Press Release: PA Institutional Law Project Files Lawsuit Against the PA DOC for Denying Transgender Medical Care and Disclosing Client’s Gender Identity to Other Prisoners Without Consent.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 10, 2020

Press contact:
Rebecca Susman, Communications Manager, Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project Email: rsusman@pailp.org
Phone: 412-254-4771

ERIE, PA – The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project (PILP) filed a lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PA DOC) on behalf of Sam Doe (they/them), a non- binary person incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution at Cambridge Springs, one of two women’s state prisons in Pennsylvania. Doe has been denied necessary medical care, including access to a doctor specializing in transgender health and gender affirming surgery, in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

Despite numerous requests, Doe has been denied vital medical care endorsed by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s Standards of Care. Due to the lack of on-site medical expertise for treating transgender and non-binary individuals, Doe has been required to repeatedly educate the medical staff on these nationally recognized guidelines. The failure of the PA DOC to provide consistent hormone therapy, necessary transition care, and accommodations for Doe’s safety and social transition lead to a serious act of self-harm.

Doe has been unable to obtain further essential medical care as PA DOC policy requires that treatment decisions can only be authorized by a state-wide administrative committee, located a five hour drive from Cambridge Springs in Mechanicsburg, PA. This committee does not include any medical professionals directly involved in Doe’s care.

“Rather than providing Doe with access to knowledgeable specialists, and training the on-site providers for this crucial and life-saving medical need, PA DOC has decided to single out transgender healthcare for a lengthy administrative process that disregards medical judgement,” said Alexandra Morgan-Kurtz, PILP Managing Attorney, “Healthcare should not be decided by an administrative committee.”

In addition to advocating for medical care, PILP seeks to ensure that Doe has access to safe housing and to other necessary accommodations. Previously, PA DOC staff severely jeopardized Doe’s safety when they revealed Doe’s gender identity and history of self-harm. This instigated harassment and threats of violence causing Doe to fear even walking to meals alone. To this day, Doe continues to experience severe psychological distress as a result of being outed without their consent and PA DOC’s refusal to provide them with adequate medical care.

“Prisons have a duty to provide essential medical care and safe accommodations to all incarcerated people, regardless of gender identity. Unfortunately, the PA Department of Corrections and its staff’s bureaucratic hurdles and severe violations of privacy have led to physical and mental harm and caused unnecessary suffering,” stated PILP Interim Executive Director Su Ming Yeh.

The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project is representing Sam Doe in the case Doe v. Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, et al., 1:20-cv-0023 (W.D. Pa.).

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Read the press release pdf here
Case Documents:
Complaint

Berks County to pay $75,000 to settle sexual assault case brought by woman in ICE detention

January 24, 2020 | KYW Talk Radio | Cherri Gregg
"We are glad that this case was able to shine a spotlight on abuse in immigration detention" - Su Ming Yeh, Interim Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project

KYW Newsradio's Cherri Gregg spoke with Su Ming Yeh about our client E.D., the sexual abuse case, and the resulting settlement with Berks ICE Facility.

Listen below, or here on the KYW site

Berks County will pay tens of thousands of dollars to a woman who was detained in its ICE facility. The settlement came on the eve of a trial scheduled to begin today. As KYW Newsradio's Community Affairs reporter Cherri Gregg explains- the woman was sexually abused as a teenager by one of the staffers.

Woman sexually assaulted at Berks County Residential Center gets settlement from county

January 23, 2020 | Reading Eagle | David Mekeel

A woman who was sexually abused while being held at the Berks County Residential Center has reached a $75,000 settlement with Berks County.

The woman, identified in court documents only as E.D., had fled violence and sexual assaults in Honduras with her 3-year-old son and was seeking asylum in the U.S. She was 19 when she entered the country in 2014.

E.D. was sent by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to the Berks County Residential Center, which holds families while their asylum cases are decided. The facility is run by Berks County under a contract with ICE.

While at the facility, E.D. was sexually abused by Daniel Sharkey, a staff member at the facility. Sharkey, who was 40 at the time of the abuse, has been convicted of and imprisoned for institutional sexual assault.

E.D. had filed suit against Sharkey, Berks County and others involved with running the center, claiming a violation of her constitutional rights. The suit claimed that staff at the residential center failed to intervene and stop Sharkey's abuse of E.D., and retaliated against her when she reported him. Jury selection for a trial in that case was scheduled to begin Friday.

The settlement, which E.D.'s attorney's announced Thursday, means that the trial will not take place.

Su Ming Yeh, interim executive director of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project and lead attorney for E.D., said she was pleased with the settlement and with saving her client from having to go through the challenges and trauma of a trial. She also said she sees the case as an affirmation for fair treatment of asylum seekers.

Read more →

Press Release: E.D. v. Sharkey. Berks County Will Pay Settlement to Woman Who was Sexually Abused by Staff Member while Detained at Berks ICE Facility

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 23, 2020

Press contact:
Rebecca Susman, Communications Manager, Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project Email: rsusman@pailp.org
Phone: 412-254-4771

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Berks County will pay a $75,000 settlement to E.D., a woman who was sexually abused by immigration detention center staff member Daniel Sharkey at the Berks County Residential Center, which Berks County operates under a contract with U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE). Sharkey was ultimately convicted of institutional sexual assault.

E.D. was detained at the Berks immigration facility while seeking asylum with her three-year-old son after fleeing violence and sexual assault in Honduras. The facility is one of only three family immigration detention centers in the nation that detain both children and adults.

Sharkey, who was 40 at the time, employed classic grooming techniques, including favors, threats, and an emphasis on secrecy, to gradually coerce 19 year-old E.D. into having sex with him. Staff failed to intervene and subsequently retaliated against E.D.

“All individuals should be treated with dignity, especially those who cross our borders seeking safety and protection. Detention centers and their staff have a duty to protect people in their custody from sexual abuse, but Berks County and its staff failed to protect E.D. We are pleased with the positive resolution of this case for E.D.,” said Su Ming Yeh, Interim Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project and lead attorney for E.D.

Importantly, in July 2019 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit issued a precedential landmark opinion in favor of E.D., ruling that individuals held in immigration detention are protected by the U.S. Constitution.

E.D. is satisfied with the outcome and is excited to move forward with her life. The settlement will allow her to resume her life without the emotional labor of reliving her traumas in court.

“This case helps shine a spotlight on sexual abuse in immigration detention and the situations endured by detainees, especially women and mothers,” said Matthew Archambeault, Esquire, who supported E.D. in initially coming forward to report the sexual abuse.

Su Ming Yeh and Matthew Feldman of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, Matthew Archambeault of the Law Office of Matthew Archambeault, and Sozi Tulante, Will Sachse, and Benjamin McAnaney from Dechert LLP represented E.D. in the case E.D. v. Sharkey, 16 Civ. 2750 (E.D. Pa) before U.S. District Court Judge Edward G. Smith.

Read and download the press release pdf here
Case rulings, press releases, and case documents here

Case Result! Victory v. Berks County: Judge rules that Berks County Jail must provide incarcerated women with the same rights an​d privileges as men.

January 15th, 2020

The Honorable Mark A. Kearney of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued a permanent injunction on Wednesday, January 15th, ordering Berks County to provide women with the lowest security classification the same rights and privileges as men with the same classification. Some of these include: the amount of out-of-cell time; access to phones, microwaves, and showers; and visitation conditions.

This ruling comes after Judge Kearney and a jury found that Berks County did, in fact, discriminate against the women in the jail. 

However, the ruling did not remedy Berks County's actions on the eve of trial in November 2019 when, rather than provide the lowest security women with more freedoms, the county moved the lowest security men from their much lauded Community Reentry Center to the Berks County Jail. In doing this, Berks County chose to make the conditions of confinement and access to resources worse for the men rather than improving conditions for the women.

We are pleased with the Court’s ruling that Berks County must not discriminate against incarcerated women, but we remain disheartened by the County’s actions. 

The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project and Dechert LLP represented the plaintiffs Theresa Bohning (née Victory), Alice Velazquez-Diaz, and a class consisting of all current and future female Trusty prisoners in the Berks County Jail in the class action Victory, et al. v. Berks County, 18 Civ. 5170 (E.D. Pa). 

Read the Court Order granting permanent injunction
Read the full Court Opinion

Su Ming Yeh appointed Interim Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project

January 10, 2020

The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project Board of Directors is proud to announce that Deputy Director Su Ming Yeh has been appointed as Interim Executive Director, following the departure of founding Executive Director Angus Love.

Since joining the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project in 2006, Ms. Yeh has proven a strong leader and integral member of the organization. She has served as PILP’s Deputy Director for several years and, prior to this role, as the Managing Attorney, both litigating and advising staff on the full breadth of prisoner’s rights cases arising out of Pennsylvania’s prisons, jails, and ICE facilities.

Su Ming brings extensive experience to the position. She has litigated dozens of prisoners’ rights cases, including a successful class action lawsuit, which resulted in over 5,000 incarcerated people in Pennsylvania state prisons receiving life-saving Hepatitis C treatment. She has also successfully argued before both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. She earned her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School cum laude, where she is currently an adjunct professor.

Ms. Yeh is looking forward to serving in this critical role. “I am excited for this opportunity to continue with PILP in providing integral legal representation, advocacy, and resources for incarcerated people in Pennsylvania. I look forward to working in collaboration with the board, staff, and community in our exciting new phase of organizational growth.”

The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project Board of Directors is pleased that Su Ming Yeh has agreed to serve in this capacity as it continues implementing a transition plan to fill a permanent executive staff leader. PILP is committed to building upon our recent successes and continuing to provide excellent, free legal advocacy and resources to the over 14,000 people incarcerated in Pennsylvania who seek PILP’s assistance each year.

PILP thanks all of its partners, friends, and supporters, and looks forward to continuing its fight for justice together as it moves on to a great new chapter.

Read and download the pdf announcement here

2019 Annual Report from the frontlines of the fight for prisoner's rights

2019 was an exceptional year for the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project. We are on the frontlines every day working to ensure that people behind bars are afforded their constitutional rights and we challenge the system when these rights are violated. In 2019 year alone PILP won a groundbreaking ruling for immigrants’ rights at ICE facilities, secured settlements and policy change for women who were sexually abused, held an institution accountable for inhumane, punitive solitary confinement, and won a class action gender discrimination case.

Read more about our work safeguarding prisoners’ rights, our dedicated staff, and how you can get involved HERE