N.J. prisons to base housing on gender

New Jersey’s prison system is about to begin housing inmates based on gender identity, the result of a lawsuit filed in 2019 by a transgender woman who said she was forced to live in men’s prisons for a year and a half.

The new policy goes into effect July 1 and provides greater protections for transgender, intersex and nonbinary people in state prisons, most importantly by housing them based on the gender they identify with rather than by sex assigned at birth. Inmates can provide information about their gender identity at any time during their incarceration, under the policy.

Other protections include single-cell housing while final housing determinations are being made; being able to shower separately from other inmates; the right to have input into housing decision and to appeal those decisions, and a prohibition of physical examinations to determine an inmate’s genital status. Pat-down searches or strip searches by transgender women by male officers will be prohibited.

The policy will be maintained for at least one year, according to the settlement.

“This policy places New Jersey in the vanguard of states committed to protecting transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people in prison housing determinations and continues its path toward eliminating discrimination based on gender identity,” said Tess Borden, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union in New Jersey, which represented the woman along with attorney Robyn Gigl.

Under terms of the settlement, the woman, identified in court papers as Sonia Doe, will receive $125,000 in damages and $45,000 for attorneys’ fees, and won’t face any sanctions in connection with an assault that occurred in prison in May 2019.