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Victory! NYC Government & Department of Correction Pays Victim of Antigay Attack $280K

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September 12, 2018

Lambda Legal client Thomas Hamm, brutally attacked while he visited his incarcerated partner at a men’s facility on Rikers Island, was awarded $280,000 in the resolution of a federal lawsuit against the City of New York and New York City Department of Correction, its officers and supervisors.

See Also: Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice and Police Misconduct, Same-sex relationships
6 Civil Rights Groups Urge Eighth Circuit to Accept Appeal of Man Who May Have Been Sentenced to Death Because He is Gay

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August 2, 2018

Six civil rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota, Lambda Legal, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, National Center for Lesbian Rights, and National LGBT Bar Association, filed an amici brief today urging the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to hear the appeal of Charles Rhines, a gay man on death row in South Dakota.

See Also: Anti-LGBT Laws Rulings and Amendments, Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice and Police Misconduct
Victory! Federal Court Strikes Unlawful Policy That Denied Health Care to Incarcerated Missouri Transgender Woman

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May 23, 2018

A federal district court has struck down a Missouri Department of Corrections (MDOC) policy as cruel and unusual punishment because it denies vital health care to transgender people, including Lambda Legal client Jessica Hicklin, a transgender woman incarcerated at the Potosi Correctional Center in Mineral Point.

See Also: Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice and Police Misconduct, Health Care Fairness, Transgender Rights
Black Lives Matter's Patrisse Khan-Cullors on Her New Book and the Power of Self-Care

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February 22, 2018

The queer cofounder of the Black Lives Matter movement has a new book out, When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir. In Lambda Legal's Winter 2018 issue of Impact magazine, we talked to her about her work, her family, and fighting for justice in the Trump era.

See Also: Black Lives Matter, Criminal Justice and Police Misconduct, Racial Justice & Low Income Advocacy
Whether or Not You Stay in Jail Should Not Depend on How Poor You Are

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October 11, 2017

Our justice system should be designed to treat all people equally. Yet that does not happen for the estimated 450,000 Americans who remain in pretrial detention because they cannot afford to pay costly bail.

See Also: Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice and Police Misconduct, Racial Justice & Low Income Advocacy, Transgender Rights
Scout Schultz’s Killing Was a Symptom of Systemic Transphobia

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September 25, 2017

It is on all of us to remember Scout and fight on in their name.

See Also: Criminal Justice and Police Misconduct, Racial Justice & Low Income Advocacy, Transgender Rights
White House Hosts Historic Meeting on LGBTQ People and People Living with HIV in the U.S. Criminal Justice System

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September 20, 2016

Today the White House hosted 150 formerly incarcerated LGBTQ people, policymakers & advocates to discuss unique challenges faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people and people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the criminal legal system.

See Also: Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice and Police Misconduct, HIV, Stop Prison Rape in Texas, Teens & Young Adults, Transgender Rights, Youth and Schools
Why I’m Suing Missouri’s Department of Corrections

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August 24, 2016

When I was 16, I was convicted of first-degree murder and criminal action and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, plus 100 years. In the 21 years since then, I have been incarcerated at Potosi Correctional Center (PCC), a maximum-security prison in Mineral Point, Missouri for male inmates.

See Also: Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice and Police Misconduct, Health Care Fairness, Transgender Rights
Lambda Legal Sues Missouri Department of Corrections and Corizon Health Inc. for Denying Health Care to Incarcerated Transgender Woman

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August 22, 2016

Today, Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Jessica Hicklin, a 37-year-old transgender woman incarcerated at the Potosi Correctional Center, a facility for male inmates, in Mineral Point, Missouri. The case challenges a Missouri Department of Corrections (MDOC) “freeze-frame” policy that bars access to hormone therapy for inmates and others in custody if they were not receiving treatment prior to incarceration.

See Also: Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice and Police Misconduct, Transgender Rights
Lambda Legal Mourns Vicious Attack in Dallas

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July 8, 2016

After the shooting deaths of Dallas Police Officers and DART officers at a peaceful protest last night, Lambda Legal issued a statement from Roger Poindexter, South Central Regional Office Director and National Board of Directors Co-chair Tracey Guyot-Wallace, both based in Dallas.

See Also: Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice and Police Misconduct