Zahara Green's Litigation
William Alvarado
Background of Zahara Green
A transgender women who began her transition at the age of 17. Soon afterwards she found herself struggling , unable to find employment and becoming homeless. She began to shoplift from various Walmart's , selling the stolen merchandise to support herself. Eventually Green was caught and then sentenced to a four year sentence at Rogers State prison in East Georgia. Before being sentenced , a health official from the department of corrections documented that Green being transgender put her at a greater risk of being assaulted. despite this she was still housed with male inmates. Green would then be harassed by an inmate named Darryl Ricard , who would force her to perform oral sex. Green tried on many occasions to ask to be put in solitary confinement for her safety , however her request were ignored for some time. Eventually Green would be placed in protective custody but would find that Ricard would be assigned to the bunk underneath her. This allowed Ricard to rape Green.
Rogers State Prison
Green's Case Arguments
- That prison officials had a duty of knowing she was at a high risk of being sexually assaulted
- it is a policy , that any kind of administrative segregation of inmates must be checked and documented every 30 minutes. However during the investigation the prison did not turn over he checklist , claiming that it was missing
- Green wrote to prison administration on several occasions explaining her situation however the prison warden claimed to have never receive any sort of letters regarding her being sexually assaulted
- Approval from the warden is needed for two inmates to be double bunked in protective custody.This means that the warden allowed for a non violent offender to be placed with a medium security offender known for being sexually violent.
- By placing her In a environment where there was easily able to be assaulted , the prison violated her eight and 14 amendment rights
Court's Ruling
Green's four year sentence was cut in half and she was released from prison in March of 2014. Afterwards her attorney would push for the DA to indict Ricard for his assaults on Green.The department of corrections undertook an internal investigation and turned over its findings to the Hinesville District attorney's office. Then in the spring of 2014 , the DA presented two charges of aggravated sodomy against Ricard to a grand jury. The following summer would see the Jury return a ' No Bill" which dismissed Ricard from the charges.