NEW ORLEANS – A transgender woman alleges that she was not protected from other inmates at the Tangipahoa Parish Prison.
Jane Doe filed a complaint on June 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Daniel Edwards, Tangipahoa Parish Warden Stuart Murphy, Tangipahoa Parish Prison Officer Deputy Roe 1 and Tangipahoa Parish Prison Officer Deputy Roe 2 alleging violation of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on June 8, 2016, and June 9, 2016, she was attacked, beaten and raped by male inmates while she was under defendants' custody at Tangipahoa Parish Prison. She alleges she informed the defendants when she was booked that she was transgender and was not segregated from the general population. The suit states a bail bondsman transported her to a hospital on June 9, 2016, for treatment and that staff found she had seven broken bones in her face and performed a rape kit.
The plaintiff holds Edwards, Murphy, Deputy Roe 1 and Deputy Roe 2 responsible because the defendant allegedly failed to place her in secure housing to reduce the risk of harm and refused to remove her from the general population despite her repeated requests.
The plaintiff seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorneys' fees, costs and all further relief that the court may deem just and proper. She is represented by John J. Finckbeiner Jr. and Samuel L. Fuller in Chalmette and Peter Russell in Gretna.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana case number 2:17-cv-05629