Friend,

In 2020, Gabriela Amaya Cruz, Christian Pallidine and Ángel Jae
Torres Bucci were arrested in Miami-Dade County, Florida, while
protesting in defense of Black lives. All criminal charges against
them were later dropped - but the effects of the abuse they
suffered while in county custody linger to this day.

Amaya Cruz, Pallidine and Torres Bucci are transgender and are
entitled to equal treatment that respects their gender identity under
the law. Instead, they were singled out because they are trans for
different and worse treatment by correctional staff at Turner Guilford
Knight Correctional Center in Miami.

On Jan. 31, we filed a lawsuit on the trio's behalf, in
partnership with Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund and the
Harvard Law School LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic. We are taking Miami-Dade
County to court to ensure that the county's policies regarding
the health, safety and dignity of transgender people in county jails
meet the standards required by the Constitution and state and federal
law.

"Transgender people deserve dignity and respect, especially in
settings where they are at increased risk such as local jails,"
said Scott McCoy, interim deputy legal director for LGBTQ Rights at
the SPLC. "Unfortunately, Miami-Dade County failed our clients
miserably."

As detailed in the complaint, correctional staff called the three
plaintiffs degrading and humiliating names including "it"
and "hermaphrodite," addressed and referenced them using
the wrong gender pronouns and names, threatened their safety,
manhandled and physically hurt them, forced them to remove personal
accessories that aligned with their gender, isolated them in solitary
cells, denied them medical treatment, required them to wear clothing
associated with the wrong gender in order to be freed from jail, and
undertook illegal strip searches of two of the plaintiffs.

The complaint seeks damages for Amaya Cruz, Pallidine and Torres Bucci
for injury suffered in custody and a declaration that Miami-Dade
County's actions violated the law.

You can learn more about the suit, including a list of recommended
changes to jail policies and practices, and the experiences of the
plaintiffs here

[link removed]

. You can also show your support for the three plaintiffs by signing a
petition here
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.

In solidarity,

Your friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center

 


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