Ep15: Broken Prison System ~ Kim Wirtz, Layleen Polanco, Roxsana Hernandez, LeslieAnn Manning & Jenna Mitchell
Broken Prison System for Transgender Women: Trans women of color are jailed more frequently — and suffer trauma and discrimination more brutally — than the general population.
Kim Wirtz, a 43-year-old Asian transgender woman, was found unconscious on February 25, 2021, in a single jail cell at the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center.
Layleen Polanco, an Afro-Latina transgender woman was found unresponsive in her cell, and suffered from a documented seizure disorder at the Rose M. Singer Center on Rikers Island, a woman's facility, and was reported to have been in solitary confinement following an alleged fight.
Roxsana Hernandez, a 33-year-old transgender Honduran woman who was part of the Central American migrant caravan in late April 2020, died of pneumonia complications at a hospital in New Mexico on May 25, 2020, while in custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Kim Wirtz, a 43-year-old Asian transgender woman, was found unconscious on February 25, 2021, in a single jail cell at the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center.
Layleen Polanco, an Afro-Latina transgender woman was found unresponsive in her cell, and suffered from a documented seizure disorder at the Rose M. Singer Center on Rikers Island, a woman's facility, and was reported to have been in solitary confinement following an alleged fight.
Roxsana Hernandez, a 33-year-old transgender Honduran woman who was part of the Central American migrant caravan in late April 2020, died of pneumonia complications at a hospital in New Mexico on May 25, 2020, while in custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
LeslieAnn Manning - A 53-year-old transgender prison inmate who sued the state of New York, saying she was raped in a men’s prison on Feb. 5, 2013, has died of lung cancer days before she was to be freed on parole on Sept. 23, 2019.
Jenna Mitchell, 25, on December 2, 2017, was found hanging with bedsheets while in solitary confinement, at Valdosta State Prison. Before she hanged herself on Dec. 4, 2017, she had been housed in solitary confinement for more than two weeks. She died after having been in a coma for two days before life support was withdrawn.
“We’re dying at an alarming rate,”
~ Iya Dammons, the executive director of Safe Haven Baltimore
EDUCATE/SUPPORT:
- Justice For Kim | Baltimore Safe Haven started this petition to Baltimore City Central Booking Unit and 2 others | https://www.change.org/p/baltimore-city-central-booking-unit-justice-for-kim
- DISMANTLING a culture of violence | Understanding Anti-Transgender Violence and Ending the Crisis | Dismantling-a-Culture-of-Violence-010721.pdf (hrc-prod-requests.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com)
ARTICLES/SOURCES:
375 Transgender People Murdered In 2021-‘Deadliest Year’ Since Records Began | Forbes | 11/11/21 | 375 Transgender People Murdered In 2021-‘Deadliest Year’ Since Records Began (forbes.com)
Kimberly Wirtz (Tova) | | | Remembering Our Dead - Kimberly Wirtz ("Tova") (26 Feb 2021) (translivesmatter.info)
Remembering Our Dead | Transgender Day of Remembrance | 2022 | https://tdor.translivesmatter.info/pages/stats
Family, advocates seek answers following a trans woman’s death at Baltimore city jail | Baltimore Sun | Mar 16, 2021 | https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-ci-cr-jail-death-20210316-mqt5ri5li5eufhqwy3so7mye7a-story.html
A Trans Woman Died in a Baltimore Jail Cell. Her Family Wants Answers | them Magazine | 3/18/2021 | A Trans Woman Died in a Baltimore Jail Cell. Her Family Wants Answers | Them
Additional Concerning Deaths of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Individuals | Human Rights Campaign | 2022 | Additional Concerning Deaths of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Individuals - Human Rights Campaign (hrc.org)
One month after a trans prisoner died, the jail still hasn’t told her family what happened | LGBTQ Nation | March 20, 2021 | One month after a trans prisoner died, the jail still hasn't told her family what happened - LGBTQ Nation
| | | https://freestate-justice.org/justice4kim-and-tlgbq-prison-reform-now/
America’s War on Black Trans Women | Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review | Sep 23, 2020 | https://harvardcrcl.org/americas-war-on-black-trans-women/
The Criminal Justice System's Mistreatment of Transgender Individuals: A Call for Policy Reform to Assist a Marginalized Prisoner Community | Inquiries Journal | 2019 | The Criminal Justice System's Mistreatment of Transgender Individuals: A Call for Policy Reform to Assist a Marginalized Prisoner Community - Inquiries Journal
UNJUST: HOW THE BROKEN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM FAILS TRANSGENDER PEOPLE | The Center for American Progress | May 2016 | lgbt-criminal-justice-trans.pdf (lgbtmap.org)
Md. House unanimously passes bill to ban LGBTQ panic defense | Blade America's LGBTQ News Source | March 10, 2021 | Md. House unanimously passes bill to ban LGBTQ panic defense (washingtonblade.com)
Black transgender youth protest treatment at Baltimore jail | Blade America's LGBTQ News Source | November 15, 2021 | Black transgender youth protest treatment at Baltimore jail (washingtonblade.com)
Transgender woman becomes sixth person to die in ICE custody since October | ThinkProgress | May 30, 2018 | Transgender woman becomes sixth person to die in ICE custody since October – ThinkProgress
Trans ICE Detainee Who Died in Private Prison Is Subject of New Wrongful Death Lawsuit | Them. Us | May 2020 | Trans ICE Detainee Who Died in Private Prison Is Subject of New Wrongful Death Lawsuit | Them
Transgender prisoner who sued dies days before release | Associated Press | September 19, 2019 | Transgender prisoner who sued dies days before release | AP News
Family gets $2.2 million settlement for death of Georgia inmate, calls for criminal investigation | CNN | December 6, 2021 | Family gets $2.2 million settlement for death of Georgia inmate, calls for criminal investigation - CNN
What happened to Jenna Mitchell? Just another transgender woman prisoner suicide in Georgia | Women in and Beyond the Global | December 7, 2019 | What happened to Jenna Mitchell? Just another transgender woman prisoner suicide in Georgia (womeninandbeyond.org)
PATREON SHOUTOUT:
Kat K. Member as of April 20, 2022
9DqdwqRm7e4EOCV4sYGc
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
375 Transgender People Murdered In 2021-‘Deadliest Year’ Since Records Began | Forbes | 11/11/21 | 375 Transgender People Murdered In 2021-‘Deadliest Year’ Since Records Began (forbes.com)
Kimberly Wirtz (Tova) | | | Remembering Our Dead - Kimberly Wirtz ("Tova") (26 Feb 2021) (translivesmatter.info)
Remembering Our Dead | Transgender Day of Remembrance | 2022 | https://tdor.translivesmatter.info/pages/stats
Family, advocates seek answers following a trans woman’s death at Baltimore city jail | Baltimore Sun | Mar 16, 2021 | https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-ci-cr-jail-death-20210316-mqt5ri5li5eufhqwy3so7mye7a-story.html
A Trans Woman Died in a Baltimore Jail Cell. Her Family Wants Answers | them Magazine | 3/18/2021 | A Trans Woman Died in a Baltimore Jail Cell. Her Family Wants Answers | Them
Additional Concerning Deaths of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Individuals | Human Rights Campaign | 2022 | Additional Concerning Deaths of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Individuals - Human Rights Campaign (hrc.org)
One month after a trans prisoner died, the jail still hasn’t told her family what happened | LGBTQ Nation | March 20, 2021 | One month after a trans prisoner died, the jail still hasn't told her family what happened - LGBTQ Nation
| | | https://freestate-justice.org/justice4kim-and-tlgbq-prison-reform-now/
America’s War on Black Trans Women | Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review | Sep 23, 2020 | https://harvardcrcl.org/americas-war-on-black-trans-women/
The Criminal Justice System's Mistreatment of Transgender Individuals: A Call for Policy Reform to Assist a Marginalized Prisoner Community | Inquiries Journal | 2019 | The Criminal Justice System's Mistreatment of Transgender Individuals: A Call for Policy Reform to Assist a Marginalized Prisoner Community - Inquiries Journal
UNJUST: HOW THE BROKEN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM FAILS TRANSGENDER PEOPLE | The Center for American Progress | May 2016 | lgbt-criminal-justice-trans.pdf (lgbtmap.org)
Md. House unanimously passes bill to ban LGBTQ panic defense | Blade America's LGBTQ News Source | March 10, 2021 | Md. House unanimously passes bill to ban LGBTQ panic defense (washingtonblade.com)
Black transgender youth protest treatment at Baltimore jail | Blade America's LGBTQ News Source | November 15, 2021 | Black transgender youth protest treatment at Baltimore jail (washingtonblade.com)
Transgender woman becomes sixth person to die in ICE custody since October | ThinkProgress | May 30, 2018 | Transgender woman becomes sixth person to die in ICE custody since October – ThinkProgress
Trans ICE Detainee Who Died in Private Prison Is Subject of New Wrongful Death Lawsuit | Them. Us | May 2020 | Trans ICE Detainee Who Died in Private Prison Is Subject of New Wrongful Death Lawsuit | Them
Transgender prisoner who sued dies days before release | Associated Press | September 19, 2019 | Transgender prisoner who sued dies days before release | AP News
Family gets $2.2 million settlement for death of Georgia inmate, calls for criminal investigation | CNN | December 6, 2021 | Family gets $2.2 million settlement for death of Georgia inmate, calls for criminal investigation - CNN
What happened to Jenna Mitchell? Just another transgender woman prisoner suicide in Georgia | Women in and Beyond the Global | December 7, 2019 | What happened to Jenna Mitchell? Just another transgender woman prisoner suicide in Georgia (womeninandbeyond.org)
PATREON SHOUTOUT:
Kat K. Member as of April 20, 2022
9DqdwqRm7e4EOCV4sYGc
