The identity of a transgender inmate who impregnated two female inmates in prison at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility has been revealed, and one of the mothers will almost certainly never be allowed to raise her child.

Two pregnant convicts and the trans inmate who impregnated both of them are named in a recent letter from a prisoner at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility. The offenders’ hefty sentences are also mentioned in the letter to New Jersey 101.5.

All three are being held in the state’s only female prison. Despite the fact that s*xual contact is prohibited, their interactions were consensual, according to the state Department of Corrections.

This was part of a settlement reached following a lawsuit filed by a trans woman and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.

On Tuesday, ACLU legal director Jeanne LoCicero supported the program, claiming that it assured that trans prisoners’ rights were not abused.

‘[It’s] in line with New Jersey’s strong anti-discrimination laws that prevent discrimination and harassment on the basis of gender identity,’ she told local news outlet NJ.com.  

Edna Mahan, New Jersey’s only women’s prison, does not require transgender inmates to undergo gender reassignment surgery in order to be imprisoned there.

Following many allegations of abuse at the jail, DOC’s external relations executive director Dan Sperrazza told NJ.com that the pregnant women had willingly engaged in int*rcourse.

‘While DOC cannot comment on any specific disciplinary or housing decisions that may be considered in light of these events, the Department always reserves all options to ensure the health and safety of the individuals in its custody,’ Sperrazza said.  

The Edna Mahan Correctional Facility’s correctional officers’ union published a statement condemning the facility’s policy of incarcerating transgender women.. 

‘We opposed this policy change believing it would be detrimental to the general population of female inmates being housed at Edna Mahan and also bring added stress to our correctional police officers assigned to this institution,’ 

Following a complaint filed in 2019 by a transgender woman who claimed she was forced to reside in men’s prisons for a year and a half, Edna Mahan began housing transgender convicts in July 2021.

In state prisons, the policy provides further protections for transgender, bis*xual, and nonbinary people, most notably by housing them according to the gender they identify with rather than the gender assigned at birth.

The regulation allows inmates to give information about their gender identity at any point throughout their sentence.

Other safeguards include single-cell confinement while final housing decisions are made, the ability to shower away from other inmates, and the right to participate in housing decisions. 

Male officers will not be allowed to pat down or strip search transgender women. According to the ACLU, the policy will be in place for at least a year.

The woman, known in court filings as Sonia Doe, will also receive $125,000 in damages and $45,000 in attorneys’ costs as part of the settlement, and will not face any penalties in connection with an incident that occurred in prison in May 2019.

‘When I was forced to live in men’s prisons, I was terrified I wouldn’t make it out alive. Those memories still haunt me,’ Doe said in a statement last year. 

‘Though I still have nightmares about that time, it’s a relief to know that as a result of my experience the NJDOC has adopted substantial policy changes so no person should be subjected to the horrors I survived.’   

Edna Mahan has been dealing with claims of severe abuses and systematic failures in recent years.

There were insufficient cameras, according to the study, and one storage area without a video camera had a mattress in it.

Guards often called detainees derogatory names, passed comments on their physical appearances and made s*xual remarks.

According to the article, when prisoners report abuse, the response can be retaliatory, with inmates being subjected to body orifice scanners and then sent to solitary confinement.

Female inmates were beaten, pepper-sprayed, and dragged from their cells, according to surveillance footage released during the probe.

According to state prosecutors, one inmate was allegedly punched 28 times.

Source: dailymail.co.uk