a 10-year sentence for sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy.
Edmo claimed in her lawsuit that her Eighth Amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment were violated when her surgery was denied. She asked a judge to order the state's department of correction to allow her to transfer to a women's prison, allow her access to "gender appropriate" clothing, and also provide her with gender confirmation surgery.
In 2018, it was ruled by U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill that Edmo be provided the surgery, The state appealed but ultimately lost.
Judge Winmill agreed that Edmo not getting the surgery would place her at risk of "irreparable harm," the AP reports, adding that she had "severe gender dysphoria."
Edmo then asked that the state pay for her more than $2.8 million in attorney fees.
According to the Associated Press, a federal judge recently ordered Idaho and its prison medical care provider to "pay more than $2.5 million in legal fees" to Edmo.
The difference between the requested and awarded amounts is reportedly due to the judge agreeing with the defendants that some of the legal fees were too high. That apparently means Edmo is still having her legal fees covered, despite the lesser awarded amount.
That awarded money will reportedly not come from taxpayer dollars, however. The AP says that the awarded millions will be covered by Corizon Correctional Healthcare "under a separate agreement with the state."
Corizon and Idaho reportedly agreed back in December that Corizon would pay the cost of any awarded legal fees to Edmo if Idaho agreed not to ask Corizon to cover the state's attorney costs.
Edmo was released from prison in 2021, according to the AP.