She's still in prison, still in solitary, still no charges ever filed

[Guest LizMarie]

Jane Doe in Connecticut is still in prison, still in solitary confinement, and there have still been no charges filed. This is as of today, June 6th, which is now approximately two months that this has been going on.

The male staffer who initiated the incident that brought about the "violence" claim has been fired for his behavior. The female staffer who was hit has refused to press charges. Jane Doe is a sexual assault victim and has been assaulted in the past by foster families and/or DCF staff.

DCF commissioner Joette Katz used Doe's case as an excuse to plead for a special facility for violent youths back in February and was awarded $2.6 million by the state. That facility has been open for two months now! Yet after opening the facility, Katz argues that Doe is too violent for the facility which he was allowed to open to handle teens like her? Commissioner Katz also lied about the violence, claiming Jane Doe broke a staffer's jaw, which did not happen at all.

Multiple foster families in Connecticut and out of state have stepped forward and offered to take Jane Doe in. The state has refused to release her, claiming that no foster home can handle her. Until recently, men were assigned to watch her use the bathroom or take a shower.

On the positive side, she has apparently been moved to a women's facility and is no longer confined to a men's psych ward, forced to listening to mentally disturbed people scream, bang their heads against the wall, and ramble incoherently.

There is something very wrong here and I don't think it is this teenage girl. There are multiple petitions online about this. I won't link them here as that is an issue with site rules, however I can say that you should consider researching some of these petitions online and signing them on behalf of Jane Doe. A 16 year old trans girl who the state refuses to charge with a crime, and who has multiple foster families willing to take her in should not be sitting in solitary confinement in an adult prison.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/05/transgender-16-year-old-solitary-cell-adult-prison

[Carolyn Marie]

Thank you for this update, LizMarie. Regardless of the contradictory claims, that anyone could be locked up for two months, without charges being filed, seems unconstitutional. I wonder what her lawyer is up to? Wasn't the ACLU involved, too? I don't get it.

Carolyn Marie

[Ravin]

Thank you for this update, LizMarie. Regardless of the contradictory claims, that anyone could be locked up for two months, without charges being filed, seems unconstitutional. I wonder what her lawyer is up to? Wasn't the ACLU involved, too? I don't get it.

Carolyn Marie

The article makes it pretty clear her lawyer is doing what he can, including publicizing what is going on, putting forward the foster home offers, etc. But when the court and DCFS don't listen to him...

[VickySGV]

I do not know the specific Connecticut laws on psychiatric holds, but those would preclude criminal charges needing to be filed, and would be inaccessible to the press. A special branch of the state court system would be involved as well, whose records are also sealed. The state is not pure on this, but there may be more in the works than meets the print media.

I have had experience via a family member who is not newsworthy as this subject is with psychiatric issues and how they may seem to be treated. A court in all likelihood has listened to the attorney, but they also listen to the state's side, and both have different POV. Courts have a record of doing good things when all the factual evidence supports a position, but even with good intentions, the girl's attorney may not have provable evidence of his claims. Hopefully it will come to that.

[Guest LizMarie]

Commissioner Katz sounds like a two bit politician using this girl for her own agenda. DCF seems to have created the perfect catch-22, claiming (without visible evidence) that no foster family can handle her so they can arbitrarily refuse the families that have offered and that no facility exists that can handle her, so let's toss her in an adult prison, without charges, and just leave her there! Oh! And can we have a couple million more buckaroos to pretend that we do handle high security prisoners? Except Jane Doe, of course.

Given those appearances, I think Commissioner Katz has some explaining to do and not behind closed doors. Hopefully the state legislature will call her onto the carpet and ask her to explain exactly why they gave her $2.6 million if there is still a juvenile in an adult prison.

[Carolyn Marie]

Here is another update:

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-transgender-youth-dcf-0606-20140605,0,1017387.story

Carolyn Marie