Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a progressive state prison official — who was instrumental in establishing “gender-affirming care” for trans inmates in Washington state — to serve on the Justice Department’s National Institute of Corrections (NIC) advisory board.
Among the policies implemented was one where pat-downs or other searches would be “performed by a correctional officer of the gender formally requested by the transgender individual.” For example, a biologically male inmate identifying as a trans woman could require that a female prison guard perform the search.
Cheryl Strange was first appointed to the position of Washington state Department of Corrections Secretary by Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee in May 2021.
“This is a great honor at the tail end of my career,” Strange said in a statement Monday. “In Washington state, we have enacted nation-leading reforms that have created a more humane corrections system while also improving public safety. I look forward to participating with other national leaders at the federal and state government levels on approaches that can be implemented nationally.”
The agency’s compliance with the new policy will be monitored until 2026.
“This is a landmark agreement and we look forward to continuing to work closely with DRW to implement it,” Strange said in a statement at the time. “We have already made substantial improvements to the gender-affirming care offered to transgender incarcerated individuals in recent years, and this is another step in the right direction.”
The agreement also included that the “DOC will ensure that transgender individuals in restrictive housing still have access to gender-affirming property,” as well as “Pat-downs and searches of transgender individuals will be performed by a correctional officer of the gender formally requested by the transgender individual.”
According to a DOC news release, “The department has already taken significant steps to update its policies to ensure the equitable treatment transgender, intersex and non-binary incarcerated individuals since Secretary Strange’s arrival in 2021.”
Washington is one of several states that have enacted transgender treatments for inmates on the taxpayer dollar in recent years.
Strange has also helped reform other aspects of the prison system, such as programs geared at lowering recidivism rates among inmates, like education and job skill training.
The Justice Department did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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