Text of CO HR 1007 (2018)

Second Regular Session Seventy-first General Assembly STATE OF COLORADO INTRODUCED LLS NO. R18-1288.01 Gwynne Middleton x4340 HR18-1007 House Committees HOUSE RESOLUTION 18-1007 CONCERNING THE COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS' NEED 101 TO REVIEW AND REVISE POLICIES TO IMPROVE SAFETY FOR 102 TRANSGENDER INMATES. 103 WHEREAS, Jails and prisons can be traumatizing for inmates for 1 many reasons, including the troubling reality that they are often the sites 2 for dangerous interactions with fellow inmates and with correctional staff, 3 especially for transgender inmates and anyone who is gender 4 nonconforming; and 5 WHEREAS, Transgender inmates are particularly vulnerable in 6 U.S. prisons because of a general policy of housing inmates according to 7 birth-assigned gender or genital configuration, regardless of their current 8 appearance or gender identity; and 9 WHEREAS, The most recent Bureau of Justice statistics from 10 2012 estimate that 3,200 inmates in America's state and federal prisons 11 identify as transgender and that approximately 40% of transgender 12 inmates reported being a victim of abusive sexual contact by another 13 inmate or a staff member, 10 times the rate among the general prison 14 population; and 15 HOUSE SPONSORSHIP Herod and Benavidez, Esgar Shading denotes HOUSE amendment. Double underlining denotes SENATE amendment. Capital letters or bold & italic numbers indicate new material to be added to existing statute. Dashes through the words indicate deletions from existing statute. WHEREAS, Transgender inmates often do not report sexual abuse 1 and assault for fear of being placed in solitary confinement, as the prison's 2 default safety protocol, or of being viewed as an informant by fellow 3 inmates, a designation that increases the likelihood of further violence; 4 and 5 WHEREAS, As a result of these well-founded fears, transgender 6 inmates do not receive crisis counseling or treatment to deal with abusive 7 incidents and may actually be punished by correctional staff for reporting 8 abuses; and 9 WHEREAS, The "Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003" (PREA) 10 was the first federal law intended to deter the sexual assault of prisoners 11 within the U.S. prison system through a "zero-tolerance" policy, as well 12 as through thorough research and information gathering to raise 13 awareness about the issue; and 14 WHEREAS, The PREA goals were further improved through a 15 comprehensive review by the National Prison Rape Elimination 16 Commission in 2009, which finalized national standards for the 17 prevention of sexual assault in prison that include guidelines to protect 18 transgender inmates from physical abuse by fellow inmates and by 19 correctional staff; and 20 WHEREAS, These PREA guidelines have served as a cornerstone 21 to improve prison and jail safety conditions for all inmates, including 22 those who identify as transgender, and within Colorado, Denver County 23 Jail has implemented policies directed at improving jail safety conditions 24 for transgender inmates, including a "statement of preference form" to 25 allow for inmates to provide a preferred name and preferred pronouns and 26 the possibility of inmate housing in the section of the jail based on gender 27 identity; and 28 WHEREAS, Despite improvements in some prisons across the 29 country and local jail systems like Denver County Jail, the Colorado 30 Department of Corrections continues with an outdated policy, AR 31 Number 700-4, which is at best inadequate with respect to the treatment 32 of transgender inmates, and transgender inmates housed in Colorado 33 Department of Corrections facilities continue to face physical violence 34 because of their gender identity, such as in the incident of the brutal 35 sexual assault of Lindsay Saunders-Velez last year; Ms. Saunders-Velez 36 HR18-1007 -2- is a transgender inmate who identifies as a female and who was ordered 1 to be placed in a male inmate disciplinary pod at the Colorado Territorial 2 Correctional Facility in Cañon City, where men who had threatened to 3 assault her were also housed; and 4 WHEREAS, One mission of the Colorado Department of 5 Corrections is to evaluate, house, and provide secure, safe, and humane 6 custody of all inmates, including transgender inmates, until their lawful 7 and appropriate release or transfer to another authority; and 8 WHEREAS, Through the adoption of PREA guidelines for 9 transgender inmate care, the Colorado Department of Corrections can 10 ensure that no other transgender inmate will experience the dehumanizing 11 violence that Ms. Saunders-Velez endured; now, therefore, 12 Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Seventy-first 13 General Assembly of the State of Colorado: 14 That the members of the House of Representatives request that the 15 Colorado Department of Corrections: 16 (1) Review and revise a policy that is consistent with PREA 17 guidelines; American Correctional Association (ACA) standards; 18 National Correctional Care Health Commission (NCCHC) standards; best 19 practices of correctional facilities such as the Delaware Department of 20 Corrections and local jails such as Denver County Jail; and other 21 correctional facility and jail best practices, standards, regulations, and 22 guidelines that ensure the safety, security, and medical needs of 23 transgender inmates within Colorado's correctional facilities, including 24 guidelines that hold inmates criminally and civilly liable for perpetrating 25 these heinous acts and that hold correctional facility staff criminally and 26 civilly liable for not acting in the best interest of safety for all inmates 27 housed in their facilities; 28 (2) After the revised and updated policy is in effect, review on a 29 quarterly basis the implementation of the policy and its effects on the 30 transgender inmate population; and 31 (3) Share the revised and updated policy at the next scheduled 32 "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent 33 (SMART) Government Act" hearing with the Joint Judiciary Committee. 34 HR18-1007 -3- Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Resolution be sent to 1 the Colorado Department of Corrections, Governor John Hickenlooper, 2 the Chairs of the Colorado House and Senate Judiciary Committees, and 3 Ms. Paula Greisen. 4 HR18-1007 -4-