When Sandy Brown, a 40-year-old trans inmate at a prison outside Baltimore, was taken to Patuxent Institution for a supposedly routine health screening, she was brutally harassed by multiple prison guards. According to Brown, prison guards watched her shower, repeatedly called her "it," and encouraged her to commit suicide. "I spent 24 hours a day in solitary and was only allowed one hour of recreation during the entire 66 days I was there," Brown said in a lawyer-issued statement announcing the success of their potentially historic lawsuit. "They didn't see me for the human being I am. They treated me like a circus act."
Brown, who is currently serving a five-year sentence stemming from assault charges, is now incarcerated at the Maryland Correctional Training Center in Hagerstown. According to the Huffington Post, Brown is currently being housed with men, which she says makes her feel more comfortable. Brown will reportedly receive $5,000 in punitive damages in the suit, which is being considered by many to be a groundbreaking case for not only the state of Maryland, but the entire United States.
The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services formally adopted the judge's ruling earlier this month, including the enforcement of new guidelines and protections for transgender inmates. "We believe this case creates a framework for enforcing the national standards that transgender people who are incarcerated in other states and their advocates can follow to help to ensure that others do not have to endure the pain and trauma Ms. Brown experienced," Brown's lawyer told reporters. "If Ms. Brown had not been brave enough to file a complaint against her abusers, she could very possibly still be experiencing daily abuse and trauma at the hands of her prison guards."
