Letter to NYSDA James: Refusal to Support Release of Medically Vulnerable People in State Prison Including Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, Non-Binary, and Intersex People
Monday, June 23, 2020
Letitia James
Attorney General of New York
Office of the Attorney General
The Capital
Albany, NY 12224-0341
Re: Refusal to Support Release of Medically Vulnerable People in State Prison Including Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, Non-Binary, and Intersex People
Dear Attorney General James:
We, the undersigned organizations, strongly urge you to take immediate steps to release all transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary, and intersex (TGNCNBI) people from State prisons who are seriously vulnerable to infection and death from COVID-19. Despite your long history of fighting for the LGBTQ community – including your tireless efforts to protect members of the LGBTQ community from sexual abuse and assault in Rikers – your office is vigorously opposing the release of TGNCNBI people who are desperately seeking release from State prison during this pandemic. We urge you to reconsider your position and not turn your back on our community.
The incarcerated TGNCNBI community reflects the racist and transphobic violence perpetrated by police and the criminal law system - it is overwhelmingly Black and/or Latinx. Transgender women of color are disproportionately represented in New York State prisons. And, as you are aware, 72% of the New York State prison population is Black or Latinx. Now more than ever we must carry on the tradition started 51 years ago when Black and brown LGBTQ communities rose up against state-perpetrated violence at Stonewall by continuing to resist continued violence against those communities today.
This fight includes those who are incarcerated in our State prisons at this very moment and who are at risk of serious harm or death from COVID-19. To be clear, TGNCNBI people are not at risk to the virus because of their identity, but rather because of the response of the State to those identities. TGNCNBI people are particularly vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19 because they are at an increased risk of a weakened immune system due to discrimination in healthcare, employment, education, and housing. This leads to higher rates of HIV, additional chronic conditions such as hepatitis B and C, substance use, and poorly controlled pre-existing medical conditions.
These vulnerabilities are compounded by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) harmful and discriminatory practice of housing the vast majority of transgender people in opposition to their gender identity. In other words, transgender women are consistently housed as men and transgender men as women. For transgender women, in particular, this results in frighteningly high rates of sexual abuse and assault while in prison, conduct that is likely to increase as anxieties and tensions rise due to the pandemic and its anticipated second wave. The constant stress of being on-guard for the next assault further weakens the immune systems, making an already vulnerable population more at risk. Nevertheless, your office has shown little compassion or concern for TGNCNBI people seeking release because their health and, indeed, lives are at serious risk in the congregate setting of a prison.
For example, Ms. Cathy Citro is a 63-year-old white transgender woman with several serious medical conditions, including diabetes, severe asthma, and various heart ailments including high blood pressure. She is housed in a male facility despite her gender identity, a facility with 19 positive cases of the virus to date where one person has already died. She is serving a sentence for a minor conviction and is eligible for parole in a mere six months. In fact, under the Governor’s criteria for early release, she would be eligible for release in only three months. Bringing her home early could prevent her from becoming the next premature death at her facility. But your office is vigorously fighting her release, every day putting her at greater risk of contracting the virus.
Similarly, your office is contesting the release of a Black transgender woman with HIV, a history of lung complications, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to a history of sexual abuse and exploitation, anxiety, and depression. Because of her history of sexual exploitation, the State of New York has recognized that she is human trafficking survivor. Nevertheless, she is now housed in men’s prisons where she has been subject to additional sexual abuse. Currently living in a dormitory setting, she has no ability to distance herself from others or take necessary steps to keep herself safe. Again, your office is not only fighting her release, it also misgendered her in legal papers showing an overall lack of concern or engagement with these proceedings.
We are not the only ones pleading for the release of medically vulnerable people. On April 29, Public Advocate Jumanne Williams and Council Members Daniel Dromm, Margeret Chin, Ritchie Torres, Keith Powers, Brad Lander, Vanessa Gibson, Diana Ayala, and numerous social justice organizations made a similar request to Governor Cuomo and DOCCS Commissioner Annucci. A month letter, the New York State Congressional delegation urged Governor Cuomo to take similar measures. These pleas to take the lives of all New Yorkers seriously have received no answer or acknowledgement, as if we are speaking into a void.
We cannot continue to wait. As organizations that represent and support TGNCNBI people, we are concerned that action must take place before more New Yorkers die premature deaths in custody. We request a virtual meeting that would allow advocates to speak with you and your staff directly. We hope that by meeting, we can find a way to save the lives of our distressed community members.
It is time to work together and take the needed steps to remedy this imperative issue before we spend the rest of June, LGBTQ Pride month, mourning even more lives lost due to a New York that fails to value its TGNCNBI citizenry.
Signed,
Ackerman - Gender & Family Project Adirondack North County Gender Alliance AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Albany Damien Center
Brooklyn Community Pride Center
Buffalo Mutual Aid Network
Equality New York
First Prespaterial Albany
Food for the Spirit
Fritz & Associates Inc
Gays Against Guns
Gender Equality New York Girls Inc. of Long Island
GLSEN Lower Hudson Valley
Housing Works
Human Rights Campaign
Hunter College - Professor Filmmaker
interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth Interfaith Impact of NYS
Jim Owles Liberal Demcratic Club
JustleadershipUSA
Kaleida Health
LGBT Bar Association of Greater NY
LGBTQIA Social Justice Team @ Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation at White Plains
Long Island Council of Churches
Long Island TDOR Make the Road NY
Mid Hudson Valley Transgender Association
National Trans Bar Association
New Hour for Women & Children LI
NEW Pride Agenda
New York State Gender Diversity Coalition
New York Transgender Advocacy Group
NYC Chapter, National Action Network Second Chance Committee
NYC Jails Action Coalition
Otherwild
Otsego Pride Alliance
Parole Preparation Project
Pride for Youth
Princess Janae Place Inc
Prison Families Anonymous
Queers for Black lives
Rainbobo
Release Aging People in Prison/RAPP
Second Chance Reentry, Inc.
Southern Tier Transgender Advocacy Group
Spectrum Transgender Group of WNY
Sylvia Rivera Law Project
The Legal Aid Society
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center
The LOFT LGBT Community Services Center
The PRIDE Team of All Souls NYC
Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Huntington (UUFH)
Visionary V
Women & Justice Project
Women's Community Justice Association
Young Long Island for Justice