A transgender inmate convicted of “violent crimes” has reached an undisclosed settlement with the Illinois Department of Corrections in a lawsuit alleging she should have been transferred to a female prison.
District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel entered an order last month stating that the action is settled in its entirety. The parties requested additional time to finalize settlement documents, so she ordered the case to be dismissed with prejudice in 120 days.
The parties first engaged in a settlement conference on Nov. 18 via zoom before Magistrate Judge Mark Beatty. Plaintiff Tay Tay appeared with attorneys Sheila Bedi and Vanessa Del Valle. Attorneys Carla Tolbert and Melissa Jennings appeared on behalf of the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). The case did not settle at that time and a second settlement conference was ordered.
A second settlement conference via telephone was held Dec. 3. Rosenstengel wrote that Tolbert conveyed a settlement offer to the plaintiff’s counsel. Tay Tay’s counsel was ordered to respond by Dec. 10.
Tay Tay filed a second amended complaint on Aug. 24 against Illinois Department of Corrections Director Rob Jeffreys, Warden Jeff Dennison, Assistant Warden Walker, Kristin Hammersley, Sergeant Hicks, Lieutenant Pickford, Officer Garret, Officer Soria, Lieutenant Campbell, Internal Affairs Officer Stuck, Officer Ronald Hutchison, Warden Kimberly Larson, Dr. William Puga and Dr. Shane Reister. The lawsuit was originally filed in May 2019.
According to the complaint, Tay Tay is a transgender woman who allegedly began identifying as female “in places where she felt comfortable.” The plaintiff then allegedly decided to openly identify as female about 10 years ago while in IDOC custody. Tay Tay entered IDOC custody in 2002 after being “convicted of violent crimes” and was released on July 20, 2020. During that time, the plaintiff was exclusively housed in men’s prisons.
In 2003, Tay Tay allegedly told a nurse at Stateville that she identifies as a woman, and claims she was wrongfully refused treatment. Tay Tay claimed that in 2010, a mental health professional “recognized that she is a transgender woman.” The plaintiff began receiving hormone therapy while incarcerated from 2013 to 2015. Hormone therapy was discontinued after Tay Tay expressed concerns about the risks of developing diabetes and concerns about harassment from other prisoners.
“The hormones caused plaintiff’s features to feminize and decreased her strength, making her a target for sexual assaults by other prisoners,” the suit stated. “Plaintiff was primarily concerned about her safety and wanted to be able to transition in an environment where she felt safe and protected.”
Tay Tay claimed that while incarcerated in the IDOC, she was sexually assaulted by other prisoners and subjected to sexual harassment by both prisoners and IDOC staff.
“Prisoners were constantly exposing themselves to plaintiff, extorting her, groping her, and touching her inappropriately,” the suit stated.
Tay Tay was allegedly placed in a prison cell with another prisoner identified to be a “predator” who is accused of raping the plaintiff.
As a result of the alleged harassment, Tay Tay allegedly experienced mental health crises, including crying spells, mood swings, panic attacks, nightmares, depression, suicide attempts and self-mutilation. The plaintiff was allegedly placed on suicide watch at least six times.
Tay Tay was later transferred to Shawnee Correctional Center, Dixon Correctional Center, Graham Correctional Center and Danville Correctional Center. She remained at Danville until her release from IDOC custody in July. During that time, the plaintiff requested to be transferred to a women’s prison. The suit stated that the Transgender Care Review Committee, TCRC, is responsible for making placement recommendations for transgender prisoners in IDOC. The TCRC reviewed Tay Tay’s transfer request on July 16, 2019, and unanimously voted against transferring the plaintiff.
“In deciding not to transfer plaintiff to Logan, the TCRC considered plaintiff’s height and musculature, her functioning male organs, and the experiences of two other transgender women recently transferred to Logan,” the suit stated. “However, none of these factors were legitimate justifications to deny plaintiff’s transfer to Logan.”
The suit stated that the plaintiff was taunted and antagonized when she attempted to bring up safety concerns after the preliminary injunction hearing in this case. Tay Tay was granted preliminary injunction in May, according to the complaint.
Tay Tay alleged officers later used the COVID-19 pandemic “as an excuse to ignore plaintiff’s safety concerns.”
“During her last few months in IDOC custody, other prisoners in her housing unit began to escalate their harassment of plaintiff, knowing that officers were not paying attention to plaintiff’s complaints due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the suit stated.
The plaintiff argued in the complaint that female prisoners have “different needs” than male prisoners.
“In particular, women are more likely than men to have experienced sexual abuse or other forms of victimization in the past. Likewise, women typically come to prison with significant trauma histories,” the suit stated.
According to the complaint, Tay Tay would have benefited from being housed in the women’s Logan Correctional Center, where the mental health program is “equipped to deal with prisoners suffering from trauma disorders and gender dysphoria.”
Tay Tay claimed she is not sexually attracted to women and would not have presented a risk to the other female prisoners.
“Although plaintiff was convicted of violent crimes, the same is true for a significant number of cisgender women currently housed at Logan,” the suit stated.
The prison staff defendants filed a motion to dismiss the complaint on Sept. 22 through Assistant Attorney General Carla Tolbert.
They argue that Tay Tay improperly joined claims and that “the alleged acts or omissions of these defendants are separate and completely unrelated to the actions of any other defendant at any particular facility.”
In an opposition to the motion to dismiss, Tay Tay argued that the claims arise out of the same series of occurrences.
“Plaintiff’s complaint focuses on a series of events stemming from one issue: her continued placement in men’s prisons despite her transgender status,” the opposition stated.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number 19-cv-501