Transgender inmate sues, claims civil rights violations

Top Delaware prison officials denied a transgender female inmate medically recommended hormone therapy, read her legal mail and threw her in solitary confinement after she consulted with attorneys, according to a civil rights lawsuit filed this past week in the Court of Chancery.

Representing inmate Kamilla Denise London, attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware and the Wilmington law office of Cole Schotz P.C. claim that Department of Correction employees have subjected London to "sweeping retaliation" over the past three months, including transferring her to solitary confinement instead of moving her to a prison medical facility as recommended by her psychologists, limiting her phone access to attorneys and seizing confidential legal documents.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday names as defendants David Pierce, warden of James T. Vaughn Correctional Center near Smyrna, where London is incarcerated, and Marc Richman, chief of the Bureau of Correctional Healthcare Services, along with two staff lieutenants, two correctional lieutenants, two correctional sergeants, one corporal and one officer.

"Ms. London deserves the same fair and equal treatment that would be given any other prison inmate," Kathleen MacRae, executive director of American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware, said in a statement. "She should not suffer discrimination based on her gender identity."

Department of Correction spokeswoman Jayme Gravell declined comment, citing ongoing litigation. In a May email to The News Journal, another DOC spokeswoman, Chelsea Hicks, said the department provides annual lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender training for all staff.

London's lawsuit echoes a subplot from Netflix's "Orange is the New Black." In the series, transgender inmate Sophia Burset, played by Laverne Cox, is denied hormone therapy, harassed and thrown in the Special Housing Unit ostensibly for her own protection. Today, there are an estimated 3,200 transgender people behind bars in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

In March, the Department of Justice strengthened guidelines related to transgender prisoners, noting that housing inmates based on their genital anatomy alone violates federal standards. Instead, detention facilities must weigh a prisoner's gender identity and personal concerns about safety in making housing decisions.

The guidelines are not legally binding, however. In Delaware, as in other states, inmates continue to be housed based on biological sex.

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London, whose birth name is Jesus Pinkston, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the 2010 killing of Christopher White, executive director of the Community Legal Aid Society of Delaware and a popular Wilmington activist.

Pinkston, then 22, struck and killed White in the 700 block of Shipley St. while attempting to evade police in a stolen vehicle. He was captured in Maryland two weeks later after being featured on "America's Most Wanted." Pinkston admitted to manslaughter and two other charges.

In January of this year, Pinkston changed his name to Kamilla Denise London, after another transgender inmate successfully petitioned for a name change following a two-year legal fight by the ACLU.

That inmate, Kai Short, is serving a 55-year sentence for robbery and weapons charges at Baylor Women's Correctional Institution near New Castle. But while a DOC medical grievance committee turned down London's request for hormone therapy in late March, according to the lawsuit, Short's request was eventually granted. In April, after initially being denied treatment, Short became the state's first transgender inmate to begin hormone therapy in prison.

"How am I in any way different from Mr. Short," London, a staunch activist for transgender rights, wrote in a recent letter to The News Journal. "Why does he get treatment but I don't?"

Trans inmate first to begin hormones in prison

Equality Delaware and the DOC have a good track record of working together, according to Lisa Goodman, the LGBT advocacy organization's president. But Goodman expressed concerns about London's care behind bars, explaining that transgender inmates are generally at a much higher risk of mistreatment, sexual assault and harassment than the overall prison population.

London alleges that she was sexually assaulted by two inmates in June after she was moved to higher-security housing with more violent offenders. In both instances, London did not immediately report the assaults for fear of retaliation by prison staff, the lawsuit said.

"Equality Delaware calls on the DOC to immediately investigate the serious allegations raised by Ms. London and to take immediate steps to insure her personal safety, access to counsel, and physical and mental health," Goodman said.

According to the complaint, a forensic neuropsychologist first diagnosed London with a gender identity disorder in 2011. In an earlier interview with The News Journal, London said she identified and dressed as a woman before entering prison.

In mid-May of this year, London met with ACLU attorneys after filing stacks of grievances up the prison's chain of command that were either dismissed, ignored or returned without processing, the lawuit said. Before that meeting, London had been housed in a minimum-security building with no significant disciplinary actions for four years, according to the complaint.

While London sat with her attorneys, two prison officers ransacked her cell, damaging appliances and left her papers in disarray, the complaint said. For much of the last three months, London was denied daily calls with her attorneys or made to call collect against general prison practice, according to the lawsuit.

On May 26, The News Journal had a scheduled in-person interview with London and another transgender inmate to discuss the state's treatment of transgender prisoners. When a reporter arrived at Vaughn, she was told that London was no longer available because the prisoner had a medical appointment. (In a subsequent letter to The News Journal, London said she was never notified of the interview date).

The same day of the interview, DOC reclassified London as a "medium-high" security risk. The decision was reached, according to the lawsuit, after London wrote a letter to another inmate warning that if that inmate tried to hit her again, "she would defend herself."

London appealed but was denied, the complaint said.

On June 7, the ACLU alerted state Deputy Attorney General Jason Staib, who handles DOC matters, to the ongoing retaliation against London, the complaint said. The AG's office has yet to issue a formal response, according to the lawsuit, and declined a request for comment Friday.

Through DOC, The News Journal rescheduled an interview with London and met with her on June 15. Wearing eyeliner repurposed from crayons, London described a persistent pattern of harassment and mistreatment by prison staff. She explained how she was prevented from acquiring beauty products and women's undergarments at the commissary – unlike inmates at the female prison – and was subjected to strip searches by male prison guards in front of other prisoners and staff.

After the interview, as London was being escorted to her cell, a female sergeant referred to London as "he." London corrected her, but the sergeant refused to use the female pronoun, explaining that London was in a male prison. The lawsuit referenced the exchange.

On June 24, the same day London was interviewed by two officials with the DOC's internal affairs division about her allegations, she was moved to maximum-security housing, the lawsuit said.

"You keep putting attention on us by hiring lawyers, so we're gonna keep moving you backwards," DOC Lt. Jason Coviello told London, according to the complaint. Coviello is one of 10 DOC employees named as a defendant.

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The lawsuit claims that two separate mental health professionals recommended that London to be moved to a lower-security unit for inmates with mental health issues, but were rebuffed by Pierce and his staff. As early as June 16, Paola Andrea Munoz, a psychologist at Connections Community Support Programs, recommended at weekly team meetings that London be transferred. At a June 30 meeting, Pierce told Munoz to "stop advocating for [London]," according to the complaint.

On July 5, Robin Belcher-Timme, chief psychologist for Connections, told London that he would recommend transferring her to another unit and giving her access to hormone therapy and female commissary items, according to the lawsuit. Belcher-Timme diagnosed London with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), but would not diagnose her with gender dysphoria, a gender identity disorder that requires treatment, the complaint said.

One week later, top prison officials denied all of Belcher-Timme's recommendations, apart from allowing London to consult with an endocrinologist. As of the end of July, she had not seen an endocrinologist.

On July 15, following a videoconference with her attorneys, London was transferred to a solitary cell with 24-hour video monitoring, according to the lawsuit. The cell was known as the "Bradley Suite" because its former occupant was convicted child rapist and Lewes pediatrician Earl Bradley. It "contained hair, urine and dried semen," the complaint said.

In her new quarters, London is limited to 45 minutes of recreation every other day and is prevented from accessing the legal library or prison enrichment programs, according to the lawsuit. She has grown a beard because she is barred from using a razor and has suffered from vomiting, dizziness, nightmares and flashbacks of previous sexual abuse, the complaint said. To date, prison officials have not allowed London to discuss issues related to her transfer to solitary in violation of DOC policy, the lawsuit said.

On Aug. 2, the day before the lawsuit was filed, Belcher-Timme diagnosed London with gender dysphoria, in part "because of the degradation in her mental state" over the previous two weeks, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit asks the court to immediately order the DOC to stop its retaliatory actions and move London to housing consistent with medical recommendations. The complaint also seeks unspecified compensatory damages and attorneys' fees. The case is waiting on a hearing date.

Contact Margie Fishman at (302) 324-2882, on Twitter @MargieTrende or mfishman@delawareonline.com.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Earlier versions of this story misspelled the last name of Kathleen MacRae, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware​.