Judge threatens to punish men’s prison for “humiliating” cavity search of trans female inmate

A federal judge has threatened to punish an Oregon prison for allegedly abusing a transgender woman inmate. The judge gave prison officials a December 18 deadline to respond to the inmate’s allegations that male guards performed a body-cavity search on her, “paraded” her in her underwear in front of male inmates, and caused the inmate to urinate on herself — all of which defied a court order previously issued by the same judge.

U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken had told the state Department of Corrections in September that Zera Lola Zombie — a 39-year-old trans inmate at Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla, Oregon — should not have her exposed body seen by other male inmates or staff. Aiken’s ruling came in response to Zombie’s 2021 lawsuit alleging discrimination and sexual assault at the all-male prison due to her gender identity.

Related: Trans inmate forced to detransition as prison doctors try to inject her with testosterone

Sarah Jane Baker remains behind bars despite being found “not guilty” last August.

However, Zombie’s lawyers say that corrections officers ignored the court order when, on November 13, two guards handcuffed Zombie, placed her in a 2.5-by-2.5-foot segregation cell — which was too small for sitting — and notified her that she would be strip-searched and made to urinate in a cup for a drug test. When Zombie mentioned Aiken’s court order, which required a female guard to carry out these actions, the guards reportedly left her alone in the cell until Zombie urinated on herself, the East Oregonian reported.

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The guards later cited Zombie for “contraband” and “disobedience” for refusing to submit to a male-conducted search and urinalysis. The guards said they were searching inmates for “spice,” a synthetic form of cannabis.

After soiling herself, Zombie said she removed her soiled clothes so they could dry and, when the guards returned, they allegedly handcuffed her and “paraded her” in her bra and underwear in front of other male inmates and staff. The guards reportedly took her into another room. There, a male officer conducted a “humiliating body cavity search” for the drugs, Zombies lawyers wrote in a court filing. No drugs were recovered.

When Judge Aiken asked corrections officers about the searches, Nathan Riemersma, a lawyer with the Oregon Department of Justice, replied that the prison accommodates female-led strip searches only if a trained female guard is available. Aiken rejected Riemersma’s response, telling him that the prison should’ve delayed the body-cavity search until a trained female guard was available, especially since the suspected drugs weren’t life-threatening, like heroin or fentanyl.

When Riemersma remarked that he didn’t realize the judge’s earlier order was meant to change “the operations of the institution,” Aiken said it seemed like guards were punishing Zombie for being protected by Aiken’s court order. Zombie’s lawyers say Aiken’s order has done little to reduce the transphobic violence and harassment she faces in the prison.

“To me, she is not the only transgender individual in the system,” Aiken said. “So these are precautions that need to be addressed. You need to answer each one of those allegations in detail [by December 18]. … This has me very concerned… You can barely get through these allegations without wondering, does somebody have any common sense?”

If corrections officials don’t explain why they conducted themselves in defiance of her earlier order, she may hold the officials in contempt of court. As of now, it is not known whether prison officials responded by the deadline.

Related: I am a trans woman who was incarcerated in a men’s prison. Here’s what you need to know.

The fact that these people don’t see me as vulnerable, as feminine, as prey, and as without power or protection is outrageous and infuriating. 

“You need to go talk to [corrections officials] about what’s expected and convey that when people are in the care of the state of Oregon and corrections for whatever crime it is they are in for, our responsibility is that they are treated appropriately, humanely and they receive their sanctions for their sentence,” Aiken said. “We are not sending people into prison to be further abused.”

Zombie is serving a 35-year sentence for a first-degree manslaughter conviction in the fatal beating of a girlfriend and a first-degree assault conviction for attacking a fellow inmate at the Umatilla County Jail in Pendleton, Oregon.

Nearly 5,000 transgender people are incarcerated in state prisons, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. Most are people of color, most are denied routine healthcare in prison, and an estimated 35% reported harassment by other inmates and prison staff, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality.

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