Abstract
In the latter part of the twentieth century, the development of correctional policies in the United States related to transgender prisoners has rendered visible transgender prisoners, disrupted the taken-for-granted policies and practices related to the operation of sex-segregated prisons, and presented considerable challenges to those charged with running penal institutions. The courts and correctional administrators in particular have grappled with how best to adjudicate tensions born of the visible presence of transgender prisoners in prisons charged with housing men (and only men). We draw on multiple sources of data, including correctional policies, published surveys, court opinions, activist testimony, news documents, and legal discourse, to analyze the parameters of extant transgender correctional policy in the U.S. Our examination reveals that transgender correctional policy is: shaped by “safety and security” concerns, arguably the central institutional logic underlying the management of prisons; unsettled insofar as there is both convergence and divergence in the content of policy related to transgender inmates (e.g., there is almost complete agreement on the enforcement of anatomy-based housing policies and there is considerable disagreement over policies related to hormonal treatment); and attentive to the control of place for transgender prisoners, although not comparable control of “presentation and demeanor” for transgender prisoners. A collateral consequence of these features of correctional policy is that prisons for men in the U.S. are at once sex-segregated and multi-gendered.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Extending this argument, Jenness and Grattet (2005; see also Jenness and Smyth 2011) found that “organizational perviousness,” which refers to “both the organization’s susceptibility to environmental influence and the degree to which a particular innovation aligns with the local agency’s existing culture and practices” (p. 355), predicts the adoption of law enforcement policies.
- 3.
Putting forth one of the most expansive definitions of transgender, historian Susan Stryker (2008, p. 1, emphasis in original) uses the term transgender to refer to: “People who move away from the gender they were assigned at birth, people who cross over (trans-) the boundaries constructed by their culture to define and contain that gender…it is the movement across a socially imposed boundary away from an unchosen starting place—rather than any particular destination or mode of transition.”
- 4.
For a discussion of variability along these lines among transgender prisoners in California prisons, see Jenness et al. (2014).
- 5.
CMF refers to California Medical Facility, a California state prison for men that historically housed inmates with unique medical needs.
- 6.
CMO refers to the Chief Medical Officer and CIW refers to California Institution for Women.
- 7.
CSR refers to Classification Staff Representative.
- 8.
Although this policy is no longer in practice, this delineation itself is fairly recent. Archival documents in the form of administrator and manager meeting minutes reveal that, as in the larger medical world, homosexuals were “treated” as medical cases 60 years ago (California Department of Corrections 1948).
- 9.
Taking a different perspective, and based on experiences with transgender, intersex, and gender nonconforming incarcerated legal clients, Arkles (2009) argues that isolating this group of prisoners in correctional facilities actually prohibits relationship and community building that, “resist violence and help people who are targets of violence to survive” (p. 518). Arkles (2009) posits that there are benefits of friendships, consensual romantic and sexual relationships, and familial relationships built in prison. Although recent empirical research by Jenness et al. (2011) similarly indicates that transgender inmates report benefits from relationships among each other and with non-transgender inmates, it also suggests that Arkles (2009) may be overstating these benefits and underestimating the negative effects. In their work, Jenness et al. (2011) reveal that transgender inmates who reported sexual and “marriage-like” relationships with other inmates were also more likely to experience sexual assault. In addition, transgender inmate culture may also facilitate competition that leads to violence within the group often related to competition for, and attention from, potential partners (Sumner 2009).
- 10.
Most frequently, calls for improvement in housing procedures related to transgender inmates are for identity-based placement (Broadus 2009; Mann 2006; Peek 2003–2004; Rosenblum 1999–2000; Transgender Law Center, n.d.) or at least for housing this group in a separate wing or unit. The expectation is that this will lead to increased safety. Recent work, however, complicates this issue. Respondents in the studies conducted by the Sylvia Rivera Law Project (2007) and Emmer et al. (2011) were not in agreement regarding housing preferences. Some respondents felt it was better to manage prison life while in segregation most of the day, others prefer to be housed in the general population. Related, Jenness et al. (2011) found that the majority of male-to-female transgender inmates in California prisons for men would prefer to be housed in facilities for men (65 %). Reasons provided included an emphasis on the access to men in a male facility.
- 11.
In addition, innovative policies have begun to develop in other arenas of the criminal justice system. For example, recently the Los Angeles Police Department formalized a policy on “police interactions with transgender individuals” (Los Angeles Police Department 2012) which includes guidelines regarding what language to use when addressing transgender individuals and how to conduct a field search.
- 12.
However, see the recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit decision in Battista v. Clarke (2011), in which the court upheld the district court decision challenging the defendants’ claims that hormonal therapy would result in an increased safety risk.
- 13.
However, see Tates v. Blanas (2003).
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Cases Cited
Battista v. Clarke, 645 F.3d 449 (1st Cir. 2011).
Brooks v. Berg, 270 F. Supp. 2d 302 (N.D. NY 2003).
Crosby v. Reynolds, 763 F. Supp. 666 (D. ME. 1991).
DeBlasio v. Johnson, 128 F.Supp.2d 315 (E.D. VA. 2000).
De’Lonta v. Johnson, 708 F.3d 520 (4th Cir. 2013).
Farmer v. Brennan, 511 US 825 (1994).
Fields v. Smith, 712 F. Supp. 2d 830 (E.D.Wis. 2010).
Garfield v. Russell, 251 Cal.App.2d 275 (1967).
Giraldo v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 2007 WL 4355775 (2007).
Greene v. Bowles, 361 F.3d 290 (6th Cir. 2004).
Kosilek v. Maloney, 221 F.Supp.2d 156 (D. MA. 2002).
Kosilek v. Spencer, 889 F.Supp.2d 190 (D. Mass. 2012).
Kosilek v. Spencer, F.Supp.2d, 2013 WL 204696 (D. Mass. 2013).
Long v. Nix, 877 F. Supp. 1358 (S.D. IA. 1995).
Maggert v. Hanks, 131 F.3d 670 (7th Cir. 1997).
Medina-Tejada v. Sacramento County, 2006 WL 463158 (E.D. Cal. 2006).
Meriwether v. Faulkner, 821 F.2d 408 (7th Cir. 1987).
Murray v. United States Bureau of Prisons, 1997 WL 34677 (6th Cir. 1997).
Phillips v. Michigan Department of Corrections, 731 F.Supp. 792 (W.D. M.I. 1990).
Star v. Gramley, 815 F. Supp. 276 (C.D. IL. 1993).
Stevens v. Knowles, 2011 WL 7430402 (C.D. Cal. 2011).
Stevens v. Williams, 2008 WL 916991 (D. Or. 2008).
Tates v. Blanas, 2003 WL 23864868 (E.D. Cal. 2002, 2003).
Statutes Cited
California Evidence Code § 352.
California’s Administrative Procedure Act. Government Code §§ 11340–11359.
California Penal Code § 5058.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the following CDCR personnel who contributed to this work in important ways by providing and interpreting CDCR policies for us as we produced this chapter: Nola Grannis, Suzan Hubbard, and Wendy Still. In addition, the chapter has benefitted from comments provided by our academic colleagues, including Kitty Calavita, Kristy Matsuda, Cheryl Maxson, Jodi O’Brien, Joan Petersilia, Lori Sexton, and Brian Williams. Alyse Bertenthal provided very helpful comments on an earlier version of this chapter, which helped us clarify the legal underpinnings that provide the foundation for many judicial decisions presented. Finally, the following experts helped clarify the arguments presented in this chapter: Dr. Lori Kohler, Alexander L. Lee, Linda McFarlane, Lovisa Stannow, and Dr. Denise Taylor.
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Sumner, J., Jenness, V. (2014). Gender Integration in Sex-Segregated U.S. Prisons: The Paradox of Transgender Correctional Policy. In: Peterson, D., Panfil, V. (eds) Handbook of LGBT Communities, Crime, and Justice. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9188-0_12
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