DOJ tells prisons: Safeguarding trans prisoners now optional
In a grotesque new memo, the Trump‑led DOJ has told prison inspectors to stop enforcing anti‑rape safeguards for trans and intersex inmates, basically turning any safety net into Swiss cheese overnight.
The memo, dated Dec. 2, takes aim at existing standards of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) that the department says do not comport with the Trump administration’s first-day executive order that, among other things, targeted protections for trans people behind bars. PREA was passed in 2003, and President Barack Obama added new protections for LGBTQIA+ people to the DOJ’s PREA rulebook in 2012.
The proposed changes would affect all facilities that are subject to PREA standards, including adult prisons and jails, lockups, community confinement facilities such as halfway houses, and juvenile facilities that are operated by the DOJ, state, or local governments or by corporate or nonprofit organizations.
Facilities operated by other agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security, are subject to their own detention standards.
The memo was sent by Tammie M. Gregg, the principal deputy director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, to all DOJ-certified PREA auditors, who are the only people permitted to review whether facilities are following guidelines under PREA.
The now‑suspended rules under PREA used to guarantee separate shower access, respectful body searches, risk screening for sexual assault, and safer housing for people whose gender identity doesn’t match their birth‑assigned sex. According to critics, this rollback is a green light for predators and a catastrophic gift to prison rapists because, apparently, nothing says “justice” like codifying violent neglect.