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Her suicide may also be linked to the alleged retribution she faced as result of filing the suit. According to jailhouse lawyers Christopher Zoukis and Sangye Rinchen, both imprisoned at FCI Petersburg, Arnold faced sexual harassment and retaliation from prison officials in the time leading up to her death. Zoukis has published articles about Arnold's suicide on Prison Legal News and the Huffington Post.Although Arnold appealed the District Court's decision to the Fourth Circuit just weeks before her death, the case will be dismissed unless next of kin pursue it on her behalf. VICE contacted the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons to inquire about Arnold's lawsuit and the circumstances surrounding her death. Both offices declined to comment.Trans women incarcerated in men's facilities can end up in solitary confinement simply for possessing feminine items.
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Trans people behind bars face distinct barriers. According to Orthwein, it is the specific nature of the prison environment that makes the experiences of trans people so painful. "Gender dysphoria, which is marked by symptoms like depression and suicidal ideation, is not something that all transgender people experience, but rather reflects the distress transgender people feel when they're not allowed to live as their authentic selves," she told VICE. "Prison, where gender is suppressed and transgender identities are ignored or attacked, is an environment that is practically built to exacerbate dysphoria and cause transgender people extreme harm."Trans women incarcerated in men's facilities can end up in solitary confinement simply for possessing feminine items. In the amendment to the lawsuit, Arnold recounts how officers searched her possessions during a compound-wide shakedown. They located bras, panties, makeup items, hair accessories, nail polish, and pantyhose in her cell–a serious violation, since she did not have explicit permission to have the items. As punishment, Arnold was sentenced to 30 days in the disciplinary segregation, the special housing unit (SHU).In Arnold's case, as well as several others, the security threats allegedly created by these things seem to stretch the bounds of credulity. In their motion to dismiss Arnold's suit, lawyers for the Bureau of Prisons stressed the Warden's concern "that inmates can wear makeup to disguise themselves and escape from prison."
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Security concerns also played a role in the First Circuit's December decision to deny sex reassignment surgery to Michelle Kosilek, a trans woman locked up in Massachusetts. In his dissent, Judge Ojetta RogerieeThomson compared the decision to Plessy v. Ferguson and Korematsu v United States —perhaps the most infamous Supreme Court decisions on the books. The case has been appealed to the Supreme Court.As case law evolves, questions remain about how to alter the policies and procedures that govern trans women's lives. Valerie Jenness, Dean of the School of Social Ecology and a professor of criminology, law, and society at the University of California, Irvine, has written extensively on the experiences of trans women behind bars. In a telephone interview with VICE, she said that pushback from some correctional officials is not necessarily a reflection of bigotry, but can be traced to the paradoxical question of how to house trans or gender-nonconforming people in facilities that are segregated on the basis of genitalia. In an environment that is strictly governed by rules and regulations, some prison officials may believe that trans women's requests will undermine institutional safety or security.In an environment that is strictly governed by rules and regulations, some prison officials may believe that trans women's requests will undermine institutional safety or security.
"After years of filing, and taking a case to court, four transgender inmates are now beginning hormone therapy, myself included!" –Ashley Jean Arnold, before her suicide
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There have been small victories in improving the lives of trans people behind bars. In early April, a federal judge in California ruled that the state's Department of Corrections must provide sex reassignment surgery to an incarcerated trans woman named Michelle-Lael Norsworthy.But access to gender-affirming care is just one of the issues faced by incarcerated trans people, for whom sexual violence at the hands of prisoners and guards, and the routine use of solitary confinement for "protection" and punishment, can be daily realities.Transgender people continue to resist the legal and societal barriers they face as a result of their gender identity. Jason Lydon is the founder of Black & Pink, an organization that aims to build support between LGBTQ people across prison walls, primarily through a pen-pal scheme. "When transgender prisoners fight for access to hormones, underwear, makeup, and any other moments of gender self-determination they are fighting for an individual and collective power to refuse the gender based violence of the prison system," he told VICE.Arnold published a brief letter in the July 2014 Black & Pink newsletter. "I am writing to share with everyone a long-awaited victory at our institution," she wrote. "After years of filing, and taking a case to court, four transgender inmates are now beginning hormone therapy, myself included!"We want to publish this story to inspire everyone not to give up—keep fighting; the war is far from over but this is a major battle won. Keep your heads up!"A little over six months later, on February 24, 2015, Arnold hung herself in her prison cell. She was 32.UPDATE 4/24: An earlier version of this article mistakenly referred to sex reassignment surgery as "sexual reassignment surgery" in two places. This error has been corrected.Aviva Stahl is a Brooklyn-based journalist who writes about prisons, particularly the use of solitary confinement and the experiences of terrorism suspects and LGBTQ people behind bars. Follow her on Twitter.