Lawyers for a transgender 16-year-old girl, known in court documents only as Jane Doe, are suing Connecticut's Department of Children and Families and prison officials, alleging that Doe's traumatizing isolation in solitary confinement throughout this year violates her constitutional rights. The amended lawsuit filed Monday adds that Doe has been forced to wear boy's uniforms at the juvenile center for delinquent boys where she's currently being held, and has been repeatedly referred to by her birth name and with male pronouns.
According to the Associated Press, the DCF deferred all requests for comment about the lawsuit to the state attorney general's office, which declined to make a statement. One of Jane Doe's attorneys, Aaron J. Romano, noted that while the DCF has provided access to some transition-related medical care for Doe, the state has continued to treat her as a boy.
In April, Jane Doe was placed at the York Correctional Facility, an adult prison, after a judge granted a request from the DCF, citing a rarely used Connecticut law. The DCF announced in May that Jane Doe had been moved to a "private cottage" on the prison grounds, but Romano criticized the announcement as a distraction from the teen girl's suffering. From there, Jane Doe was moved to a psychiatric facility in Massachusetts in June, and then in July was transferred to the center for delinquent boys where she has been since.
Lawyers and advocates have been calling for Jane Doe's release from the various detention centers, prisons, and locked facilities she has been held at, noting the years of physical and sexual abuse she has faced while under the DCF's supervision. The #JusticeForJane campaign has mobilized people to take to social media and demand a response from the DCF and Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy. In September, Jane Doe briefly escaped from custody at the juvenile center for delinquent boys before being found by police hours later.
Continue calling for Jane Doe's release from isolation and follow the conversation online with the hashtag #JusticeForJane.