That is why I am here today, to say enough is enough. King County Jail must go.
by Bri’a Love (she/her) & the Staff of Lavender Rights Project
Bri’a Love (she/her, LRP’s Housing Manager) speaking truth to power at a press conference about shutting down King County Jail on Monday, February 27, 2023.
On March 20th, 2022, Damien Ortaga, a 25 year old trans person was found unresponsive at the King County Jail. Before Damien was jailed, Damien made numerous attempts to access resources for survival and mental health. After Damien was found unresponsive in a cell at King County jail, Damien was transported to Harborview Medical Center. While at Harborview, the Court ordered Damien’s release and a day later, Damien died. Damien is not the first and certainly won’t be the last whose life ends too soon due to the injustices of a system that was broken to begin with.
Jails are not and can never be a safe space for trans people. But the problem starts even before jail. Seattle Municipal Court has jurisdiction over misdemeanor adjudications that are charged in Seattle. In Damien’s case, it was the Seattle Police Department, Seattle City Attorneys, and Seattle judges that led to Damien being booked at the King County Jail, despite his clear and serious mental health and medical needs.
What happened to Damien is not an aberration. What happened to me and so many of us is part of a pattern of hostile, demeaning, and heartless treatment of Trans and gender diverse community members, Black, Native, and people of color, and poor and houseless community members. Over ninety percent of individuals adjudicated in Seattle Municipal Court, are living in poverty. Many are houseless.
This is a court system that is built on prosecuting and adjudicating individuals for crimes of poverty--for actions folks would likely not participate in if their needs were being met. We can no longer allow our most vulnerable community members who are living in crisis to be put in cages without challenging those making these decisions.
That is why I am here today, to say enough is enough. The King County Jail must go.
And until it is shut down, we will hold every judge who uses their authority to order our community members to be held in this death trap to account for the harm they cause. Until this jail closes, we will hold to account every city attorney and prosecutor who seeks to hold our community members on bail, keeping them locked up simply because they are poor.
Until the jail is shut down, we call on judges and prosecutors to reject the use of jail for any individual who is in a mental health crisis, has previously been found not competent to stand trial, or requires mental health or medical treatment. The risk to these individuals inside this deadly facility far outweighs any perceived public safety benefit incarceration provides for misdemeanor offenses.
We know that shutting down KCJ is not enough. However, it is a step in the right direction towards liberation. At the Lavender Rights Project we envision a future where mental health and housing resources are abundant for our communities. We will continue to push on both fronts — to shut down the jails that kill trans people and to build a world where we can thrive.