GUTHRIE V. WETZEL
The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project filed a lawsuit on behalf of a transgender woman who said she was being denied vital healthcare, including gender affirmation surgery, by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC). The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiff, a 46-year-old transgender woman currently incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution at Mahanoy, has suffered extreme distress and suicidal ideation, including instances of self-harm, since receiving a diagnosis of gender dysphoria in 1998.
UPDATES
November 2021
The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project wrote a letter on behalf of our client Dawn Guthrie, a transgender woman incarcerated at SCI Mahanoy who has been diagnosed with both Gender Dysphoria and Depressive Disorder. Ms. Guthrie, a sexual assault survivor, is currently subjected to invasive strip searches by male corrections officers at any time. To avoid this trauma, she has declined family and legal visits for several months. The letter asks that reasonable accommodation be made for Ms. Guthrie and that she be searched solely by female correctional officers going forward.
PRESS RELEASE
PILP Files Lawsuit Against DOC Officials on Behalf of Transgender Woman Denied Healthcare, Surgery (12/14/20)
CASE DOCUMENTS
Guthrie Complaint (pdf)