New evidence reveals Georgia prison officials refused to investigate transgender woman’s reports of repeated sexual assault 

On Tuesday, Ashley Diamond, a Black transgender woman, submitted new evidence to the court overseeing her case against the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) and once again asked the court to order a transfer from the male prison where she has endured repeated sexual assaults and relentless sexual harassment. Since a hearing in May, where Ashley Diamond detailed abuse by both incarcerated men and prison officials, she has suffered two more sexual assaults, including one by multiple men. Conditions have grown so dangerous that Ms. Diamond, an activist who for years has championed the rights of incarcerated and trans people, recently attempted suicide. 

“As a result of the retaliation I’ve described, and because all of my efforts to report sexual abuse and mistreatment have been disregarded, reporting sexual assaults within GDC continues to feel dangerous as well as pointless,” said Ms. Diamond. “I still fear for my life if I report assaults and sexual misconduct by gang-affiliated aggressors, of which there are several. And although I’m sexually harassed so often it is impossible for me to document each incident, my complaints to GDC staff have also gone nowhere.”

Learn more about Ashley Diamond and her case against the George Department of Corrections on our website. For more information on how you can support Ashley Diamond and her case, visit the Free Ashley Diamond webpage.

You’re invited! Part three of our “Just Resistance” series — Surviving the post-9-11 human rights crisis 

Join us on November 30 at 5 p.m. ET for the third event in a four part series by the Center for Constitutional Rights and Haymarket Books marking the 20th anniversary of 9/11. 

In “Stories of Survival: Surviving the post-9/11 human rights crisis and reclaiming rights for all,” we are honored to hear from survivors of the U.S. government’s so-called “War on Terror,” who have resisted the U.S. campaign of human rights abuses, from endless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to the global export of the nebulous and discriminatory “terrorism framework” and the proliferation of domestic policies of surveillance and detention that reinforced existing systems of oppression. From Kabul and Mombasa to Omaha, panelists, Marie Ramtu, Gazelle Samizay, and Naveed Shinwari, will share the impact of the harms and together demand accountability and imagine a world repaired.

Our last two events in this series were recorded and can be viewed on our YouTube page: Whose Security? and Grasping at the Root.

Register on the Eventbrite registration page to receive a link to the video conference on the day of the event. This event will be recorded. ASL translation and live captioning will be provided.

“The Activist Files” Podcast! Fighting for Turtle Island: A conversation with Indigenous Water Protectors 

The third Thursday in November is a National Day of Mourning, where we mourn the genocide of millions of Native people and the theft of Native land, and where we honor the ongoing struggle for Native liberation and Land Back across Turtle Island.

In honor of Indigenous Peoples Day last month — and in support of the Indigenous-led week of action People v. Fossil Fuels — the Indigenous Environmental Network, The Red Nation, and the Center for Constitutional Rights held an online discussion with frontline Indigenous Water Protectors: Water Is Our Critical Infrastructure — Lawfare by Oil and Gas Won’t Stop Us from Winning. ActivistsAnne White Hat (Sicangu Lakota Oyate) and Sungmanitu Bluebird (Oglala Sioux) joined our Senior Attorney Pamela Spees for a conversation moderated by Advocacy Director Nadia Ben-Yousef to discuss the increasingly desperate tactics by the oil and gas industry to draft and pass laws that target Indigenous people and threaten all those who take an unflinching stance against capitalist violence and the destruction of the Earth. They highlighted the important legal victory by Anne White Hat and other Water Protectors who fought back against Louisiana’s industry-developed “critical infrastructure” law—and won! 

Listen to the new episode on our website.