Home > Journals > WMLR > Vol. 66 (2024-2025) > Iss. 2 (2024)
William & Mary Law Review
Abstract
This Note will argue that PREA [Prison Rape Elimination Act] provides meager protection and insufficient relief to transgender individuals who have been victims of sexual violence while incarcerated and that the existing mechanisms for relief are insufficient. Because PREA contains no private cause of action to allow survivors of rape to sue for violations of PREA, transgender rape survivors’ pain remains unredressed. To address this problem, this Note puts forth a combination of solutions to remove barriers to redress for transgender survivors of prison rape, including amending PREA to include a private cause of action and repealing provisions of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) that unduly encumber prisoners’ legitimate legal claims. Part I outlines the realities of being transgender in prison and briefly introduces the contours of PREA. It also assesses the ways in which survivors can currently access justice and explains why they are insufficient. Part II examines the reasons PREA lacks a private cause of action and recommends a combination of solutions to fix this deficiency, including specific components to a private cause of action and addressing the ways in which PLRA hinders prisoner lawsuits. Finally, Part III addresses some likely counterarguments, which include the practical impossibility of amending a federal statute in today’s congressional climate and the possibility that an amendment to PREA will disturb existing laws designed to control excessive prisoner litigation.
This abstract has been taken from the author's introduction.