I saw one of the m/disinfo communities on here post this and make generic anti-trans hay about it in lieu of critical thinking ability or useful commentary. Seems like this decision was made strongly based on this individual’s history and that everyone’s safety was considered. Hardly a referendum on ‘trans issues’
A judge has ruled against a transgender inmate with a lengthy record of sex crimes involving women, refusing her request to order the Correctional Service of Canada to move her from the men’s prison system into a women’s institution.
Amanda Cooper, who has been incarcerated as a dangerous offender since 2001 for crimes committed when she identified as a man, underwent full gender surgery two years ago, and argued she feared for her safety in a men’s prison and was in self-imposed isolation.
Correctional authorities, however, refused the 59-year-old’s requests to move to a women’s institution, citing her risk and the safety of other women inmates. Cooper filed for a judicial review, which was heard last month in Federal Court in a virtual hearing out of Halifax.
It’s one of those cases where it’s impossible to completely respect the rights of everyone involved: either this one woman must remain in an environment where she may be at risk, or all the other female inmates at the prison she’s transferred to are put at risk. Voluntary solitary confinement on her part likely represents the lowest physical risk to everyone, although I doubt it’s helping this woman’s mental state.
If we’re going to continue incarcerating people who have committed sex offenses against others of the same gender (and realistically, what else can we do with them?) we need a better framework for handling the situation. Letting gay male offenders get beaten to death in a men’s prison is, if anything, even worse than this—it’s effectively a death penalty by proxy. But I’m at a loss for a solution.