DOJ weighs in on suit filed by trans woman in Georgia prison

ATLANTA — Prison officials must keep transgender people reasonably safe from substantial risk of harm and provide them with adequate medical care, the U.S. Justice Department said, wading into a lawsuit filed by a transgender woman against Georgia prison officials. Ashley Diamond sued in November, saying prison officials failed to protect her from repeated sexual assaults in the men’s prison where she’s housed and failed to provide her with adequate medical treatment for her gender dysphoria, the psychological distress resulting from a conflict between an individual’s identity and the gender assigned at birth. Filing a brief in Diamond’s case Thursday, the Justice Department said it’s not taking a position on the facts of the case but noted that the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution “requires prison officials to conduct individualized assessments that lead to reasonably safe conditions of confinement and adequate medical care for all prisoners.” Department of Corrections spokeswoman Joan Heath said the agency “does not provide comment related to pending litigation or similar legal matters.” The Center for Constitutional Rights and the Southern Poverty Law Center, which filed the lawsuit on Diamond’s behalf, applauded the Justice Department filing. Shortly after that lawsuit was filed, the Justice Department filed a brief that said prison officials must treat a gender identity condition just as they would treat any other medical or mental health condition.