Death of Layleen Polanco

Last updated
Death of Layleen Polanco
DateJune 7, 2019;5 years ago (2019-06-07)
Location Rikers Island, New York, U.S.
CauseSeizure

Layleen Xtravaganza Cubilette-Polanco was a 27-year-old Afro-Latina transgender woman who died at Rikers Island, New York City's main jail complex, on June 7, 2019, in solitary confinement after staff failed to provide her with medical care that could have saved her life for 47 minutes following an epileptic seizure. [1] [2] [3] [4] After a six-month investigation, the New York City Department of Investigation (DOI) and Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark claimed that staff members were not responsible for Polanco's death. [3] [5] Records indicate that officers had extensive knowledge of Polanco's epilepsy, she having already suffered multiple seizures at Rikers. [6]

Contents

A video of the incident revealed that multiple staff members knocked on Polanco's cell door and that she was unresponsive. In the presence of her unresponsive body, officers could be seen laughing. [3] [7] The DOI stated that officers thought Polanco was napping and that the laughter was unrelated. [3] A wrongful death lawsuit was filed by David Shanies, the attorney for the Polanco family. [3] Polanco's death reignited conversations about banning cash bail and pretrial detention. [6] Melania Brown, Polanco's sister, and many others called for banning solitary confinement in New York City after Polanco's death. [3] [8]

Life

Polanco's family home was in Yonkers, New York. [8] Polanco was part of New York City's ballroom scene as a member of the House of Xtravaganza and was a friend of Pose (2018) star Indya Moore. [3] [6]

Polanco had last been home in April. According to her sister, Melania Brown, although usually bubbly, Polanco "became very depressed. She tried to look for jobs. She tried to go to school. She tried just to get life together." [9] Polanco faced difficulties receiving employment. Brown stated that "she was turned away from every door she tried to walk in." [9]

Death

Polanco was arrested in April 2019 on misdemeanor assault charges and held on $500 bail from a 2017 drug and sex work charge. [8] Polanco was sent to the jail because she could not afford the bail. [6]

On May 14, Polanco was sentenced to 20 days in solitary confinement for a physical altercation with another individual in custody at the Transgender Housing Unit dormitory. On May 15, she exhibited intense feelings of psychological distress, including suicidal ideation, hallucinations, and panic attacks. In the notes section of a report, an "officer wrote 'inmate randomly crying, shouting.'" [8] While in a distressed state, Polanco reportedly assaulted an officer on the arm "with her fist out." [10] She was sent for a nine-day stay in Elmhurst Hospital for "psychosis/mania", eight of which were spent in a psychiatric prison ward. [10]

On May 24, Polanco returned to Rikers. Correction staff debated where to place her. The department's tour commander wrote that a psychiatrist could not authorize solitary confinement for Polanco because of her seizure disorder. However, Polanco was placed in solitary confinement on May 30 after clearance from a Correctional Health Services medical doctor. [8] The Board of Correction found that the jail's housing policy to not place trans women with cisgender women created "increased pressure" to isolate Polanco. [8] However, officials did consider placing Polanco in a men's facility. [10]

Although officers knew of her epilepsy and Polanco had already suffered multiple seizures at the facility, she was ultimately "cleared" for solitary confinement, [6] where she spent 17 hours a day in a cell. [9] The doctor wrote that, despite her medical history, "her condition has been stable." [6] On the day of Polanco's death she was left alone for periods of 57 minutes, 47 minutes and 41 minutes, even though "DOC policy stipulates that inmates placed in solitary confinement should be observed every 15 minutes." [10] As a result, Shanies described the conditions which led to Polanco's death as follows: [6]

When an epileptic person has a seizure, they are at great risk of injury or death and unable to help themselves. They can fall, suffer trauma, or stop breathing, among other things. That is exactly how Layleen died. By leaving her locked in a cell, unmonitored, the jail created the risk of Layleen's suffering a fatal seizure. This is not a case of a mistake or a medical problem that slipped through the cracks. This was a thought-out decision to put a person in a situation where the risks of injury and death were obvious and known.

The seizure was Polanco's third while in custody. [11] The DOI published Polanco's deadname in an official report following her death and later apologized for doing so. [3]

Aftermath

The first report of Polanco's death was a four-sentence report by the New York Post that did not mention Polanco's name. [9] In response, the New York City Anti-Violence Project organized a rally for Polanco on June 10, in which 600 people attended, including Janet Mock and Indya Moore. On June 26, the New York AVP issued a letter of demands to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, which included "the expedition of the results of Layleen's autopsy; the disbandment of solitary confinement and restrictive housing units in New York state; the decriminalization of sex work in the state; and housing, health care, and employment programs for TGNCNB people across New York." [9] Melania Brown and about twenty of Polanco's friends and family members marched with the New York City Anti-Violence Project at New York Pride in July 2019. [9]

On June 14, 2020, during the coronavirus outbreak, about 15,000 protesters marched down Brooklyn's Eastern Parkway in solidarity with black trans lives, organized by The Okra Project, which provides meals to black trans people, and the Marsha P. Johnson Institute. Brown was in attendance and stated, "My sister is not here to fight for herself, but I'm here. We're here, and they've got to make room for us. And if they don't, we're taking it." [7] Video footage of Polanco's death released in June provoked public outrage. The footage, featuring officers laughing in the presence of Polanco's unresponsive body, was disturbing and deeply troubling to the Polanco family. Family attorney David Shanies described it as "the last bit of indifference that we saw toward a person who obviously needed help." [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solitary confinement</span> Strict form of imprisonment

Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to discipline or separate incarcerated individuals who are considered to be security risks to other incarcerated individuals or prison staff, as well as those who violate facility rules or are deemed disruptive. However, it can also be used as protective custody for incarcerated individuals whose safety is threatened by other prisoners. This is employed to separate them from the general prison population and prevent injury or death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rikers Island</span> New York City island and jail complex

Rikers Island is a 413-acre (167.14-hectare) prison island in the East River in the Bronx that contains New York City's largest jail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ADX Florence</span> Federal supermax prison located in Fremont County, Colorado, US

The United States Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility, commonly known as ADX Florence or the Florence Supermax, is an American federal prison in Fremont County to the south of Florence, Colorado, operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. ADX Florence, constructed in 1994 and opened one year later, is classed as a supermax or "control unit" prison, that provides a higher, more controlled level of custody than a regular maximum security prison. ADX Florence forms part of the Federal Correctional Complex, Florence, which is situated on 49 acres of land and houses different facilities with varying degrees of security, including the adjacent United States Penitentiary, Florence High.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angola Three</span> American prison inmates in solitary for decades

The Angola Three are three African American former prison inmates who were held for decades in solitary confinement while imprisoned at Louisiana State Penitentiary. The latter two were indicted in April 1972 for the killing of a prison corrections officer; they were convicted in January 1974. Wallace and Woodfox served more than 40 years each in solitary, the "longest period of solitary confinement in American prison history".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venus Xtravaganza</span> American performer and dancer

Venus Xtravaganza was an American transgender woman. She came to national attention after her appearance in Jennie Livingston's 1990 documentary film Paris Is Burning, in which her life as a ballroom family member and performer forms one of the film's several story arcs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT people in prison</span> Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people in prison

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people face difficulties in prison such as increased vulnerability to sexual assault, other kinds of violence, and trouble accessing necessary medical care. While much of the available data on LGBTQ inmates comes from the United States, Amnesty International maintains records of known incidents internationally in which LGBTQ prisoners and those perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender have suffered torture, ill-treatment and violence at the hands of fellow inmates as well as prison officials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of violence against LGBT people in the United States</span>

The history of violence against LGBT people in the United States is made up of assaults on gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender individuals (LGBTQ), legal responses to such violence, and hate crime statistics in the United States of America. The people who are the targets of such violence are believed to violate heteronormative rules and they are also believed to contravene perceived protocols of gender and sexual roles. People who are perceived to be LGBT may also be targeted for violence. Violence can also occur between couples who are of the same sex, with statistics showing that violence among female same-sex couples is more common than it is among couples of the opposite sex, but male same-sex violence is less common.

Founded in 1982, the House of Xtravaganza is one of the most publicly recognized "houses" to emerge from the New York City underground ballroom scene and among the longest continuously active. House of Xtravaganza members and the collective group is recognized for their cultural influence in the areas of dance, music, visual arts, nightlife, fashion, and community activism. House of Xtravaganza members continue to be featured in popular media and travel the world as ambassadors of voguing and the ballroom scene.

The Vanier Centre for Women in Milton, Ontario is a medium correctional facility for female offenders serving sentences of less than two years or who have been arrested and are remanded in custody awaiting trial. The institution has capacity for 333 inmates. Services for French-speaking people are offered at this facility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cecily McMillan</span> American activist

Cecily McMillan is an American activist and advocate for prisoner rights in the United States who was arrested and subsequently convicted of felony second-degree assault. McMillan claimed she was defending herself against an attempted sexual assault by a New York City Police officer as he led her out of the Occupy Wall Street protest in Zuccotti Park on March 17, 2012. McMillan's highly publicized arrest and trial led to her being called a "cause célèbre of the Occupy Wall Street movement". McMillan said that her breast was grabbed and twisted by someone behind her, to which she says she responded to by reflexively elbowing her perceived attacker in the face. The officer involved, Grantley Bovell, testified that she deliberately assaulted him; a video showed McMillan "bending her knees, then throwing her right elbow into the officer's eye". She was arrested after a brief attempt to flee, and says she was beaten by police during her arrest. McMillan was convicted of felony second-degree assault on May 5, 2014, and was subsequently sentenced to three months in prison and five years of probation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solitary confinement in the United States</span> Form of strict imprisonment in the United States

In the United States penal system, upwards of 20 percent of state and federal prison inmates and 18 percent of local jail inmates are kept in solitary confinement or another form of restrictive housing at some point during their imprisonment. Solitary confinement (sometimes euphemistically called protective custody, punitive segregation (PSEG) or room restriction) generally comes in one of two forms: "disciplinary segregation," in which inmates are temporarily placed in solitary confinement as punishment for rule-breaking; and "administrative segregation," in which prisoners deemed to be a risk to the safety of other inmates, prison staff, or to themselves are placed in solitary confinement for extended periods of time, often months or years.

Lorena Escalera, known professionally as Lorena Xtravaganza, was a Puerto Rican transgender performer known for her impersonations of Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez. She was given the last name Xtravaganza for her membership of a celebrated group called The House of Xtravaganza.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalief Browder</span> American teenager incarcerated for three years without trial

Kalief Browder was an African American youth from The Bronx, New York, who was held at the Rikers Island jail complex, without trial, between 2010 and 2013 for allegedly stealing a backpack containing valuables. During his imprisonment, Browder was kept in solitary confinement for 800 days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariah Lopez</span> American activist

Mariah Lopez is an American activist based in New York City. She has been a plaintiff in multiple lawsuits related to civil and human rights, and has lobbied for legislation and greater policy protections for LGBTQ people. Lopez is the executive director for STARR, a transgender rights advocacy group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darcel Clark</span> American attorney and prosecutor

Darcel Denise Clark is an American attorney and prosecutor who has served as the Bronx County District Attorney since 2016. Clark is the first woman to hold that office, and the first woman of color to serve as a district attorney in the history of the State of New York.

While studies have shown the effects of solitary confinement to be detrimental to some inmates, solitary confinement of women has particular consequences for women that may differ from the way it affects men. Solitary confinement rates for women in the United States are roughly comparable to those for men and about 20% of prisoners will be in solitary confinement at some point during their prison career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">August Rebellion</span>

The August Rebellion was an uprising on August 29, 1974, at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women, a New York State prison in Bedford Hills in the Town of Bedford, Westchester County, New York, United States. In August 1974, about 200 women imprisoned at Bedford Hills rebelled, taking over parts of the prison, in protest of the inhumane treatment of Carol Crooks. A subsequent civil-action lawsuit, ruled in the inmates' favor, led to greater protections of Fourth Amendment rights for incarcerated people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indya Moore</span> American actor and model (born 1995)

Indya Adrianna Moore is an American actor and model. They are known for playing the role of Angel Evangelista in the FX television series Pose. Time named them one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2019. Moore is transgender and non-binary, and uses they/them and she/her pronouns.

The Correction Officers' Benevolent Association (COBA) is the second largest trade union for law enforcement in New York. COBA is also the largest municipal jail union in the United States. It represents corrections staff within the New York City Department of Correction run by the New York City Department of Correction. It has a membership of 9000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Onondaga County Justice Center</span> Maximum-security prison in Syracuse, New York

The Patrick J. Corbett Justice Center, otherwise known as the Onondaga County Justice Center is a maximum-security facility located in Syracuse, New York. Designed with state of the art technology, the Justice Center has been operating as a direct supervision jail since 1995. housing a variety of incarcerated individuals based in Onondaga County prior to transfer to state correctional facilities. The Justice Center currently holds a maximum capacity of 605 inmates, classifying it as a medium-sized correctional facility.

References

  1. ↑ "Justice for Layleen Polanco: Community Demands Answers After Trans Black Latinx Woman Died at Rikers". Democracy Now!. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  2. ↑ Tso, Tiffany Diane (13 August 2019). "Layleen Polanco's Mother Is Suing NYC Over Her Solitary Confinement Death At Rikers". Refinery29. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sosin, Kate (13 June 2020). "New video reveals Layleen Polanco's death at Rikers was preventable, family says". NBC News. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  4. ↑ Diavolo, Lucy (15 June 2020). "Brooklyn Liberation Brought Thousands to the Streets for Black Trans Lives". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  5. ↑ Carrega, Christina (5 June 2020). "'No criminality' found in the death of transgender inmate on Rikers Island: Prosecutor". ABC News. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Grinberg, Emanuella (31 July 2019). "Cause of death revealed for transgender woman who died at Rikers Island". CNN. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 Provenzano, Brianna (15 June 2020). "Layleen Polanco's Treatment By Prison Guards Shows How Trans Women Are Killed By An Indifferent System". Refinery29. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Goldensohn, Rosa; Blau, Reuven (23 June 2020). "Jailer Pushed Layleen Polanco Into Rikers Island Solitary Confinement Despite Red Flags: Report". The City. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Conteh, Mankaprr (12 July 2019). "How Layleen Cubilette-Polanco's Family, the House of Xtravaganza, and Activists Are Mourning and Organizing a Month After Her Death". Vogue. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Gajanan, Mahita (24 June 2020). "Report: Jail Officials Placed Layleen Polanco in Solitary Confinement Despite Health Concerns, Failed in Duty of Care". Time . Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  11. ↑ Burns, Katelyn (23 June 2020). "Why police often single out trans people for violence". Vox. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.