Transgender Woman Sues Broome County and Broome County Sheriff and Jail Staff for Discrimination, Abuse and Denial of Medical Care

Advocates call on Albany lawmakers to protect transgender and non-binary people in custody

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 29, 2022

MEDIA CONTACT: Arianna Fishman, afishman@nyclu.org, 212-607-3372

                                        Khadijah Silver,  ksilver@transgenderlegal.org 646-470-7497

BROOME COUNTY – Makyyla Holland (she/her/hers), a 23-year-old transgender Broome County resident, filed suit today against Broome County, the Broome County’s Sheriff and officials at Broome County Jail seeking redress for violence, threats to her safety, denial of medical care, and discrimination inflicted on her because she is transgender.  The lawsuit seeks to ensure no other transgender people are subjected to such abuses while they are in custody.

During the six weeks she spent in County custody, the Broome County sheriff’s office and its corrections officers discriminated against Ms. Holland on the basis of her sex, transgender status and disability; beat her; subjected her to illegal strip searches; and denied her access to prescribed medications, including antidepressants and hormone treatments, triggering severe withdrawal symptoms. In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, attorneys from the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF), the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) and pro bono counsel Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP argue that this abuse violated Ms. Holland’s rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, Americans with Disabilities Act, and numerous other federal and state laws.

“I was humiliated by Broome County jail staff because I am a transgender woman. I was harassed, mocked, misgendered and worse: jail staff strip-searched me, beat me up, placed me in the male section of the jail, and withheld my hormones for a period of time, forcing me to go into agonizing withdrawal,” Ms. Holland said. “No person’s gender identity gives jail staff the authority to harm them, and Broome County law enforcement and jail staff must be held accountable for their actions. The abuses that police and jail staff across New York state commit against transgender New Yorkers must end.”

Watch Makyyla Holland tell her own story here.

As the complaint details, when Ms. Holland entered the jail’s custody, she was physically attacked by male officers after expressing fear of stripping in front of them given that she is a woman. The jail then housed her in a men’s facility, where she was forced to shower in full view of male staff and men in custody. At various times Ms. Holland was placed in isolated confinement because of her transgender status. She was repeatedly denied access to bras, women’s underwear, deodorant and cosmetics that are provided by Broome County Jail to women in custody. Along with being without hormones for nearly four weeks, Ms. Holland was told by a nurse that the “county wasn’t going to pay for” her prescribed medication to treat depression and anxiety.

The lawsuit asks that the court affirm that transgender individuals are entitled to be housed in jail facilities consistent with their gender identity, to receive gender-affirming care, and to be otherwise treated with dignity in a manner consistent with their gender identity. It also seeks damages to compensate Ms. Holland for the harm she suffered.

“No one should be subjected to violence, forced into unsafe housing conditions, or denied necessary medical care while in jail,” said Shayna Medley, staff attorney at the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund. “When county and jail staff single out transgender people for this kind of mistreatment and abuse, it violates the Constitution and federal and state law.”

For transgender, gender nonconforming, nonbinary and intersex (TGNCNBI) people, jail disproportionately results in harassment, degradation and violence. This is especially true for Black people, Indigenous people and other people of color. One in six people who identify as transgender report being incarcerated at some point in their lives – and this figure jumps to nearly three in six for Black transgender women. In a 2021 survey of transgender and non-binary people incarcerated in New York State, 95 percent of respondents said correctional staff used derogatory names to refer to them.

New Yorkers like Makyyla will continue to suffer in jails and prisons across the state unless there is broad action from lawmakers. The Gender Identity Respect, Dignity, and Safety Act in the state legislature would increase safety for TGNCNBI people by requiring that prisons and jails provide housing placements consistent with one’s gender identities, unless they request otherwise. The bill would hold jail and prison staff accountable for respecting a person’s gender identity in all contexts, including name and pronoun use and require access to clothing, grooming and toiletry items.

The American Medical Association (AMA) has affirmed the need to house transgender people in facilities that “are reflective of their affirmed gender status, regardless of the [person’s] genitalia, chromosomal make-up, hormonal treatment, or non-, pre-, or post-operative status.” Similarly, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) specifically calls on jails and prisons to “take into account [a person’s] gender identity and role, physical status, dignity, and personal safety.”

“The mistreatment and abuse of transgender women by jail and prison staff is widespread across New York State,” said Bobby Hodgson, supervising attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union. “Thanks to Ms. Holland’s courage and persistence, we’re taking action today to make it clear that jails and prisons statewide have an obligation to treat transgender people with dignity. We will continue fighting for the safety of transgender people across New York State.”

“Trans, non-binary and gender-expansive people, particularly Black trans women, are incarcerated at highly disproportionate rates,” said former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, a litigation partner at Paul, Weiss representing Ms. Holland. “Our jails and prisons must adopt and adhere to policies that respect gender identity and expression, and prohibit harassment, discrimination and violence against TGNCNBI people.”

Today’s lawsuit follows a landmark settlement the NYCLU and TLDEF reached with Steuben County in August 2020 establishing one of the strongest jail or prison policies in the country protecting the rights of transgender, gender nonconforming, nonbinary and intersex people in custody. This policy addressed housing placement, safety, access to medical care, name and pronouns use, search procedures and grooming standards. It was negotiated with the involvement of the New York State Sheriffs’ Association and can serve as a model for jails across New York state and the country. In Miami-Dade County, TLDEF, Harvard Law School LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) have filed suit on behalf of three transgender people arrested while protesting for Black lives in 2020, seeking the adoption of a similar model policy.

In addition to Hodgson and Medley, counsel on the case includes NYCLU Equal Justice Works fellow Gabriella Larios; TLDEF Senior Counsel Gabriel Arkles; and Paul, Weiss litigation partners Loretta Lynch and Audra Soloway, pro bono attorney Jeremy Benjamin and associate Eric Abrams.

You can find materials on the case here: https://www.nyclu.org/en/cases/makyyla-holland-v-broome-county-et-al

JUST recently received a letter from 21 persons incarcerated in the Broome County Jail, appealing for assistance from COVID promoting conditions in the jail. This comes on the heels of women in the jail demanding relief from brutal conditions, particularly for pregnant and Black women, that led to a rally on their behalf outside the Broome County Building on January 20, 2022.

The incarcerated person’s letter was sent as they requested to the State Commission of Correction and Health Department and other local elected authorities and media.  The letter is reproduced below, as is the JUST cover letter.

Letter from Incarcerated:

February 26, 2022

Sirs/Madam,

Please take notice and be advised that:

It has come to our attention that a number of officers have contracted COVID. This poses a great threat to the health and well-being of each and every prisoner of Broome County Jail. There are prisoners who have COVID and yet the facility tells the family members that they don’t have COVID. Blatantly lying to the families. They (the officers of Broome County Jail and  Administration) quarantines a housing unit if a few COVID cases arise, yet they keep COVID and non-COVID alike locked down, together.

            It is not a hard decision to make as to what is the best course of action. It is more than abundantly clear that it is a possible, and very probable Death Sentence to Class A-/B- misdemeanors, Low Class E- and D- felonies (non-violent), unqualified offenses and those with low sentences with a chance for rehabilitation, and those with a release date of “soon.” A Death Sentence that is undue, unwarranted, and unreasonable. Making the holding of these individuals “Cruel and Unusual Punishment.” Therefore it is clear that non-violent and D-E felonies and A-misdemeanors, technical parole and probation violations, should be released.

            To be held in these pandemic times is to be essentially given a death sentence.

We ask for intervention, we ask for relief, we send out an S.O.S (Save our Souls). Do not let the COVID pandemic be our undoing. Prisoners are people too. The practice here is inhumane. We are being subjected to a great risk, sacrificed for the sake of prison (big business).

Respectfully,

21 signatures of persons incarcerated in the Broome County Jail (names redacted)

JUST cover letter:

POB 93, Bible School Park, NY 13737
Email: justice.southern.tier@gmail.com
Web: www.justiceST.com
Facebook: tinyurl.com/JUST-ST

February 28, 2022

We write at the behest of 21 persons incarcerated in the Broome County Jail who continue to be deeply concerned about COVID conditions.  We attach their letter. We redact all but one name, knowing (as documented in lawsuits as well) that those who grieve conditions have been subject to retribution including solitary and physical abuse. 

As you can see from our past investigations and data acquired by Freedom-of-Information requests—see our website www.justiceST.com and this report in particular https://www.justicest.com/index.php/cover-ups-and-covid-19-in-the-broome-county-jail/ —

COVID has greatly worsened medical conditions inside the county jail for over two years.  It has made solitary confinement for 23 hours and 15 minutes a day in a cell the standard response to any sickness, and for whole pods.  And despite these conditions few staff are vaccinated, and many have long openly disdained to use masks. Incarcerated persons report being refused vaccinations. In-person visitation continues to be closed, despite distanced visitation being open in all state prisons and in other jails around the state. 

Even worse, worried families must rely on expensive video calls to maintain contact with their loved ones. Even the ability to call in has been cut off, as have been food shipments from vendors, bras, and thermal underwear (the jail is cold).  Women, particularly Black and pregnant women, have mounted collective protests.  The County has lost a stream of lawsuits in the past, and is currently facing new wrongful death and abuse of younger prisoners lawsuits.  There is no effective oversight by the state.

We ask you to intervene as those inside request, including the release of as many persons as possible from these inhumane conditions.

Sincerely,

Justice and Unity for the Southern Tier

www.justiceSt.com

See link here.

In the face of 15F and a bitter wind, on January 21, 2022 JUST rallied to report and listen to rising women’s grievances from inside the Broome County Jail. These include direct reports of denial of prenatal care, continuing voyeurism by guards, inadequate food and heat, and racial abuse.  Testimonies from women inside were read by local women.  A press report by WSKG is here; pictures from the rally are below.

Press and Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton), 12/05/2021 p. A17

“Do what you’re told N-word”: the story behind violence vs Black Youth in the BC Jail lawsuit

Community organizations’ an open letter the Governor and Attorney General calling on them to  1) remove Sheriff Harder from office, 2) terminate the medical provider’s contract, and 3) conduct an open investigation to excessive deaths, medical, and sexual abuse at the jail.  News coverage: “Local advocates call on Cuomo to address inmate deaths at the Broome County Jail”

Just the Facts 2021 all you wanted to know about mass incarceration Broome County style

Cover-ups and COVID-19 in the Broome County Jail

Who wrote Rob Card’s Death Sentence?

     “I’m TERRIFIED, I fear for my life”
JUST COVID ALERT Broome County Jail
                    January 17, 2021

The sheriff calls the Broome County Jail the safest place to be in these COVID times.

Here is a sample of what we hear from people inside:

“There are 20 positive cases in H pod and they are refusing B and E Tests even though they are showing symptoms and one of the correctional officers said some are looking awful like death”

“We found he [a person removed from the pod] is in the hospital and tested positive for corona…”

“I don’t understand. They are not testing everyone in a pod when someone ‘has covid’.  They either test us all or test every CO coming on shift. This is quite ridiculous!”

“I was quarantined for 9 days because of covid in the pod… and now again a few days later because another in here tested positive…. I am TERRIFIED, and I fear for my life!…

“I am in the jail on a parole violation. Since I’ve been here I’ve been in three quarantines. There have been numerous outbreaks in this jail. They are not testing the officers and not testing the inmates either.  Some officers are not wearing masks.  I have asthma…”

“They just turned off our phones so we can’t make any calls right now!“

“We are quarantined for 10 more days. I was just threatened by the CO”

“This jail runs on men and only men”

“A bunch of us are going on a hunger strike”

People inside are now very desperate to get the news out.   Family and friends make anxious calls daily to lawyers, the press, and state officials.

Contrary to statements by county officials, the jail remains a COVID hotspot.  Day after day, week after week people inside report cases of COVID infection among both the incarcerated and staff.  This is by policy design and deception.  Brutal unsanitary conditions and treatment worsen.

No one knows the extent of the infection since the county tests only those who report severe symptoms.  How many staff and incarcerated folks are tested?  The county has yet to report the number of tests, but it seems very very few over the last eleven months.  This past week one person was secretly hospitalized and only then tested—positive.  There is one instance where the county was forced to test a whole section of the jail, the section with those who do all the laundry and cooking for no pay. They needed the coerced labor. The result?  They found large numbers of cases.

The Sheriffs response to the unchecked spread of COVID in the jail (and then outside it) has been to impose illegal group punishment.  Solitary confinement is imposed on everyone if someone gets sick. Persons in multiple pods report being placed in solitary confinement in their cells for all but 45 minutes a day (to shower, contact lawyers or family, etc.), contravening state regulations. No one knows who is sick. Correctional Officers are often reported as delivering food rather than incarcerated workers due to COVID outbreaks.  Many inside report COs who regularly wear no masks.  Masks are few, sanitizer is lacking, cleaning has often been abandoned, and the heat seems to have been turned off in key pods (sections) of the jail. Persons unfortunate enough to be in the two dormitory pods (one for men, one for women) are stacked on bunk beds, with no ladders to get to the top bunk, and less than 3 feet from the next bunk bed–all while using common and unclean showers and toilets. Given the closure of courts, persons are now held interminably awaiting trial; there is no guarantee of a speedy trial, ever.  Persons who are convicted have not been transferred to state prisons, lingering in the far worse conditions in the local jail.  Indeed, many women report they would have been released for time served if they had been transferred to state prisons but are stuck for months and months in the jail, lacking basic hygiene products.

What can we do?

Tell the press to investigate and report on these conditions. If reporters in New York City can call into the jail, locals can as well. Write the press including:

Press and Sun Bulletin: Ashley Biviano ababbitt@gannett.com
WSKG: Gabe Altieri, galtieri@wskg.org , Jillian Forstadt jforstadt@wskg.org
WIVT: Jim Ehmke JimEhmke@nc34.com  
SUNY-Binghamton Pipedream: Nicole Kaufman nkaufma2@binghamton.edu
NY Post:  Gabrielle Fonrouge GabrielleFonrouge@gmail.com

Write to your elected county officials,

    County Executive Jason Garnar CountyExecutive@BroomeCounty.US  
    Your legislative representative list and finding guide here
and tell them they need to:

• Investigate jail conditions openly
• provide testing and vaccines to persons in the jail
• release as many persons as possible particularly those on short-term and technical parole violation charges

Write and tell the Governor and Attorney General they need to do the same.

Support JUST’s work:

• Send us copies of your messages: southern.tier@gmail.com
• Report news you hear to us: southern.tier@gmail.com
• Donate to help persons inside: JUST donation
• Join our next rally

http://www.justtalk.blog/index.php/2021/01/11/got-covid-get-punished/

Suspected of COVID?  You get punished. That’s the rule at the Broome County Jail.  Under the current administration it can’t be otherwise.  There are too many persons in the unsanitary jail, on too many minor charges. Too many persons are kept locked up due to untreated substance use and mental health illnesses.  Too many are awaiting trial, often for over a year; refuse to plead guilty and accept a punishing criminal record, and you will stay seemingly forever.  And above all too many are housed, in crowded COVID conditions, for other counties, the state, and the federal system–all to make money for the county, from $100 to $300/person per day.

Mass Solitary

What happens if someone reports they are ill?  They are dispatched to isolation in the medical unit, a fate worse than formal solitary. There they lose all communication with the outside world, access to regular exercise, conversation and contact with other human beings. Test positive, if you are tested–for very few tests have been administered and the county refuses to release positivity rates–and you remain in super-solitary for 10 to 14 days. After that period in medical solitary, you are sent to an intake “pod” or section of the jail, to quarantine for another 10 to 14 days with more restrictions. Facing a month of solitary, quarantine, and restriction, is it any wonder that so few will admit to being ill?

And it’s group punishment:  your friends and fellow incarcerated in your home pod are deemed as threats, ill or not, and put in lockdown.  For most people that means being locked in your cold cell alone for 23 hours and 15 minutes a day—you will have 45 minutes at best to phone someone to tell them you are still alive, shower, exchange a book, grab a very short conversation. It’s simply solitary on a mass basis.  Its so widespread that correctional officers have regularly been forced to deliver food across the facility, facilitating even more spread out into the community.

It’s a cold fate literally, for cells, especially in the women’s sections, are by multiple accounts very very cold.  Persons inside report the heat seems to have been turned off and they have been provided an extra blanket as compensation.

There is one exception to the solitary rule: there is a big dormitory room, now split into two quarantine sections, one for men and one for women.  There you sleep and live on a bunk bed, less than 3 feet from everyone else, sharing communal showers and toilets.

Pain and Protest

Dec 12, 2020 JUST Protest Outside Jail

To people inside and friends and family outside, unable to help, these are painful times. 

Is it any wonder that women speak out from inside the jail at inhumane conditions, the lack of basic hygiene, privacy and clothing needs, the inability to access any programs?  What official decided to stop friends and family, even before COVID times, from sending in from Amazon s bras and basic Christian crosses? Should it surprise anyone that threats of retribution and more are meted out regularly to grievances over food by teenagers and diabetics, the lack of masks and sanitizer, the failure to provide adequate time out of cells and access to phones and tablets to contact loved ones?  Or that hunger strikes have now broken out in the jail?

So many persons are suspected of infection, and so few tested, that most of the jail has been in COVID solitary conditions for weeks on end.  People inside have called out to multiple community organizations, the press, their lawyers, and the courts for relief.  Protests occur regularly still outside the jail and county offices.  To date, to no avail:  our elected officials and health department see no evil, hear no evil, fail to act at every turn. Meanwhile the pain, and protest, build.

“Thank you , it is SO good to have books”

Its amazing what a simple used $5 novel can do.  For its desperate times in our COVID hotspot jail.  Most sections are locked down, meaning women and men often spend 20 hours or more locked in their cages.  Its mass solitary confinement endangering everyone’s health and sanity.  After freedom now, persons inside most often ask for books.  Science fiction, novels of every description,  history books, dictionaries, large print bibles and Korans.  The joy they bring is incalculable:

“Having crossword books is wonderful… I get to actually engage my brain and think! It is a mindless sad existence here… thank you again”

Please help us respond to these requests.  The requests are numerous, and for $15 we can often send three $5 used novels from discount bookstores. 

Donate via our paypal/credit card button

or by check paid to “Justice and Unity for the Southern Tier”, JUST, POB 93, Bible School Park, NY 13737

Press Sun Bulletin 12 11 20 article