Tay v. Dennison

• Decision Date: 01 May 2020
• Docket Number: Case No. 19-cv-00501-NJR
• Citation: 457 F.Supp.3d 657
• Parties: Tay TAY, Plaintiff, v. Jeff DENNISON, Lu Walker, Kristen Hammersley, Larry Hicks, Jerid Pickford, Joe Garrett, Jamin Soria, Charles Campbell, Gregory Stuck, and Rob Jeffreys, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Illinois

457 F.Supp.3d 657

Tay TAY, Plaintiff,

v.Jeff DENNISON, Lu Walker, Kristen Hammersley, Larry Hicks, Jerid Pickford, Joe Garrett, Jamin Soria, Charles Campbell, Gregory Stuck, and Rob Jeffreys, Defendants.

Case No. 19-cv-00501-NJR

United States District Court, S.D. Illinois.

Signed May 1, 2020

Alan S. Mills, Elizabeth Mazur, Nicole Schult, Sheila A. Bedi, Vanessa del Valle, Uptown People's Law Center, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.

Carla G. Tolbert, Tara Marie Barnett, Belleville, IL, R. Levi Carwile, Illinois Attorney General's Office, Springfield, IL, for Defendants Jeff Dennison, Assistant Warden Walker, Kristin Hammersley, Sgt Hicks, Lt. Pickford, Officer Garret, Officer Soria, Lieutenant Campbell, I.A. Officer Stuck.

Carla G. Tolbert, Illinois Attorney General's Office, Belleville, IL, R. Levi Carwile, Illinois Attorney General's Office, Springfield, IL, for Defendant Rob Jeffreys.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ROSENSTENGEL, Chief Judge:

Plaintiff Tay Tay¹ is a transgender woman in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections ("IDOC") currently incarcerated at Danville Correctional Center ("Danville"), a male prison facility. Plaintiff filed this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claiming that because she is a transgender woman housed in a men's prison, she has been subjected to and continues to be subjected to a substantial risk of serious harm.²

Pending before the Court is a Motion for Preliminary Injunction filed contemporaneously with Plaintiff's original Complaint. (Doc. 2). In her Motion for Preliminary Injunction, Plaintiff seeks an order (1) directing her transfer to Logan Correctional Center, a women's prison, and (2) ensuring her protection from sexual abuse and harassment at the hands of IDOC staff and other inmates. (Id. ).

The Court held a one-and-a-half-day evidentiary hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction, and the parties submitted deposition testimony. (Docs. 109, 114). After considering the evidence and relevant authority, the Court enters preliminary injunctive relief as set forth below, granting Plaintiff's motion in part.³

RELEVANT CLAIMS

Counts 1 through 3, contained in Plaintiff's Amended Complaint (Doc. 64), are relevant to the pending Motion for Preliminary Injunction and are set forth below:

Count 1: Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection claims against IDOC Director Jeffreys in his official capacity for discrimination on the basis of gender identity—refusing to place Plaintiff in a women's prison.

Count 2: Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection claims against IDOC Director Jeffreys in his official capacity for intentional discrimination on the basis of gender identity—IDOC staff's pervasive and ongoing verbal sexual harassment of Plaintiff due to her gender identity that male prisoners do not endure.

Count 3: Eighth Amendment failure to protect claim against IDOC Director Jeffreys in his official capacity and against all other Defendants in their individual capacities—known and substantial risk of serious harm Plaintiff faces from prison staff and other prisoners as a transgender woman in a men's prison.

BACKGROUND

The Motion for Preliminary Injunction alleges the following: Plaintiff knew from a very young age that she was a female and began to openly identify as female around 27 years ago. (Doc. 2, p. 1). Despite being a transgender woman, Plaintiff has exclusively been housed in men's prisons since entering IDOC custody in 2002. (Id. at pp. 1-2). Plaintiff has been sexually assaulted, harassed, and threatened by other prisoners and IDOC staff at every prison where she has been housed. (Id. at p. 2). Although she reported the sexual abuse and harassment, IDOC staff failed to protect her. (Id. ). And, despite filing grievances and complaints pursuant to the Prison Rape Elimination Act ("PREA") at these facilities, nothing was done to protect her. (Id. at p. 3).

Plaintiff was transferred to Danville in March 2019, where she is currently housed. (Id. ). Officers at Danville, including Defendants Lieutenant Campbell and Internal Affairs Officer Stuck, discourage her from filing grievances and refuse to do anything to protect Plaintiff from prisoners that are harassing and threatening her. (Id. ).

Plaintiff's mental health has severely deteriorated because of the harassment and abuse she has experienced. (Id. ). She has attempted suicide multiple times while in IDOC custody and has frequently been on crisis watch; most recently, she was on suicide watch in April 2019. (Id. ). Plaintiff has already faced serious physical and emotional injury since arriving at Danville and will continue to face a grave risk of serious injury if she remains there. (Id. ).

FACTS

Plaintiff's Testimony

Plaintiff has been housed in male prison facilities since 2002. (Doc. 111, pp. 5-7). At the time of the hearing, she resided at Danville. (Id. at p. 6).⁴ She has been diagnosed with anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), manic depression, and gender dysphoria. (Id. ). Plaintiff has identified as a transgender woman since prior to her incarceration and lived as a woman when she felt she was safely able to do so. (Id. ). She is not currently receiving any hormone therapy because she feels it is unsafe to transition in a men's facility. (Id. at p. 7). She previously received hormone therapy while in IDOC custody and found that it "decreases [her] strength" and "leaves [you] defenseless." (Id. ). Plaintiff expressed to IDOC numerous times that she wants to take feminizing hormones but does not want to take them in an environment that would be dangerous or unsafe. (Id. at p. 120-123; Doc. 114-1, Exs. 4, 5, and 6).

Plaintiff described her life in the men's division of IDOC as "hell." (Doc. 111, p. 7). She has experienced sexual assaults, physical assaults, threats, extortion, and bullying. (Id. ). She has been called derogatory names such as, "fag," "sissy," "punk," and "geechee," on a daily basis because of her gender identity. (Id. at p. 8). As summarized below, she offered additional testimony describing some of the most graphic abuse she has suffered while in IDOC custody at various male facilities.

Menard Correctional Center

Plaintiff was housed at Menard Correctional Center ("Menard") from approximately 2002 to 2005. (Id. at p. 8). There, she was sexually assaulted by a corrections officer in the shower of the segregation unit. This sexual assault consisted of forced anal penetration. (Id. at pp. 8-9). Plaintiff testified that she did not report this assault because the officer threatened her, and she feared for her safety. (Id. at p. 9).

Pontiac Correctional Center

While incarcerated at Pontiac Correctional Center ("Pontiac"), Plaintiff was sexually assaulted by another inmate in December 2010. (Id. ). Before she was assaulted on this occasion, she informed IDOC officials that she believed she was going to be sexually assaulted. (Id. at p. 10). IDOC officials responded by telling her that she was going to bring this assault on herself because of her "preferred gender" and because of how she "carried herself." (Id. )

After she was sexually assaulted, she reported the assault to an IDOC lieutenant and correctional officer. (Id. ). The lieutenant told her to not complain about sexual assault when she "act(s) and carr(ies) herself like a woman in a man's facility." (Id. ). When Plaintiff pointed out the DNA on her boxers, blood on her t-shirt, and bruises, he told her that if she kept complaining, he would take her to segregation and show her what a real ass-kicking is. (Id. at pp. 10-11).

A few months later, Plaintiff filed a written grievance through IDOC's grievance process that detailed both her requests for help and the assault that occurred when IDOC staff ignored her requests. (Id. at pp. 11-13; Exs. 33, 34). IDOC investigated Plaintiff's grievance and found physical evidence—including the alleged assailant's DNA on her boxer shorts. (Exs. 33, 34). Despite this fact, the investigator found Plaintiff's claims of sexual assault "non-substantiated." (Id. ). The alleged assailant told the investigator that he engaged in consensual sex acts with Plaintiff. (Id. ). Because of this admission, the alleged assailant was disciplined for sexual misconduct. (Doc. 111, p. 14; Ex. 33, 34). IDOC took no further action to protect Plaintiff from future harm. (Doc. 111, at p. 14). When Plaintiff complained about this again in writing, she was placed in segregation on investigative status. (Id. at p. 15). Again, other than placing her in segregation, IDOC took no action to protect Plaintiff from future assaults. (Id. )

Western Correctional Center

Plaintiff was at Western Correctional Center ("Western") in 2012, where she was sexually assaulted by her cellmate. (Id. at p. 16). When she first arrived, she told IDOC staff that she had a safety concern as a transgender woman and asked not to be celled with someone bigger than her, or a gang member, but they did just that. (Id. at pp. 17-18). Prior to the assault, Plaintiff had an indication that her cellmate was going to sexually assault her. (Id. at p. 16). She reported this to a mental health professional who stated that he would tell the lieutenant about her concerns. (Id. at pp. 16-17). But no IDOC staff spoke with her about her concerns. (Id. at p. 17). Eventually, Plaintiff's cellmate physically assaulted her and forced her to perform anal and oral sex. (Id. at pp. 16-18).

Plaintiff reported this assault several times to IDOC officials, but they failed to investigate the incident. (Id. at p. 17). Plaintiff was forced to see the man who assaulted her almost every day. (Id. at pp. 17-18). To her, this was like reliving the assault. (Id. at 17). As a result, Plaintiff attempted to harm herself. (Id. ) The report written by IDOC staff about the suicide attempt states in relevant part that Plaintiff "tied a piece of a t-shirt around [her] neck and tied it to the bed and got on [her] knees attempting to hang [her]self." (Doc. 114-1, Ex. 36). The report further...