In a decision in Maryland Administrative LAw Judge Denise Shaffer has ruled that officials at Patuxent Institution in Jessup Maryland have failed to comply with the national standards for protection of sexual abuse as set forth in the Prisoner Rape Elimination Act.

Sandy Brown, a 40-year-old transgender woman, was serving a five-year sentence for assault in 2014 when she was placed in 24-hour solitary confinement for 66 days at Patuxent after a routine mental health screening. While so housed, Brown says that guards routinely watched her shower and encouraged her to commit suicide.

They didn't see me for the human being I am.

They treated me like a circus act. I understand how animals at the zoo feel now. They gawked, pointed, made fun of me and tried to break my spirit.

These were people I’d never met, people I’d never done anything to.

--Brown

PREA requires prisons to have clear policies and mandatory training for prison personnel concerning the treatment of transgender inmates.