article_snippet.sent: Prison officials must treat an inmate's gender identity condition just as Prison officials would treat any other medical or mental health condition, Georgia Department of Corrections said in a court filing Friday.
article_snippet.sent: The Southern Poverty Law Center in February filed a lawsuit against Georgia Department of Corrections Corrections officials on behalf of Ashley Diamond, a transgender woman.
article_snippet.sent: Prison officials must treat an inmate's gender identity condition just as Prison officials would treat any other medical or mental health condition, according to a Georgia Department of Corrections ruling in the case of transgender inmate Diamond .
article_snippet.sent: Georgia Department of Corrections filed a brief in the case of transgender inmate Ashley Diamond Friday saying it's not taking a position on the accuracy of Diamond's claims, but reminding prison officials that the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution requires prison officials to provide inmates with individualized assessment and care for the condition.
article_snippet.sent: That action signals this administration's commitment to protecting the interests of transgender people in this context and sends a message to state officials that the federal government has taken a clear position on the substantive legal issues in the case of transgender inmate Ashley Diamond, said Georgia State University law professor Russell Covey. '
article_snippet.sent: Only inmates identified as transgender during transgender initial intake screenings are eligible for gender dysphoria treatment under Georgia Department of Corrections policy, but the personnel who do their initial intake screenings often aren't familiar with the condition, the lawsuit says.
article_snippet.sent: So-called freeze-frame policies, that only allow inmates the level of treatment that they received before imprisonment and that allow no treatment for those who weren't initially classified as suffering from gender dysphoria are unconstitutional, the Justice Department brief says.
article_snippet.sent: Such policies violate the Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.
article_snippet.sent: Transgender inmates like Ashley have a right to proper medical care,' Southern Poverty Law Center staff attorney Chinyere Ezie said. '
article_snippet.sent: Transgender inmates like Ashley have a right to protection from violence and abuse and these rights are secured by the U.S. Constitution.'
article_snippet.sent: Other courts have ordered hormones, psychotherapy and other treatments for transgender inmates.
article_snippet.sent: A federal judge on Thursday ordered California's corrections department to provide a transgender inmate with sex-reassignment surgery, the first time such an operation has been ordered in California.
article_snippet.sent: It was only the second time anywhere in the country that a judge issued an injunction directing a state prison system to provide the surgery, said Ilona Turner, legal director at the Transgender Law Center in Oakland.
highlights_snippet.sent: The Southern Poverty Law Center in February filed a lawsuit against Georgia Department of Corrections officials on behalf of Ashley Diamond, a transgender woman .
  