Legal & Policy

The Legal & Policy Work

Support to the TGIJP Leadership Academy by training incarcerated and formerly incarcerated TGI people throughout the state of California in basic legislative advocacy skills.

Legal mail and emergency line which responds to an average of 100 legal letters a month providing legal assistance, and 25 emergency calls a month to respond to emergent legal needs or immediate safety concerns.

Assistance obtaining parole by sending support letters to institutions and offering housing, and employment through placement in our re-entry program.

Advocacy for transfer to safer prison or housing within a prison pursuant to SB 132.

Assistance filing complaints under the Prison Rape Elimination Act and through prison administrative appeals processes

Submission of complaints to U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General for retaliation from filing complaints under the Prison Rape Elimination Act and US and State Constitutions.

Litigation of incidents of transphobia, abuse, torture, discrimination, against institutional employees and institutions.
Assistance with name and gender marker updates.

Participatory defense support for criminal charges linked to acts of self defense and survival.

Co-Sponsorship of the California TGI Policy Coalition (CTPA), a coalition comprised only of TGI led organizations, and TGIJP employee positions in the steering committee with community members most impacted, including, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated TGI people in California to develop and pass groundbreaking legislation to bring resources to TGI communities:
- AB 2218 Transgender Wellness and Equity Fund
Cosponsorship of legislation to give tools to TGI people inside California prisons including:
- SB 132 CA Transgender Respect Agency and Dignity Act
- SB 310

Monitoring of compliance of CDCR with SB132 and other laws protecting TGI people by corresponding with Incarcerated TGI people, and engaging in direct non-litigation advocacy on violations.

Support members of the community to a on issues that align with our Vision and Mission.

Opportunities and support for formerly incarcerated people to ensure TGI people will be safe when transferred to facilities designated for women under SB 132 by:
- Acting as a resource for cis gender women in custody to answere questions and concerns over e-mail, so that our TGI family do not have to
- Identifying TGI leaders in women’s facilities to act as ambassadors/organizers to the cisgender population
- Organizing with identified ambassadors, TGI people who have been transferred, and sympathetic cisgender people for solidarity against gender based violence, especially that perpetrated by CDCr staff.

Direct advocacy for TGI people denied transfer under SB 132 for illegal grounds.

Leadership on policy and program initiatives:

City and County of San Francisco TGI Diversion Program to release TGI people in SF jails to community organizations.
Train criminal court judges, SF pretrial, and the SF DA’s office on how to channel TGI people into this program of community support instead of prisons or jails.
Decarceration Communications Campaign and Strategy to build support for decarceration legislation.
Supporting Defund SFPD and PIC by forwarding our abolitionist demands.
No New SF Jails coalition membership
Advisory Committee Member of the San Francisco Office of Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Prevention.

Hold monthly Legal Mail clinics to train law students how to answer legal mail from TGI people in prisons.

Train attorneys to represent incarcerated TGI people pro bono in the Incarcerated TGI Representation Network.

Survey 105 TGI people in California prisons in the 2020 California TGI Survey to monitor prison conditions and abuse.

Collaboration with Beyond Binary Legal and CTPA to track the experiences of TGIpeople in the following areas:

Tools to Amplify Voice and Power of incarcerated TGI people by organizing and supporting Community Based Participatory Research projects to support legislation and lobby efforts.