Coroner raises concerns after HMP Swaleside prisoner died after cell bell was turned off by other inmates

 Prisoners were able to silence a distressed inmate’s emergency call bell before he became the ninth inmate to take his own life in three years at the jail.

Thomas Ruggiero, 39, was found in his cell at HMP Swaleside, on the Isle of Sheppey, on November 16, 2024.
He had been serving an eight-year sentence for assault and struggled with his mental health.

A jury inquest, held between March 9 and 20 at Oakwood House in Maidstone and led by coroner Ian Potter, concluded he died by ligaturing himself in circumstances where his intention could not be ascertained.

In his report, which has since been submitted to the prison, Mr Potter warned there was a “significant” risk that further deaths could occur unless action is taken.

He raised concerns about the jail’s emergency cell bell system, suicide and self-harm procedures, staff communication and experience, and confusion over emergency response codes.

Benjamin Lillicrap banned from teaching after taking indecent images while working at The Abbey School, FavershamBenjamin Lillicrap banned from teaching after taking indecent images while working at The Abbey School, Faversham

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CCTV footage showed other prisoners silencing Ruggiero’s cell bell from outside his door in the hour before he was found unresponsive.

The jury found this hampered staff’s ability to respond to his needs and distress.

Mr Potter said anyone could cancel an emergency call bell at the push of a button outside a cell, with staff then assuming the call had been answered.

He warned the system remains “highly vulnerable to both misuse and abuse”.

“The evidence was that as and when a cell bell is silenced, staff assume that the call for assistance has been answered,” said the coroner.

“There was clear evidence that this situation has not changed in any way since November 2024.”

The inquest also highlighted concerns around the lack of experience among staff. At the time of Ruggiero’s death, at least 90% of the prison officers at HMP Swaleside were new in post and still in their probationary period.

The supervising officer admitted he “possibly did not have the right mix of staff in terms of skills and experience to keep the wing safe”.

In his report to the prison, Mr Potter said: “Without sufficient numbers of experienced prison officers across the prison estate, the staffing issues seen in this particular inquest are likely not isolated. I highlight to you my concern that high levels of inexperienced staff will undoubtedly contribute to future deaths of those in custody.”

He added: “The communication between prison staff was insufficient and lacked clarity.

“Opportunities to increase formal observations or notify health care were missed. Staff communications failed to relay the severity and complete scope of the situation.

“There was clear confusion among prison staff regarding the calling of a ‘code blue’ in an emergency situation.

“That confusion included if/when to call a code blue and how to do so.”

The governor of HMP Swaleside has until May 18 to respond to Mr Potter’s findings, while the Ministry of Justice and healthcare providers have until May 19 to outline what action will be taken, or explain why none is proposed.

It comes as the jail was named the worst in the country in a damning report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons, which found high levels of drugs and violence and called on the government to take urgent action to fix it.

Inmate's sentence extended after scalding officer

 An inmate who seriously assaulted a prison officer leaving him with second-degree facial burns has been handed an 11-year extended sentence.

On 27 December 2024, Benjamin Scott, 46, a prisoner at HMP Onley in Northamptonshire, threw boiling water into the face of a prison officer before hitting him over the head with a kettle.

The victim was taken to hospital where he received treatment for his injuries including an ocular burn to his left eye, in a bid to save his sight.

Scott who is serving a 15-year jail sentence, was handed an extended sentence made up of six years in jail and an additional five years on licence on 20 March.

Northamptonshire Police said Scott was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm with intent and during a formal police interview gave a full disclosure expressing his remorse for his actions.

He said it was not a "targeted attack" and had wanted to move from the prison after feeling like he was not getting support for his declining mental health.

Following the incident, the force said he was later transferred to another prison.

At a hearing at Northampton Crown Court on 19 November last year, Scott, formerly of Sheffield, pleaded guilty to one count of grievous bodily harm with intent.

In March, he was handed an extended sentence made up of six years imprisonment with an extension of five years on licence.

Det Con Jamie Yates of CID West, whose team led the investigation, said: "This was a particularly violent, unprovoked attack by Benjamin Scott who wanted to orchestrate a move from the prison.

"Such violence has no place in our society and that includes within the prison establishment, where prison officers should be able to feel safe to perform their duties without fear for their personal safety.

"The prison officer in this case acted bravely and professionally throughout considering the seriousness of his assault and I must praise him for this."

Prison guard and gang jailed over contraband plot

 A gang has been jailed after teaming up with a corrupt prison officer to smuggle drugs, mobile phones and USB sticks into a south‑east London prison.

Jason Thompson, a guard at HMP Isis, was suspended by the Prison Service in February 2024, as the Metropolitan Police investigated.

Thompson, 34, was jailed for four years and six months at Snaresbrook Crown Court after admitting he acted as the link between the gang and inmates - five of whom have been jailed today.

Deputy governor at HMP Isis, Stephen Forde, said the vast majority of prison staff were "honest, professional and hardworking, and those who choose corruption put staff and prisoners at risk and damage public trust."

Eight men and Thompson are believed to have been responsible for 18 package drop‑offs between February and July 2024. Thompson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convey List A articles into prison and misconduct in a public office.

The ringleader inside prison was Olusegan Shobanjo, 26, and his brother on the outside, 28-year-old Adedayo Shobanjo.

He and Andrew Opoku‑Edusei, 28, prepared an "industrial" number of USB sticks loaded with Xbox games, TV programmes and pornography for prisoners - with some produced to order. They also paid Thompson between £400 and £600 for each package smuggled in.

Inmates Prince Kunado Dwomoh and Nathan Adjei played a "significant role" in the conspiracy and were principally dealing cannabis.

Contraband was brought in via supervised visits arranged through the official prison booking system.

The gang used coded language and slang to avoid detection, as footage from inside the prison captured the exchanges, including a moment when Thompson, in a panic, discarded items in a staff toilet.

On 13 March 2024, officers intercepted a package containing cannabis resin before carrying out 11 simultaneous arrests across London.

Gang members sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 2 April:

• Olusegan Shobanjo, 26, of Bristol Avenue, NW9, was jailed for five years for conspiracy to convey List A and List B articles into prison and facilitating the acquisition of criminal property

• Rama Wato, 26, of Alpha Place, NW6, was sentenced to two years and 10 months for the same offences

• Andrew Opoku Edusei, 28, of The Concourse, NW9, jailed for four years and six months for the same charges and the possession of ammunition

• Prince Kunado Dwomoh, 27, of Kenley Avenue, NW9, was jailed for two years and eight months for conspiracy to convey List A articles into prison

• Nathan Adjei, 26, of Lutterworth Road, Northampton, received two years and six months' imprisonment for the same offence

Earlier hearings:

• Jacques Hamilton, 23, of Abborts Road, HA8, was sentenced to two years' imprisonment on 22 January after pleading guilty to conspiracy to convey List A articles into prison

• Arian Kaseb, 21, of Charcot Road, NW9, was jailed on 23 January for 12 months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to convey List B articles into prison

Awaiting sentencing:

• Adedayo Shobanjo, 28, of Bristol Avenue, NW9, awaits sentencing after admitting conspiracy to convey List B articles into prison and facilitating the acquisition of criminal property

Man guilty of 2003 rape that saw innocent Andrew Malkinson jailed

 A sex offender has been found guilty of a rape which saw an innocent man jailed for 17 years.

Paul Quinn, 52, had denied the attack on a woman in Little Hulton, Salford, in 2003 for which Andrew Malkinson was wrongly convicted.

Jurors at Manchester Crown Court heard the father-of-six's DNA was found on the woman's vest and he had searched online to see how long police kept samples.

Quinn, of Exeter, Devon, and formerly of Little Hulton, Salford, was also found guilty of strangulation and grievous bodily harm.

Warning: This story contains distressing details.

The court heard Quinn, a sex offender from the age of 12, attacked the young mother as she walked home in the Salford suburb in the early hours of the morning on 19 July 2003.

She was brutally beaten, bitten and her cheekbone was fractured.

Quinn then strangled her unconscious and raped her.

Malkinson, who was working as a security guard at a local shopping centre, had protested his innocence but was wrongly picked out at as the attacker in an identity parade.

He was jailed in 2004.

Speaking after Quinn's conviction, Malkinson said he was "content that the right result has finally been achieved for the victim, myself and the public".

"But the truth is that if the police had acted as they should have done, Paul Quinn could have been caught a long time ago," he said.

"Instead, they wanted a quick conviction and I was a handy patsy forced to spend over 17 years in prison for his horrific crime."

Malkinson, from Grimsby, made multiple failed appeals against his conviction in 2012 and 2020.

Now aged 60, he was only released in 2020 after 17 years in jail, with his conviction finally quashed by the Court of Appeal in 2023

A statement read on behalf of the victim on the court steps said "two lives had been impacted" by the case.

It had "robbed me of the life I wanted to have" and the miscarriage of justice had "robbed Mr Malkinson of 17 years", she said.

However, she said "justice has been served" by this verdict.

Assistant Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police (GMP) Steph Parker said: "The fact that Andrew Malkinson was imprisoned for 17 years for a crime he didn't commit is clearly a failing of Greater Manchester Police, and the wider criminal justice system.

"And for that, we are absolutely sorry.

"We are determined that this cannot happen again and we also offer our apologies to the victim, who we've let down."

The Independent Office for Police Conduct said GMP's handling of the case was still under investigation.

Five former GMP officers and one currently serving with the force are under investigation by the IOPC.

Quinn was arrested almost two decades after Malkinson was wrongly jailed, following advances in DNA testing which meant in 2022 a billion-to-one match of his DNA profile was made with saliva left on the victim's vest top.

The court heard Quinn was a convicted sex offender at the time of the attack.

He was cautioned in 1986 for two counts of indecent assault against a female, when he was 12 years old.

In November 1992, he was convicted of two counts of underage sex, an offence which today would be classified as rape. He was aged 16 and the girl was 12 at the time of the offences.

It was this offence that led to his DNA being taken by police ten years later, which ultimately linked him to the rape in 2003.

The six-week trial heard Quinn stalked his victim, in her 30s, as she walked home, dragging her from the street down a motorway embankment.

He battered her, fracturing her cheekbone, and she was strangled unconscious and twice raped.

He also bit her left nipple, almost severing it, but left behind on her vest top his saliva from which his DNA was recovered years later.

'Alarm bells'

Ass Ch Con Parker added: "Paul Quinn is a dangerous man. He is the one responsible for this horrific attack, and he has known it all along for more than 20 years.

"The harm he has done to the victim and the cowardice of watching the wrong man go to prison for his crime is unforgivable."

When the victim gave evidence against Malkinson in 2003 she had doubts she had picked out the right man, but police dismissed this as "just trial nerves".

The DNA sample from the vest top, only recovered and identified in 2007, was analysed and ruled out Malkinson, which was a development which "ought to have set alarm bells ringing", the court heard.

Quinn had given a DNA sample in 2012, as police collected samples from known sex offenders.

In August 2022, after testing became more advanced, news broke that police had matched the vest top DNA sample to another man.

The trial heard that this development had a "profound" effect on Quinn's internet usage.

Quinn told jurors it was a "complete coincidence" he had begun scouring the news for information on the Malkinson case and repeatedly searched Google, asking: "How long is DNA kept in database", and, "Why do I keep sweating all the time…"

He also searched up "wrongful convictions" in the UK.

Quinn, who divorced in 2016, had moved from Salford following a drugs dispute, the court heard.

He was arrested in December 2022 after moving to Exeter, where he was working as a delivery driver.

Ass Ch Con Parker said mistakes had been made on the case, with some of the exhibits disposed of and "we know that there were queries around the identification procedure".

"But we really need to understand how those errors occurred, and why those errors occurred, and only at that point would we be able to understand whether there is blame for the police, for anybody else," she said.

"If there is, I can assure you, we will learn from that, because we cannot let this happen again."

James Burley, from legal charity Appeal, said the "grim reality" was that Quinn could have been caught sooner.

He said authorities had DNA recovered from the victim's clothing that did not match Malkinson for some years, but did not check databases until 2022.

Burley said Malkinson spent a further eight years wrongly imprisoned as a result and called for new periodic DNA searching rules to be introduced.

He also appealed for "disallowing prosecutions based solely on unsupported eyewitness identification evidence", or for juries to be given "strengthened warning about the pitfalls of eyewitness identification evidence".

Before discharging the jurors, Judge Mr Justice Bright told them, "among all this horror" the only "sunlight" was that the victim and her then-boyfriend had stayed together after the rape.

He said: "I know this case will live with you a long time".

Quinn will be sentenced on 5 June.

Misconduct at HMP Berwyn

 

Misconduct at HMP Berwyn (2017 – April 2025)

Suspensions, dismissals, and criminal cases involving prison officers

Since opening in 2017, HMP Berwyn—one of the largest prisons in the UK—has faced ongoing scrutiny over staff misconduct.

Although there is no officially published total for how many officers have been suspended, a combination of court cases, media reporting, and Freedom of Information data reveals a consistent pattern of disciplinary issues, particularly involving inappropriate relationships between staff and inmates.

This article brings together the known facts and cases to provide a clearer picture of what has happened at Berwyn since it opened.

---

Overview of misconduct cases

From 2017 up to April 2025:

At least 18 staff members have been dismissed or resigned due to misconduct

Several officers have been convicted in court and sent to prison

The most common issue is inappropriate or sexual relationships with inmates

Other issues include:

Sharing personal contact details

Smuggling or attempting to smuggle contraband

Failing to maintain professional boundaries

It is important to understand that in most serious cases, staff are suspended first while investigations take place, meaning the real number of suspensions is likely higher than the number of dismissals, even though exact figures are not publicly released.

---

How the disciplinary process usually works

In prisons like HMP Berwyn, allegations of misconduct generally follow a standard process:

1. A concern or allegation is raised

2. The officer is removed from duty (suspended)

3. An internal investigation begins

4. Outcomes may include:

No further action

Formal warning

Dismissal or resignation

Criminal charges

Because of this process, many officers linked to misconduct cases will have been suspended at some stage, even if reports only mention dismissal or conviction.

---

Confirmed individual cases

Below are some of the most widely reported and confirmed cases involving officers at HMP Berwyn.

---

Emily Watson

Outcome: Imprisoned

Reason: Misconduct in public office

Details:

Emily Watson developed an inappropriate relationship with a prisoner while working at HMP Berwyn. This included personal communication outside of work and a sexual relationship.

The court found that she had abused her position of authority and compromised prison security. Her actions were considered a serious breach of trust, leading to a custodial sentence.

---

Ruth Shmylo

Outcome: Imprisoned

Reason: Intimate relationship with an inmate

Details:

Ruth Shmylo admitted to forming a relationship with a prisoner. Investigators uncovered evidence of communication that crossed clear professional boundaries.

Her case became one of several that highlighted a pattern of inappropriate relationships at the prison. She was convicted and sentenced accordingly.

---

Charlotte Hughes

Outcome: Imprisoned

Reason: Sexual relationship with prisoner

Details:

Charlotte Hughes engaged in a prohibited relationship with an inmate under her supervision.

The case contributed to increasing concern about staff conduct at Berwyn, particularly regarding boundary violations between officers and prisoners.

---

Additional cases (names not always made public)

Beyond the named cases above, many other officers have faced disciplinary action. In several instances, identities were not released publicly, but the nature of misconduct followed similar patterns.

Common types of misconduct included:

Emotional or sexual relationships with prisoners

Exchanging phone numbers or social media details

Sending or receiving messages outside official channels

Providing prisoners with unauthorised items

Turning a blind eye to rule-breaking behaviour

In many of these cases:

Officers resigned before disciplinary hearings concluded, or

Were dismissed internally without criminal prosecution

This means the true scale of misconduct is likely underrepresented in court records alone.

---

The role of suspension

Although exact figures are not published, suspension plays a key role in these cases.

What we know:

Suspension is a standard first step in serious misconduct investigations

It is used to:

Protect the integrity of the investigation

Prevent further risk داخل the prison

Maintain order and safety

What we don’t know:

The total number of officers suspended since 2017

How many suspensions resulted in:

Dismissal

Resignation

Return to duty

However, given the number of confirmed misconduct cases, it is highly likely that dozens of suspensions have taken place, even though only a portion led to public outcomes.

---

Why HMP Berwyn has faced repeated issues

Several factors have been suggested to explain why misconduct cases have occurred at this scale:

1. A newly opened, large-scale prison

HMP Berwyn is one of the UK’s largest prisons, and when it opened, it required a large number of newly recruited staff, many with limited experience.

2. Staff inexperience

A less experienced workforce may be more vulnerable to:

Manipulation by inmates

Emotional involvement

Poor boundary management

3. Modern communication risks

The rise of:

Smartphones

Social media

Messaging apps

has made it easier for inappropriate contact to develop outside official supervision.

4. Complex prisoner population

Managing a large and diverse inmate population increases:

Pressure on staff

Risk of boundary breakdown

Opportunities for inappropriate relationships

---

Patterns across the cases

When looking at the cases collectively, several clear patterns emerge:

Boundary crossing is often gradual, starting with casual conversation

Relationships frequently move from friendly to inappropriate over time

Contact often continues outside the prison environment

Many officers involved are relatively new to the role

Cases often only come to light after:

Phone checks

Intelligence reports

Internal investigations

---

Impact on the prison system

These cases have wider consequences beyond the individuals involved:

Security risks: Relationships can lead to contraband smuggling or intelligence leaks

Damage to trust: Public confidence in prison staff is affected

Operational strain: Investigations and staff shortages impact daily operations

Increased scrutiny: More oversight from authorities and media

---

Final summary

Since opening in 2017, HMP Berwyn has experienced:

At least 18 confirmed cases of staff dismissed or resigning due to misconduct

Multiple criminal convictions, with some officers jailed

A consistent pattern of inappropriate relationships with prisoners

Key point:

The exact number of suspensions is not publicly available

But given standard procedures, many more officers will have been suspended than ultimately dismissed or convicted

---

Closing thoughts

The situation at HMP Berwyn highlights a broader issue within modern prisons: maintaining professional boundaries in a challenging and evolving environment.

While the number of confirmed cases is significant, the lack of transparency around suspensions means the full scale of the issue remains unclear.

What is clear, however, is that most cases follow a similar path:

Initial boundary crossing

Escalation into misconduct

Investigation, suspension, and eventual outcome

Understanding these patterns is key to preventing future incidents.

Exclusive: Cost of a prison place rises above £60,000 per year

 The cost of keeping a prisoner behind bars has risen to more than £60,000 a year, the latest Government figures have shown.

The average cost per prisoner in a public-sector prison in England and Wales was £60,018 in 2024/25, according to Ministry of Justice data published last week. The figure is up by 2.3 per cent in real terms from the previous year’s cost of £58,661.

The average cost of keeping a woman in prison for a year, at £83,987, was significantly higher than the cost of detention in a male jail, at £55,560.

About three-quarters of prisoners are held in public-sector prisons. In the minority of jails which are run by private contractors on behalf of the Ministry of Justice, costs are lower – although the figures are calculated in different ways and are not directly comparable. In contracted prisons managed under Private Finance Initiative deals, the average cost per prisoner was £54,740 per year. In private-sector jails run under ‘manage and maintain’ arrangements, the average cost per prisoner per year was £36,658.

Across England and Wales, £4.9 billion of taxpayers’ money was spent keeping 87,000 people behind bars in 2024/25. A breakdown by individual prisons showed that among men’s public-sector jails, HMP Woodhill was the most expensive at £131,125 per prisoner per year, whilst HMP Littlehey was cheapest (£42,081). Among women’s public-sector prisons, HMP Askham Grange was the most expensive (£100,317) while HMP Drake Hall was cheapest (£62,895).

Keeping adults in custody was far cheaper than the per-person cost of jailing under-18s, who require much higher staff-prisoner ratios. The average cost of detaining a child aged 15 to 18 in a Young Offender Institution was £306,492 per year. 

Prison officer given suspended term for inmate affair

 A prison worker who told an inmate she loved him and had sex with him while he was out on licence has been given a 10-month suspended sentence.

Megan Breen, 23, an operational support staff member with direct contact with prisoners, began an inappropriate relationship with an inmate between February and May 2022 at HMP Prescoed in Usk, Monmouthshire.

The court heard how she had met the inmate for drinks in Liverpool during a trip for her 20th birthday with two other prison colleagues.

At Cardiff Crown Court on Friday, Breen, who is now pregnant, was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 15 days of rehabilitation and pay £500 in costs.

The court heard Breen had received a week's induction, including training on the codes of conduct which clearly prohibited relationships with prisoners.

Concerns were raised by a colleague after Breen accessed the prison database to find a photo of the inmate and then admitted she had slept with him during a trip to Liverpool.

The court heard how the prisoner, jailed for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, had met Breen while on home leave in the Merseyside-Cheshire area where they went for drinks before going back to her hotel room.

The pair exchanged hundreds of messages, and Breen also met his parents before her colleague reported the relationship to prison security, the court was told.

Messages found on the inmate's prison-issued Nokia phone, including heart emojis and expressions of love, confirmed a romantic relationship.

Police seized the phone, and a note with Breen's contact details was also found in the inmate's cell.

Breen admitted to the "short-lived relationship", saying some staff and prisoners were aware.

A police investigation also confirmed Breen had made several journeys to Liverpool in April, after the prisoner was released on licence in March 2022.

She initially gave no comment in interviews but later pleaded guilty before trial.

Scott Bowen, defending, said Breen was a single mother, a carer for another child, recently discovered she is pregnant, and described the case as one that would "haunt her".

"She made it clear it was the most difficult morning of her life saying goodbye to her son, and knowing she may not see him for the forseeable," Mr Bowen added.

Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said Breen showed "remorse", did not pose a danger to the public, and noted her pregnancy and childcare duties as key reasons for suspending the sentence.

She said immediate custody would harm others, including Breen's son, unborn child, and the child she cares for, making this an "exceptional case".

A second charge of unauthorised computer access was ordered to lie on file.

Prison officer jailed for relationship with inmate

 A prison officer has been jailed for conducting an "inappropriate relationship" with an inmate.

Dawn MacCormack, 42, of Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, began an intimate relationship with prisoner Josh Moore in 2019 while working at HMP The Mount, near Hemel Hempstead, police said.

She was sentenced to 27 months at St Albans Crown Court for misconduct in public office, and admitted two charges of unauthorised transmission of calls or texts.

Hertfordshire Police said her "corrupt behaviour completely undermines the difficult and dangerous work that prison officers do in order to help protect the public and keep prisons secure".

The Mount is a Category C men's prison on the outskirts of the village of Bovingdon, Hertfordshire, with capacity for about 1,000 prisoners.

Police said that Moore was found with "two illicit phones that had been smuggled into the prison".

Between 15 May and 20 June 2019, MacCormack shared more than 4,000 messages and more than 90 calls with the inmate.

She was arrested in 2019 and charged in June 2020.

Det Con Paula Mowbray, from the Dacorum Local Crime Unit, said: "The actions of the minority who engage in illicit behaviour and inappropriate relationships should not be ignored, and we will continue to investigate such cases.

"I would also like to praise staff at HMP The Mount who came forward to give evidence during the trial, leading to a successful conviction.

"Prison officers up and down the country work tirelessly to maintain the smooth running of the prison regime and were brave enough to stand up to a colleague who was abusing her position and endangering the safety of her colleagues.

"Her corrupt behaviour completely undermines the difficult and dangerous work that prison officers do in order to help protect the public and keep prisons secure."

regarding my probation

 I am currently awaiting the completion of reports for my parole dossier. Several months have now passed without any updates, and the delay continues to weigh heavily. Despite this, I remain patient and hopeful that progress will be made soon. I will share further updates as soon as I receive any news.

Trump’s war on trans prisoners

Trump’s war on trans prisoners

Transgender prisoners in US jails are having their hormone treatment stopped under an order from President Donald Trump’s administration.

Guidance issued by the Federal Bureau of Prisons in February bars the agency from starting hormone therapy for prisoners who are not already receiving it, and instructs doctors to develop ‘tapering plans’ to gradually withdraw it from those already on it.

The policy will also prevent prisons from providing gender-affirming surgery. Transgender prisoners will no longer be supported with resources including wigs, makeup, breast padding, chest binders, and underwear not designed for their biological sex.

It follows an executive order issued by Trump last year, days after he started his second term in office, barring all Americans from having gender-affirming hormone therapy paid for out of federal funds.

Prison reform campaigners criticised the approach. Jesse Lerner-Kinglake, communications director at Just Detention International, told the LGBTQ+ website The Advocate: “The devastating health effects of discontinuing hormone therapy for incarcerated transgender people are well-documented. People will suffer, just so that this administration can carry out its anti-trans agenda.”

The policy affects the 150,000 people detained in US federal prisons. Most US prisoners are held in state prisons or jails, which can set their own policies.