NJ to Adopt Major Reforms Affirming Trans People in Prison

Earlier this week, New Jersey agreed to adopt major policy reforms regarding transgender, intersex, and non-binary people in state prisons, the result of an agreement settling a civil rights suit brought by a woman who was forced to live in men’s prisons for a year and a half. A woman going by the pseudonym Sonia Doe, represented by the ACLU of New Jersey and attorney Robyn Gigl of Gluck Walrath LLP, sued the New Jersey Department of Corrections and its officers in August 2019. As part of the settlement announced today, New Jersey has adopted a system-wide policy that includes housing in line with gender identity, and not sex assigned at birth. Only a few other states in the nation have such protections in place.

Read more at the ACLU of New Jersey’s website. Featured image also courtesy of the ACLU of NJ.

“Forcing transgender women to be housed in men’s prisons is dangerous, disrespectful, and against New Jersey law,” said Christian Fuscarino, Executive Director of Garden State Equality. “As shown by the cases of Ms. Doe and countless other transgender women who have been mistreated in our criminal system, these sweeping policy changes are much-needed and have been a long time coming. We are immensely grateful to Ms. Doe and the ACLU of New Jersey and are proud that Robyn Gigl, who also represented Ms. Doe, is on our board. We hope that these changes in New Jersey pave the way for similar changes in other states, where protections for incarcerated transgender women are also sorely needed.”

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