The Cook County Jail (Credit: CBS)
CHICAGO (AP) - Transgender inmates at Cook County Jail can now be housed, dressed and searched according to their gender identity rather than their sex at birth, under a new policy.
Transgender inmates are being screened by a Gender Identity Committee within days of entering the jail.
The committee then decides where and how they should be housed, what clothes and toiletries they should have and what gender security officers can search them.
The new policy took effect March 21. Jail spokesman Steve Patterson says it’s been applied to six inmates since then.
Advocates say they hope the new rules will help protect inmates who are most vulnerable to sexual abuse.
Before, all inmates were automatically assigned to live among the gender they were born with, regardless of how they self-identified.
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8 Comments
That’s just great!!! Why not just go coed… showers and all, to go along with all the other great amenities afforded to the the drug dealers, rapist, and urban terrorists. Hey why not just shut down the jail and set them all free. It’s a joke anyway.
April 10, 2011 at 2:58 pm
Chi-Cop…
You knew what you were getting into when you had your clout get you the badge.
April 10, 2011 at 3:03 pm
Sad……never anything positive or proactive in these comments…Shame on you Peterson. Not all law enforcement officers have clout. Sad.
April 10, 2011 at 3:18 pm
You’re right hope4chi. their called sponsors.
April 10, 2011 at 4:16 pm
I hope you aren’t really a Chicago cop, because the professional men and women I know who are Chicago cops would be embarrassed by you.
April 10, 2011 at 3:52 pm
So what happens when you put a transgendered male with female prisoners and he rapes one of them? Or they rape him? Then what?
April 10, 2011 at 5:17 pm
@China,
Are you that concerned about rape in the general population? If so, I commend you. If not, SYH.
April 10, 2011 at 7:42 pm
You cant even buy a quality shirt anymore and now this !!!!!.
April 10, 2011 at 9:30 pm