For the first time, a transgender inmate has won a legal victory under the Prison Rape Elimination Act.
News Story (Maryland)
Zack Ford
ThinkProgress
September 24, 2015
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Tags: LGBTQ, Prisoners Rights, Solitary Confinement
Organizations mentioned/involved: FreeState Justice (MD)
News Story (Maryland)
Zack Ford
ThinkProgress
September 24, 2015
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Tags: LGBTQ, Prisoners Rights, Solitary Confinement
Organizations mentioned/involved: FreeState Justice (MD)
DETAILS
Sandy Brown, who is transgender, spent 66 days in administrative segregation (solitary confinement), during which time she was repeatedly harassed by the staff at the Patuxent Institution, a mental health assessment correctional facility in Jessup, Maryland. She filed a complaint, and an administrative law judge has found that her rights were violated under the protections of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA).
Brown was represented by the FreeState Legal Project, a civil legal aid organization that serves low-income LGBT people in Maryland. According to her attorney, Jer Welter, this is the first case in which a transgender inmate successfully found protection under PREA. “It’s a huge win,” he told ThinkProgress.