Trans death at Rikers Island: sites of (in)visibility and reframing mass incarceration

ABSTRACT

On June 7^th, 2019, Layleen Xtravaganza Cubilette-Polanco, a transgender woman from New York, died at Rikers Island while in solitary confinement. According to officials from the Department of Corrections, Layleen’s death was a result of a series of interrelated health problems. . Trans, queer, and gender non-conforming people, especially youth of colour and Black trans women, face heightened rates of homelessness, violent victimisation, barriers to housing, employment, and healthcare. These social conditions are tied to heightened engagement in survival sex work, over-policing, and surveillance of their communities. As a result, Trans and queer people are disproportionately impacted by mass incarceration, and must contend with the nexus of a system that functions on racist and colonial legal construction of gender, making carceral spaces sites of (in)visibility and death. The death of Trans people within these carceral spaces are followed by multiple discursive deaths, including the use of dead names in media, misgendering, and transphobic political debate. This paper aims to highlight and explore carceral settings as sites of death and (in)visbility for Trans and queer people and how reframing allows us to identify how (neo)liberal reforms meant to protect Trans people only entrench mass incarceration in the United States.

KEYWORDS:

• Mass Incarceration
• Transgender activism
• carceral spaces
• prisons
• Jails

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. These names can be found on the Human Rights Campaign Website, which tracks Trans people killed in the United States and territories. For their updated reports, see https://reports.hrc.org/an-epidemic-of-violence-2022#memoriam-2022-deaths.

2. Typical use of the acronym is LGBTQI+, but has been changed here to centre Trans and Queer people and their experience as both part but distinct within the larger community.

3. For a full list of Anti-Trans legislation in the United States, see tracker compiled by the Freedom for All Americans Organization (accessed via https://freedomforallamericans.org/legislative-tracker/anti-transgender-legislation/).

4. The New York Times published reporting documenting those who died on Rikers Island while in custody, see https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/28/nyregion/rikers-island-prisoner-deaths.html (2021) and https://www.nytimes.com/article/rikers-deaths-jail.html (2022).

5. See ‘Raise the Age’: https://ww2.nycourts.gov/ip/oji/raisetheage.shtml.

6. For a comprehensive overview of Rikers Island’s history and changes since the 1980’s, see ‘A More Just New York City’ Report from the Lippman Commission, accessible at https://www.morejustnyc.org/reports.

7. New York City Board of Corrections Investigation Report: https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/boc/downloads/pdf/Reports/BOC-Reports/2020.06_Polanco/Final_Polanco_Public_Report_1.pdf.

8. Legal Aid Society Statement: https://legalaidnyc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/07-30-19-LAS-Statement-Layleen-Polanco.pdf.

9. See Press Release from Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark on the investigation into Layleen’s death, accessed here: https://www.bronxda.nyc.gov/downloads/pdf/pr/2020/18–2020%20Bronx-DA-report-death-Layleen-Polanco.pdf.

10. Ibid.

11. See Decrim NY, a coalition of more than 20 organisations working towards decriminalising the sex trade.

12. See Press Release, https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/193-18/mayor-de-blasio-department-correction-will-house-incarcerated-individuals-according-to

13. See Governor Hochul Press Release: https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-and-mayor-de-blasio-announce-agreement-transfer-incarcerated-women-and-trans.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nicolas Montano

Nicolas (Nico) Montano (pronouns: they/them) is a researcher based in New York City, currently a Senior Research Associate of Participatory Action Research at the Vera Institute of Justice, and previously working with Vera’s Center on Youth Justice and Common Justice. Prior to Vera, Nico worked with Columbia’s Justice Lab, with the Youth Justice Initiatives and the Probation and Parole Reform Project. For the past six years, Nico has taught courses on race, gender, and mass incarceration at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Nico holds an MA in Research Methods from the University of Liverpool, an MSc in Gender, Media, and Culture from the London School of Economics, and a BA in Psychology/Criminology from The City University of New York