Testimony Regarding Oversight of the TGNCNBI Task Force Report Update and TGNCNBI Individuals in Rikers

The NYCLU strongly supports Res. 0458, calling on the New York State Legislature to pass and the Governor to sign the Gender Identity Respect, Dignity, and Safety Act, which would codify statewide the critical protections Jena’s lawsuit secured in Steuben County, as well as put limits on involuntary protective custody, because involuntary protective custody is functionally identical to solitary confinement. 

The NYCLU also supports the Task Force’s edits to Int. 0355. While we are grateful for the spirit of the introduction, we are deeply concerned that the resolution as drafted would fail to result in meaningful change to DOC’s practices and, in doing so, would fail to keep transgender, gender nonconforming, nonbinary, and intersex people who are incarcerated safe. 

Finally, the NYCLU supports the spirit of Res. 0117 calling on the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, a bill that would mandate the Office of Court Administration (OCA) to update the securing order form to include a gender X option.