Trans Detainee Sues Over Housing With Men on Rikers Island
Transgender Rikers Island jail detainee Dylan “Ali” Miles sued the City of New York and its Department of Correction on August 24, 2023, alleging her civil rights were violated when she was housed with men for two months before an August 2022 transfer to stand trial in Arizona.
Filed in federal court for the Southern District of New York, the suit notes that Miles was “born with male genitalia” but “identifies as woman” and “is in the process of transitioning into a woman” via hormone therapy. After her arrest, a Legal Aid Society attorney noted she was transgender to a Bronx criminal court judge, who allegedly promised, “I’ll mark that down.”
But Miles was placed in a jail housing area with men, where one guard allegedly responded to her objections: “We don’t do the trans thing here.” Another guard conducted a strip search and reportedly told her: “Nice tits, and that’s one hell of a pussy.” She was then placed in a cell with a detainee who raped her, forcing her to cover the security camera with her own shirt. When she complained, she was placed in a protective custody cell, where another detainee forced his way inside and raped her again.
After making yet another complaint, she was returned to a cell with the same detainee, who threw boiling-hot liquid in her face, she said, leaving her with injuries and vision loss. However, jail medical staff did not treat her, she added, instead placing her in “an open cage/cell,” where for the next three days she was “repeatedly peed on, spit on, and called a trans faggot” by fellow detainees in an adjacent cage.
Once in Arizona, Miles was convicted in October 2022 on charges including harassment and disorderly conduct and jailed for 312 days, followed by three years of supervised probation. With the aid of Manhattan attorney Peter Sverd, she then filed suit against New York City. It remains pending, and PLN will update developments as they are available. See: Miles v. City of N.Y., USDC (S.D.N.Y.), Case No. 1:23-cv-07538.
Additional source: Daily Mail
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Related legal case
Miles v. City of N.Y.
| Year | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Cite | USDC (S.D.N.Y.), Case No. 1:23-cv-07538 |
| Level | District Court |