EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A federal judge here last week said that there were "serious ongoing" violations of the constitutional rights of transgender prison inmates in Illinois "that must be immediately addressed."
Chief Judge Nancy J. Rosenstengel said in a memorandum and order that while the Illinois Department of Corrections had made some progress on changes she ordered in December 2019 in response to a class-action lawsuit filed in 2018, correctional officers and other staff have received no training in new procedures regarding transgender inmates.
"There are still serious violations of Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights happening every day," Rosenstengel said, including delays in treating inmates, denials of treatment and a failure to monitor the health of inmates receiving hormone therapy and to properly adjust the dosage. The judge compared it to "a physician ordering a cholesterol test, the results coming back over 300, and yet the physician does nothing but put the lab results in the chart."
Some inmates "have inexplicably been taken off hormones for a period of time for absolutely no medical reason," she wrote.
"Even more troubling, there continue to be instances of cross-gender strip searches of transgender inmates, and transgender female inmates being forced to shower without privacy in male facilities. Meanwhile, there have been more suicide attempts, more threats of suicide, attempted self-castration, and untreated serious medical conditions …, ongoing harassment and humiliation, and ongoing misgendering by inmates and staff," Rosenstengel said.
"And, inexplicably, some class members are being treated by medical and mental health staff who do not understand gender dysphoria and refuse to treat them for it (in one case, asking a transgender inmate to ponder what Jesus would think about her request). This Court has never seen such deliberate indifference to a serious medical need," the judge wrote, adding in italics: "Such providers should have no contact with class members from this point forward."
Amelia Bailey, one of the lawyers representing inmates pro bono, said in an email that it was the "first instance of injunctive relief granted on behalf of a certified class of transgender inmates" in the U.S. and could set a "precedent for similar litigation in other states."
In an interview, Bailey, of the Kirkland & Ellis law firm in Chicago, called the decision "a very big win, for sure, and we’re very excited for our clients.” Bailey said Rosenstengel issued a rare verbal ruling from the bench after a recent trial, taking it upon herself to immediately order prison officials to start making changes. Rosenstengel followed it up Aug. 9 with a written ruling.
She also gave prison officials a specific deadline. "Based on her ruling and her order … I think she does feel that she can hand down an order and trust that they’ll get it implemented.”
The preliminary injunction says officials have no longer than 14 days to do lab tests and bloodwork to assess the health of inmates receiving hormone therapy.
Any class member who has asked for hormone therapy is to get baseline bloodwork done in 21 days, with therapy to start within two weeks. Inmates who medically qualify for gender affirming surgery and who have asked for it will have to be evaluated for surgery within 120 days, the order says. Class members can choose the gender of the correctional officer who searches them, can shower privately and will be evaluated for a transfer to a prison that matches "his or her expressed gender" within 120 days, the order says.
Bailey said there were roughly 130 inmates in the class. The inmates were also represented by lawyers from the ACLU of Illinois and the King & Spalding law firm.
The ACLU called it a "stinging rebuke" and a "historic victory" in an announcement of the ruling. “Our clients have endured years of suffering, waiting for IDOC to simply provide basic health care,” said ACLU lawyer John Knight in the announcement.
Illinois reported having more than 27,000 inmates as of the end of June.
In an emailed statement, a spokeswoman said, "The Illinois Department of Corrections is committed to ensuring world class care for transgender individuals in custody. Under the leadership of Director Rob Jeffreys, the Department has implemented a number of initiatives to improve the quality of transgender care and Judge Nancy Rosenstengel recognized this progress in court. Every person in our custody deserves to have their needs fully met and humanity fully recognized and we are deeply committed to this critical work.”
Trial is set to begin in federal court in October of claims by Illinois inmate Deon "Strawberry" Hampton that she was repeatedly sexually assaulted in prison by male inmates, and that officials failed to protect her and follow proper prison procedures.
A federal judge in Missouri in 2018 found that prison officials' "freeze frame" policy of refusing to provide hormone therapy to inmates who were not receiving it before being sent to prison "violates the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution."
