Trans woman wins landmark settlement after horrific jailhouse abuse

A Black transgender woman who suffered violence, denial of medical care, and gender discrimination in an upstate New York county jail has won a landmark settlement, the ACLU of New York announced.

Makyyla Holland, 25, sued Broome County in 2022 over her treatment at the hands of officials in the jail during 2021. She was represented by the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), and pro bono counsel Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.

Related:

California sues school district over its policy to forcibly out trans students

“They have taken great pains to go out of their way… to trample the rights of children,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said.

The settlement directs the county to implement a sweeping policy affirming the rights of transgender people with respect to housing placement, access to medical care, searches, and freedom from harassment and discrimination, NYCLU said.

Stay connected to your community

Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter.

Daily

Weekly

Good News

“The mistreatment and abuse of transgender women in jails and prisons is widespread across New York State,” said Bobby Hodgson, Director of LGBTQ Rights Litigation at the New York Civil Liberties Union. “Thanks to Ms. Holland’s courage and persistence, jails and prisons are on notice that they have an obligation to treat transgender people with dignity.”

According to the lawsuit, during her time in Broome County’s custody in 2021, the sheriff’s office and its staff discriminated against Holland on the basis of her sex, transgender status, and disability; beat her; subjected her to illegal strip searches; housed her with men and in isolation; and denied her access to prescribed medications, including antidepressants and hormone treatments, triggering severe withdrawal symptoms.

Her treatment violated her rights under the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments and the Americans With Disabilities Act, among other federal and state laws, according to the suit. 

“No one should ever have to go through what I went through at the Broome County Jail, and I am so grateful that with this new policy, hopefully no one else ever will; this is a great outcome,” Holland said. “This policy and policies like it can impact a lot of my community, and I will continue to fight to ensure that no other trans person in New York or anywhere has to endure what I did.”

Holland will receive $160,000 for the harms she suffered as part of the settlement.

Other terms Broome County has committed to include: housing consistent with detainees’ gender identity; conducting searches with an officer whose gender is considered safest by the inmate; use of preferred pronouns; access to clothing and toiletry items consistent with a person’s gender identity, including gender-affirming items such as binders, wigs, and gaffs; access to medical care free from discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation, including access to medical care for treatment of gender dysphoria.

Holland’s settlement follows a string of successful challenges to local jurisdictions over abuse of trans prisoners’ rights.

In August 2020, NYCLU and the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) reached another landmark settlement with Steuben County in New York, adopting similar policies negotiated with the involvement of the New York State Sheriffs’ Association. In 2022, the ACLU of Illinois negotiated a settlement with the Bureau of Prisons securing housing in a women’s facility and transgender health care for a transgender woman. And this year, Gender Justice secured a settlement that included access to transgender health care and relocation to a  women’s prison for a trans woman who sued the Minnesota Department of Corrections.

“At a time when trans people are increasingly under attack across the country, it is even more important for states and local governments to affirmatively protect trans people in custody,” said Shayna Medley, Senior Litigation Staff Attorney at TLDEF.

“No one should be subjected to violence, illegally strip-searched, denied necessary medical care, or forced into unsafe housing conditions while in jail, and we are pleased that Broome County has agreed to implement policies that will better protect transgender people’s safety while in custody,” Medley added.