AUGUSTA - Rep. Charlotte Warren, D-Hallowell, introduced LD 1044, An Act To Protect the Rights of Certain Incarcerated Individuals, before the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety on Tuesday.
LD 1044 guarantees that transgender people, individuals whose gender identity is different from the one assigned to them at birth, who are incarcerated in Maine have their gender identity recognized and respected in their interactions with corrections staff and guarantees that transgender people will be housed and searched in a manner consistent with their gender identity.
The Prison Rape Elimination Act, also known as PREA, provides some protections for transgender people, including housing placement, proper search procedures and protection from sexual victimization. LD 1044 ensures that those protections are secured in Maine's correctional facilities and prisons.
"Whether you believe the intent of incarceration is to punish the crime committed or to work towards rehabilitation, surely we can agree that victimization should not be part of that punishment, and experiences of discrimination and transphobia are counterproductive to rehabilitation," said Warren. "LD 1044 strengthens our existing rules on how incarcerated transgender people are treated."
The committee will hold a work session on LD 1044 in the coming days.
Warren, House chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety, is serving her fourth term in the Maine House of Representatives and represents Hallowell, Manchester and West Gardiner.
Contact:
Jackie Merrill [Warren], c. 812-1111