KSTP is reporting that a transgender woman (biological male) that was housed at Moose Lake Prison won a lawsuit, is getting $495,000 and being transferred to Shakopee Women's prison.
Full story here: https://kstp.com/kstp-news/minnesota-news/doc-settles-trans-rights-lawsuit-to-transfer-first-inmate-under-new-policy/
This creates another quandary for Corrections Officers. The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) has many requirements.
Inmates are routinely searched in jails and prisons.
For one PREA States, "The Facility shall not conduct cross gender strip searches or cross gender visual body cavity searches..." (ss115.15)
Facilities with less than 50 inmates cannot perform cross gender pat searches of female inmates. What is Minnesota considering a female inmate now? Maybe someone can ask Justice Ketanji Brown.
The facilities are to "implement policies and procedures that enable inmates to shower, perform bodily functions and change clothing without nonmedical staff of the opposite gender viewing their, breasts, buttocks or genitalia..." Are inmates to be unsupervised in showers?
All PREA violations are required to be investigated. A PREA violation can be inmates alleging sexual misconduct from other inmates, staff, or staff ignoring a complaint. This means CO's face the very real possibility of spending time on Administrative leave, harm to their reputations and of course more staffing shortages.
In New Jersey a trans inmate got two other inmates pregnant before being transferred to a male prison. Like Minnesota this trans inmate also won a lawsuit to be placed in a Woman's Prison. https://www.metroweekly.com/2022/04/female-inmates-pregnant-after-having-sex-with-transgender-inmate/
In New York a Trans Rikers Island inmate was convicted of raping two female inmates and sentenced to 7 years. https://nypost.com/2022/04/25/transgender-rikers-inmate-gets-7-years-for-raping-female-prisoner/
In Illinois an inmate is suing the Illinois Department of Corrections under the Prison Rape Elimination Act claiming she was raped by a trans inmate and the incident was swept under the carpet. https://news.wttw.com/2020/02/19/lawsuit-female-prisoner-says-she-was-raped-transgender-inmate
One of the primary jobs of a CO is the safety and security of the facility. Rulings like this make keeping inmates safe infinitely more difficult. I'm afraid Minnesota is going to learn what New Jersey, New York and Illinois learned the hard way. Sadly some female inmates will bear the brunt and some CO's may be caught in a web of conflicting laws and regulations.
