There is not a system in place for individuals identifying outside of the binary genders at the regional jail.
During an interview with a warden at the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail, one of our reporters discovered a fact we found abhorrent and appalling.
The jail doesn’t have a practice in place to accommodate transgender-identifying inmates. When pressed by a Post reporter, the jail's warden said those inmates (and, to be fair, the warden also said the jail had never been met with a trans-identifying inmate) would likely be placed in solitary confinement.
Solitary confinement — often used a punishment for an unruly or violent inmate, or, in special circumstances, an inmate’s safety — is more than sitting in a cell alone. It’s reminding inmates that for some reason, they’re deserving of being separated from the rest of the prison population.
Some inmates in the jail are being kept in holding while they await their court date. Some committed minor crimes. That’s no excuse to reduce a person’s standing in society to being one of isolation and shame.
We understand that resources are scarce, and that the corrections system isn’t in place to comfort nor empower an inmate, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t an alternative for appropriately placing a trans-identifying individual.
Here’s one: Ask if the inmate wants to be housed with male or female inmates. Present solitary confinement as an option, not the norm. Plan for it before you encounter an inmate who identifies outside of the gender binary.
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="f0f69390-7da8-11e5-a565-df40ccc050e5"}}
In a society where LGBTQ-identifying people are already segregated or stereotyped enough, there’s no room to further punish someone simply for being themselves.
For print:
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors and are independent of the publication’s news coverage.
For web:
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post's executive editors: Editor-in-Chief Emma Ockerman, Managing Editor Rebekah Barnes, Opinion Editor Will Gibbs and Digital Managing Editor Samuel Howard. Post editorials are independent of the publication's news coverage.
