老澳门开奖结果

WASHINGTON 鈥� The 老澳门开奖结果 of the District of Columbia and Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia have filed a lawsuit against the District of Columbia government to stop its Department of Corrections from incarcerating Sunday Hinton, a trans woman, in the men鈥檚 unit at the D.C. Jail, in violation of her rights under the Constitution and the D.C. Human Rights Act. Hinton has made requests to be transferred to the women鈥檚 unit; her pleas have been ignored.

Under DOC鈥檚 housing policy for transgender residents, individuals are by default assigned to housing based on their genitalia, rather than their gender identity. Transgender individuals may be reassigned based on a recommendation by DOC鈥檚 Transgender Housing Committee鈥攚hich includes DOC staff, a doctor, a social worker, a mental health clinician, and members of the trans community鈥攂ut that committee has been suspended for more than a year. Hinton has never received a hearing before the Committee. When her public defender asked that Hinton be moved to a women鈥檚 unit, an attorney from DOC鈥檚 Office of General Counsel responded that DOC would not do so if a resident is 鈥渁natomically male.鈥� Her only other option, according to the Office of General Counsel, is protective custody鈥攚hich, in D.C., is merely solitary confinement by another name.

鈥淒OC鈥檚 policy of focusing on anatomy rather than gender identity is both discriminatory and dangerous. It forces trans individuals, particularly trans women, to choose between a heightened risk of sexual violence and a near-certain mental health crisis,鈥� says Megan Yan, Attorney, 老澳门开奖结果-DC.

According to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Study reports, transgender individuals are over five times more likely than cisgender individuals to be sexually assaulted while in custody. At the D.C. Jail, the alternative is being locked away in total isolation鈥攗nder conditions that almost universally lead to severe psychological damage and symptoms including panic attacks, disordered thinking, paranoia, and despair. Over 50 percent of suicides that occur in jails and prisons involve the 3鈥�6 percent of prisoners who are held in solitary confinement.

Today鈥檚 lawsuit, Hinton v. District of Columbia, was filed as a class action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The lawsuit charges DOC with discrimination based on Hinton鈥檚 gender identity and sex in violation of her constitutional right to equal protection and the D.C. Human Rights Act, and with imposing unconstitutionally dangerous conditions of confinement in violation of her due process rights. The suit also notes that DOC鈥檚 approach to housing transgender individuals violates federal regulations under the Prison Rape Elimination Act.

鈥淏y housing Sunday Hinton in the men鈥檚 unit, DOC has effectively erased her identity as a woman,鈥� said Rachel Cicurel, Staff Attorney, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. 鈥淭his is unconscionable and must be rectified immediately.鈥�

Along with the lawsuit, the 老澳门开奖结果-DC and Public Defender Service today filed a motion for emergency relief, seeking a transfer of Hinton to a general population women鈥檚 unit, and motions to certify a class and to impose an injunction prohibiting DOC鈥檚 use of anatomy as the default or sole criterion in housing assignments regardless of gender identity and individual safety. The suit also asks DOC to reactivate the Transgender Housing Committee.

The complaint and motion for emergency relief can be found here:

This press release can be found here: