Trans woman alleges transfer to men's prison unconstitutinal

Post Reply New Topic

A transgender woman filed a court petition Tuesday against the state of Washington’s Department of Corrections, alleging that her confinement at a men’s prison is unconstitutional.

Amber Kim was transferred to the Monroe Correctional Complex in June after being housed at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) since 2021. It is the first time in Washington state history that a transgender woman has been transferred from a women’s prison to a men’s facility, according to the ACLU of Washington, which filed the petition on Kim’s behalf.

Adrien Leavitt, Kim’s attorney, said the decision to transfer Kim constitutes cruel punishment and “violates the Washington Constitution.”

“Her placement at a men’s prison creates an objectively significant risk of serious harm and these conditions are not necessary to accomplish any legitimate penological goal,” the court documents stated.

The Washington Department of Corrections did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

In March, Kim was caught having sex with her cellmate, a cisgender woman, which constitutes a category B “serious violation,” according to the Washington state Department of Corrections handbook.

The sexual act was consensual, according to the court documents, and both Kim and her roommate received security status changes after an infraction hearing. After five weeks, however, the Department of Corrections reversed its decision about Kim being able to remain housed at the corrections center and determined Kim to be a “safety concern.”

In her legal declaration, Kim said she had no major infractions before being caught having sex.

“For the three-and-a-half years I was housed at WCCW, I used my time there to learn, to grow and to contribute positively to the WCCW,” Kim said in a statement. “Being singled out for exceptional punishment — and transferred to a men’s prison — over a single infraction not only harms me, but every other incarcerated transgender person.”

Kim, now 36, was convicted of aggravated first-degree murder at the age of 19. She “presented as male” for the first 10 years of her incarceration “because of the level of danger” she faced daily, according to court documents. During her more than a decade in men’s prisons, she has experienced “harassment, physical violence, and attempted sexual assaults,” according to the filing requesting an expedited review.

The court documents stated that Kim “engaged positively in the community” while at the women’s correctional center, and the “overwhelming majority” of women were accepting of the transgender women who are housed there.

“Without the emotional burden of facing constant harassment and spending my time avoiding physical violence, I was able to focus on my mental health, plan for the future, and engage with positive programming,” she wrote in her declaration.

Upon arrival at Monroe Correctional Complex, Kim was placed in solitary confinement. She now elects to remain there “rather than endure the physical and psychological harm that would become her everyday reality if housed in men’s general population,” according to court documents.

The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, a federal law intended to stop sexual assault behind bars, was updated with guidance in 2012 that requires prisons to consider where trans inmates will be housed on a case-by-case basis. Consistent with federal law, the Washington Department of Corrections’ policy takes into account both documented safety risks and a trans individual’s own views about their personal safety when deciding where to house them.

However, despite the 2012 update to PREA, a 2020 investigation by NBC News found that trans inmates are rarely housed according to their gender identity.