Shorter v. United States, et al.
3rd Cir. No. 20-2554
Rights Behind Bars represents Chrissy Shorter, a transgender woman who was sexually assaulted while incarcerated at a federal prison in New Jersey. Shorter brought an 8th Amendment claim pro se against the prison for failing to take preventative actions to protect her from sexual assault even after her request for transfer to a safer institution had been approved. The district court dismissed Shorter’s Eighth Amendment claim sua sponte before it was served on Defendants on the basis that Defendants did not have actual knowledge of Shorter’s risk of sexual assault—despite numerous warnings from Shorter and concessions from prison staff themselves about her imminent risk of victimization. A group of corrections officers, represented by Harvard Law School’s LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic, filed a brief as amici in support of Shorter which attests to the severe risks of victimization posed to transgender women housed in men’s carceral facilities. A group of advocacy organizations also filed an amicus brief in support of Shorter, including the Center for Constitutional Rights, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, Just Detention International, Southern Poverty Law Center, Transgender Law Center, Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, and Why Not Prosper. They are represented by the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation.
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