Senate Subcommittee Hearing Considers Ending Solitary Confinement

An estimated 80,000 people are in solitary confinement in the United States at any given time. Today, the US Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights will hold a hearing on the human rights, fiscal and public safety consequences of solitary confinement. This is a follow-up to a hearing held in 2012, and since that time there have been further actions by state and federal officials to reassess, limit, and in some cases eliminate the use of solitary confinement. The head of the Federal Bureau of Prisons will testify today about his agency’s promise to review the use of solitary confinement in federal prisons. Senators will also hear from the head of Colorado’s prisons, who—charged by that state’s governor with limiting the use of solitary—penned an unsettling New York Times op-ed about spending a day in solitary himself.

Read our testimony here:

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Melissa Harris-Perry Show Addresses Trans Prison Issues

Yesterday, Laverne Cox, a trans actor on the new hit series “Orange is the New Black,” joined a panel on the Melissa Harris-Perry Show to discuss issues faced by transgender people in incarceration. Cox is the first trans actor of color to play a trans character of color.

On “Orange is the New Black,” Cox’s character, Sophia Burset, faces a medical problem all too common among transgender people in prison: losing access to hormones. On the MHP Show, Laverne Cox describes the health consequences of being cut off from this basic medical care.

Despite this struggle in Burset’s story line, she is markedly safer than most transgender women in the U.S. prison and jail system. On the MHP Show segment, Cox points out that transgender women are rarely housed in women’s facilities, or are placed in prolonged solitary confinement. Medical experts agree that solitary confinement contributes to severe physical and mental health problems.

Ending Prison Rape: A New Resource for LGBT and Gender Nonconforming People

More than 200,000 youth and adults are sexually abused in prisons, jails and juvenile detention facilities each year, and a disproportionate number are transgender and gender nonconforming people. Hard work over several years by NCTE and other trans, LGBT and intersex advocates paid off in May with the release by the Department of Justice of final National Standards to Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Prison Rape, which have the potential to be a big part of the solution. NCTE has created a fact sheet regarding the new standards, which were called for by the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA), and which facilities across the country will have to follow in order to maintain federal funding or required accreditations.

LGBT People and the Prison Rape Elimination Act highlights and explains the sections most relevant to transgender people, the broader LGBT community, and those people with intersex conditions such as:

• Requiring a case-by-case consideration for housing in a male or female facility that is not based on genital status, meaning more trans women will be housed with other women.
• Limitations on the use of isolating “protective custody” to which trans people are often subjected.
• Limitations to ensure that special housing units do not become a stigmatizing and ineffective quick-fix for housing LGBT and gender nonconforming people and those with intersex conditions.
• Requiring staff training on working with transgender and gender nonconforming inmates as well as LGBT people more broadly and those with intersex conditions.
• Banning the search or physical examination of transgender inmates and those with intersex conditions solely for determining their genital status.
• New requirements for staff hiring, inmate screening, reporting and investigating abuse, and provider support to abuse survivors.

VICTORY: Department of Justice Releases National Standards to End Prison Rape and Abuse

Today, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released National Standards to Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Prison Rape. The Standards include specific provisions that will work to protect transgender and gender nonconforming inmates in the fight end sexual abuse in prisons. These standards were built on recommendations provided by NCTE and several allied advocates.

Specific provisions to address abuse towards transgender people and those with intersex conditions include:

• Requiring a case-by-case consideration for housing in a male or female facility that is not based on genital status, meaning more trans women will be housed with other women.
• Limiting the use of isolating “protective custody” that can amount to torture.
• Limiting the use of segregated LGBTI units that are often treated as a quick fix and can stigmatize individuals.
• Requiring staff training for professional communication with and treatment of transgender and gender nonconforming inmates and those with intersex conditions to aid in assessing inmate vulnerabilities to sexual abuse.
• Banning the search or physical examination of transgender inmates and those with intersex conditions solely for determining their genital status.
• Minimizing stigma and the threat of abuse from staff by disallowing dedicated LGBTQI units and facilities.
• Requiring facilities to have multiple channels for reporting abuse without placing a time limit on when inmates can file grievances.

Why NCTE Cares About the Prison Rape Elimination Act Standards

If you have seen NCTE’s Blueprint for Equality, you know that the federal agenda we’re working on is both complex and comprehensive. Every issue on the agenda is important. Some of the issues are truly life saving, while others are simply necessary steps to full equality. All of it is important to some trans people who are facing obstacles to living fully. And one of these issues I’m really proud of working on is the National Standards to Prevent, Detect and Respond to Prison Rape.

In 2003, the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was passed by Congress and signed by President Bush. The Republican Senate, the Republican House and the Republican President all agreed that, regardless of various positions on corrections and crimes and related issues, in the United States we all agree that sexual assault in prison is unacceptable and must be stopped. A Congressionally appointed commission and the U.S. Department of Justice spent nearly a decade studying the issue and developing national standards to address all aspects of the problem. And NCTE has provided input all along the way.

And very soon—hopefully within weeks—the U.S. Department of Justice will release standards that could help significantly decrease rape in prison. We have not yet seen the final standards, but we are hopeful that our advocacy has influenced them in terms of how trans people are classified housed and searched among other things.

New York Times Features Doctor Who Specializes In Trans Health Issues

NCTE commends the New York Times for focusing on transgender individuals’ health needs. The news article featured Dr. Laura Erickson-Schroth, who focused on transgender health during her studies. She is currently working on editing “Trans Bodies, Trans Selves,” a book that will cover various aspects of transgender life, including cultural, health, and legal issues.

The New York Times’ feature on Dr. Erickson-Schroth’s can be accessed here: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/19/ask-about-transgender-issues/

A second article posts her answers to readers’ questions, including one question by NCTE staffer Mul Kim. Dr. Erickson-Schroth addressed various questions on topics ranging from definitions of terminology commonly used by the transgender community and how medical providers can provide culturally competent care to their transgender patients. The article can be accessed here: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/answers-about-transgender-issues/