What to Know
- A new 146-page report outlines failures by NYC jails to adequately care for and house transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and/or intersex (TGNCNBI) people
- The Task Force on TGNCNBI People in Custody recommends NYC immediately release all people to prevent further abuse and neglect, in addition to carrying out jail-wide improvements in care
- NYC City Council formed the task force in July 2019, one month after Layleen Polanco died in solitary confinement on Rikers Island
NYC jails fail to protect and adequately care for transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary and intersex people in its custody, leading to routine abuse and neglect, a new 146-page report outlined Monday.
The task force formed by the Board of Correction, in the wake of Layleen Polanco's death on Rikers Island in June 2019, details the difficulties in the years since to obtain relevant access to inmates, jail conditions and data to compile and publish their report.
But at the heart of the report, the task force's 17 members found many TGNCNBI individuals in jail custody spend months trying to get proper medication and are subjected to housing inconsistent with their gender identity. Transgender women, the report says, are also routinely directed through men's jail intake facilities "and endure days to weeks in custody that is mis-aligned with their gender identity."
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Members of the task force are clear in their messaging that the best course of action is to completely remove people from the problem-riddled jail system for the health and safety of those in its custody.
"Advocates have been demanding more since long before Layleen Polanco’s life was taken, and we know the price of inaction is too steep. Our demands must be abolition and liberation," Council Member Crystal Hudson, co-chair of the New York City Council’s LGBTQ Caucus, said.
Long-term solutions proposed in the report include a revision of all documentation at the DOC and relevant city agencies to appropriately capture all gender identities. Often is the case, they say, paperwork completed by NYPD officers with incorrect or out of date records follows people throughout their time in the jail system without ever being corrected.
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The DOC also needs to create a plan to appropriately transfer TGNCNBI people to gender-appropriate intake buses and facilities, the task force recommends. And before arraignments, medical and mental health screenings should confirm correct gender identities and relay to the court of previously outdated identifications on any paperwork.
“There is a clear pattern and practice of discrimination against TGNCNBI people. Our clients feel this on the ground when they are denied correct housing or deprived of basic respect, safety and dignity, but this is system-wide," Mik Kinkead, a task force member and attorney with The Legal Aid Society, said.
The task force additionally calls on New York to provide accessible and affordable housing to people released from custody, with a focus on TGNCNBI people.
“Since 2018, we have been a national leader in housing TGNCNBI people in custody in a manner consistent with their health and safety, and their gender identities. We recognize that TGNCNBI people coming into our care are at a higher risk of victimization, which is why we welcome efforts, including the work of the task force, to address the needs of this community," a spokesperson for the DOC told News 4.
The statement went on to say the department had not received the final draft of the task force's report, and that "not all of the opinions, conclusions, or recommendations in the report reflect the views of the agency or correctional best practices."
