“MDCR has procedures in place for the suitable consumption, housing, and medical wants of transgender inmates, and we’re dedicated to making sure that every one inmates in our custody, together with transgender individuals, are handled appropriately all through our consumption, classification and placement course of,” the assertion reads.
The corrections division says Nikita Dragun by no means made it past the reserving course of previous to launch and due to this fact “was by no means positioned in a males’s unit.”
“All inmates present process our consumption course of stay in an open seating (open reserving) space, within the presence of correctional employees. Additionally, inmate Dragun was positioned in a holding cell by herself resulting from her excessive profile standing earlier than being launched, and she or he was escorted by an LGBTQ officer throughout her time on the corrections facility.
“MDCR protocols and procedures for the secure consumption of transgender inmates had been adopted appropriately within the dealing with of Nikita Dragun’s reserving and launch,” the assertion continues.
Police and county information point out that Dragun was categorised as a person in the course of the arrest course of. A employees member at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center confirmed to New Times that female and male arrestees are held in separate areas within the reserving facility.
A corrections division spokesperson indicated it was Miami Beach police who categorised Dragun as a person previous to her reserving.
Dragun’s legal professional has not responded to a request for touch upon the case.
The unique story follows beneath.
After transgender influencer Nikita Dragun was arrested and charged with assault on a police officer in Miami Beach, the 26-year-old was booked on the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center late at night time on November 7. Dragun says she was then held in a males’s space on the jail, which isn’t constant along with her gender id or jail coverage.
At her first look, Dragun held again tears as she pleaded with Judge Mindy Glazer to switch her.
“Your honor, do I’ve to remain right here within the males’s unit nonetheless?” Dragun requested.
Glazer responded, “I don’t make the rules up there,” deferring the query to corrections officers.
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According to a 2017 memorandum and directive for housing transgender detainees at Miami-Dade County jails, “transgender inmates shall be categorised and housed based mostly on housing availability, security and safety wants, and their gender id.”
Dragun has amassed greater than 25 million followers throughout TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. She turned common for her magnificence and make-up tutorials and for her content material about her gender transition.
On the night time of the arrest, Miami Beach police had been known as to the Goodtime Hotel on Washington Avenue after Dragun allegedly brought on a disturbance on the pool space. Hotel safety reportedly requested Dragun to placed on garments as a result of she had been strolling across the pool nude. She then doused the safety guards in water and went to her lodge room, in line with police.
When officers arrived, they went to Dragun’s room, the place music was blasting, and knocked on the door. They advised her if she didn’t pipe down, she must be escorted from the property. Dragun then reportedly closed the door earlier than barely opening it to ask the officers and safety guards, “Do you need extra?” Police allege she swung her water bottle, spraying an officer with water.
She was arrested and charged with assault on a police officer, disorderly conduct, and battery. She has since been launched from custody.
Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department (MDCR) has confronted stark criticism for its dealing with of transgender arrestees previously.
In April 2021, a number of LGBTQ advocacy teams and attorneys despatched a letter to county mayor Daniella Levine Cava demanding the corrections division overhaul its insurance policies relating to transgender detainees. This got here after three transgender protesters mentioned they had been subjected to genital inspections, humiliation by MDCR employees, and inappropriate questions throughout their stints at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in the summertime of 2020.
After the letter didn’t immediate the specified adjustments inside MDCR, the three protesters sued the county and MDCR officers in February 2022 over their alleged mistreatment.
The Prison Rape Elimination Act, a regulation handed in 2003 however totally enacted in 2012, asserts that transgender inmates should be housed on a case-by-case foundation in line with their threat degree and never their sexual organs nor gender assigned at beginning. Federal prisons are required to observe the regulation; state and county prisons can lose funding in the event that they don’t comply.
A 2020 investigation by NBC News discovered that out of 4,890 trans prisoners documented within the U.S., solely 15 had been reported to be housed in gender-appropriate cells. The phenomenon was attributed to the Trump administration’s revision of Obama’s 2016 Transgender Offender Manual. The revision modified language within the handbook to advise that transgender inmates be housed in line with their “biological sex.”
Although the Trump administration’s guidelines nonetheless stand, there may be rising outrage on the remedy of trans prisoners, largely resulting from misgendering and sexual violence.
According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, transgender prisoners are at disproportionately excessive threat of being assaulted or abused by jail employees or different prisoners as in comparison with their cisgender counterparts. In a 2016 research by the Movement Advancement Project, 24 p.c of trans girls reported being raped whereas incarcerated.
Although Florida doesn’t have any clearly outlined statutes on transgender inmates, the eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals dominated in 2020 that the Florida Department of Corrections can prohibit transgender inmates’ hair size and refuse to permit them to decorate as their gender id. Hormone substitute remedy and different types of gender-affirming care are accessible in Florida prisons however these lodging are as much as the jail employees. Solid information on what number of trans inmates are abused or denied gender-affirming lodging is difficult to report since many trans inmates face violence and harassment from employees for talking out.