A transgender individual is suing Auburn Correctional Facility after the prison allegedly refused to provide her protective custody while she was incarcerated there.聽
According to a聽聽filed in February in U.S. District Court, Dennis Vasquez, 38, is seeking $50,000 from the prison and the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. She alleges that she requested protective custody after being threatened by other incarcerated individuals upon her arrival at the prison on a sentence for聽second-degree criminal mischief and assault.
In a letter to Auburn administrators on Dec. 12, 2024, Vasquez said another incarcerated individual tried to attack her with a razor blade and stab her with a pencil after offering her a cigarette.聽
People are also reading…
鈥淚 am definitely not safe here,鈥 Vasquez wrote. "Please get me somewhere safe, where, respectfully, I can shower, get my packages, and do my program because I want to go home in one piece.鈥
Vasquez went on to allege that on Jan. 3, 2025, after sending the letter, she was assaulted by another incarcerated individual while standing in the prison yard and sent to Auburn Community Hospital for treatment. Vasquez also alleged that she was not let out of her cell to shower, use the phone or shop at the commissary following the assault.聽
DOCCS told 水果派AV it does not comment on open litigation.
Jennifer Scaife, executive director of watchdog group the Correctional Association of New York, told 水果派AV incarcerated transgender individuals often struggle and have to advocate for their safety.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 inevitable that somebody who is transgender is going to be threatened with violence,鈥 Scaife said, 鈥渂ut I do think the statistics show that transgender people are at greater risk.鈥
According to the , under the federal聽, transgender and intersex incarcerated individuals should have access to private showers, and prison officials are supposed to 鈥済ive serious consideration鈥 to their opinions on where they can be safely housed. Vasquez, however, claimed that Auburn officials told her the prison does not offer protective custody.聽
Scaife said Vasquez鈥檚 situation is not unique, and believes there is an increase in protective custody requests across the state. However, she added that New York state has limited resources to respond to those requests, especially in cases of sexual assault, after the U.S. Department of Justice for the Prison Rape Elimination Act Research Center in April.
鈥淎t the fed level, there is now less support for correctional facilities than ever,鈥 Scaife said. 鈥淏ut the bigger problem of seeking protective custody is not limited to just transgender individuals.鈥
The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to reinstate the administration鈥檚 ban on trans people serving in the U.S. military.
Zach Jaworski is a reporting intern with 水果派AV and . He can be reached at zach.jaworski@lee.net.
Zach Jaworski
Reporting intern
