A federal appellate court ruled last week that Oregon may house trans women inmates in men’s prisons, overturning a lower court’s ruling earlier this year.
The three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals consisted exclusively of Donald Trump appointees. They voted unanimously to overturn an April ruling from U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark D. Clarke ordering the Oregon Department of Corrections to assume that trans women prisoners should be housed in women’s prisons, and then assess individual cases to confirm that placement, not the other way around.
It’s less about people knowing about the violence (and sexual violence especially) that happens in prisons, but rather there is a collective tacit acknowledgement that these things are okay — that the violence is effectively just part of the punishment of prison.
Which is a pretty fucked up stance, but because it’s the default, unspoken and unchallenged assumption, then of course we’re not going to hear about this stuff on the news.