Florida prisons are miserable. They’re even worse for transgender inmates.

Inmate No. D35750, convicted of second-degree murder, was born Justin Lee Naber, but self-identified as a woman named Stacy Lorraine Naber.

Held in a series of men’s prisons, addressed and treated as a male, Naber sued the prison system for the right to a legal name change. She said it was important to her mental health. The head of prisons at the time, Julie Jones, said “legitimate penological interests of security and administration” required that the request be rejected.

Before the courts could decide the matter, Naber was found hanged in a cell at Dade Correctional Institution. It was termed a suicide, according to the Florida Department of Corrections’ “mortality database,” where Naber is still listed as Justin.

Authors
Romy Ellenbogen
Type
News
Standards
None
State
Florida
Facility
Prisons and Jails
Terms
Transgender
Gender