After Abuse Under State Supervision, Transgender Connecticut Teen Held in Solitary Without Charge

We look at the case of "Jane Doe," a 16yearold transgender girl of color in Connecticut imprisoned in solitary confinement without any criminal charges. One month ago today, a Superior Court judge ordered her sent to prison after the Connecticut Department of Children and Families requested the transfer, claiming they could not safely care for her. The move is allowed under a rarely used Connecticut statute. To justify sending Jane Doe to prison, DCF cited her alleged history of violent behavior. But in an affidavit to the court, Jane Doe wrote"I feel that DCF has failed to protect me from harm and I am now thrown into prison because they have refused to help me." She goes on to detail how she was repeatedly sexually and physically abused between the ages of eight and 15, at the hands of both relatives and DCF staff, all while she was under DCF's supervision. Describing her confinement at an adult women's prison in Niantic, Connecticut, Doe wrote in a recent oped"I'm in my room 22 hours a day with a guard staring at me even when I shower and go to the bathroom. It's humiliating. Women constantly scream and cry and it was hard to sleep. They moved me down a different hallway where it's not as crazy. I tell myself that this is just a nightmare, but it doesn't end." We are joined by Jane Doe's lawyer, Aaron Romano, and Chase Strangio, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project.

Watch the full 10-minute interview on Democracy Now!:

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