Oakleaf v. Martinez

297 F. Supp. 3d 1221
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Mexico
DecidedMarch 6, 2018
DocketNo. CIV 15–0220 RB/JHR
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 297 F. Supp. 3d 1221 (Oakleaf v. Martinez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Mexico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Oakleaf v. Martinez, 297 F. Supp. 3d 1221 (D.N.M. 2018).

Opinion

ROBERT C. BRACK, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction against Defendants Jablonski and Selvage and Request for Expedited Hearing, filed on February 6, 2018. (Doc. 209.) Jurisdiction arises under 28 U.S.C. § 1331. The Court held a hearing on the matter on Tuesday, February 27, 2018.

Plaintiff, a transgender woman serving a 15-year sentence, has sought "clinically appropriate medical treatment" from the New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD) for gender dysphoria since at least November 2012. (Doc. 209 at 1 (citing Doc. 210 ¶¶ 1, 7).) Plaintiff alleges that the NMCD has "ignored or denied" each request and contends that Defendant's "continued refusal to provide adequate treatment ... has inflicted enormous harm, continues to worsen her condition, and creates a terrible risk of future serious harm and potentially death." (Id. at 2 (citing Doc. 211 ¶ 72).) While NMCD has so far refused to give Plaintiff the diagnosis she seeks, the Court finds Plaintiff has failed to show that NMCD has been deliberately indifferent to a serious medical need. Accordingly, the Court will deny Plaintiff's motion.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

A. Gender Dysphoria : the Diagnosis and Treatment

Gender dysphoria, formerly known as "gender identity disorder" (see Doc. 231-A at 3), "is a medical condition characterized by clinically significant distress resulting from the misalignment between a person's gender identity-one's innate sense of belonging to a particular gender-and the sex the person was assigned at birth." (Doc. 209 at 2 (citing Doc. 211 ¶¶ 11-12).) Gender dysphoria is a condition recognized by the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Psychiatric Association (in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , Fifth ed. (2013) ("DSM-V") ). (Id. (citing Doc. 211 ¶¶ 13-14).)

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), "the leading medical authority on gender dysphoria [,] ... has developed Standards of Care ('SOC') for the treatment of the condition." (Id. at 1, 2 (citing Doc. 211 ¶ 19).) The SOC "are recognized as authoritative by every major medical and mental health association ...." (Id. (citing Doc. 211 ¶ 19).) The SOC "provide for the following treatments, some or all of which will be required depending on the needs of the individual patient:"

(1) Social transition, or "[c]hanges in gender expression and role" (i.e., "dressing, grooming and otherwise outwardly presenting oneself in a manner consistent with one's gender identity");
(2) Hormone therapy ("medically indicated" for persons "with persistent and well-documented gender dysphoria");
(3) "Surgery to change primary and/or secondary sex characteristics"; and
(4) Psychotherapy.
(Id. at 2-3 (citing Doc. 211 ¶¶ 22, 26-27).)

Withholding necessary treatments for gender dysphoria"leads to serious medical problems, including clinically significant psychological distress, dysfunction, debilitating depression, self-harm and suicidality." (Id. at 3 (citing Doc. 211 ¶¶ 14-15).) "Transgender prisoners ..., and transgender women in particular, are at an exceeding high risk for severe consequences[,] ... often resort[ing] to self-surgery to remove their testicles or even suicide." (Id. at 3-4 (citing Doc. 211 ¶ 17).)

*1225The National Commission on Correctional Healthcare "recommends that the medical management of prisoners with gender dysphoria should follow the WPATH" SOC. (Id. at 4.) "[T]he SOC are clear that treatment for gender dysphoria in institutional settings can and should follow the same protocols as available in the community." (Id. (citing Doc. 211 ¶¶ 32-34).)

B. Plaintiff's History of Gender Dysphoria

Plaintiff, currently incarcerated at the Lea County Correctional Facility (LCCF), was arrested in 2008, and pleaded guilty in 2009, to two counts of Criminal Sexual Contact of a Minor (under the age of 13) in the Second Degree. (See Doc. 226-1 at 6-9.) Plaintiff was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment and is scheduled to be released in 2021. (See id. at 26; see also Doc. 210 ¶ 1.) As supported by the evidence submitted to the Court, Plaintiff was apparently living as a man at the time of his arrest. (See Doc. 226-1 at 6-9.) Plaintiff entered prison with diagnoses of adult antisocial behavior, "rule out" (R/O) schizoaffective disorder, and a self-report of a learning disorder "not otherwise specified" (NOS), bipolar disorder, and depression. (Id. at 16, 19.) Plaintiff was taking several psychotropic medications at the time she was incarcerated, including Risperdal, Zoloft, Paxil, and Abilify. (Id. at 19.)

Defendants' mental health providers have regularly changed Plaintiff's diagnoses and prescriptions over the course of her incarceration. (See , e.g. , id. at 24 (diagnoses of psychosis NOS and mixed personality disorder; prescriptions of Zoloft and Risperdal ); id. at 25 (prescription changed to Celexa ); id. at 44 (prescription changed to Citalopram, Hydroxyzine ); id. at 47 (diagnoses changed to psychotic disorder NOS, bipolar disorder NOS); id. at 48 (prescriptions changed to Risperdal, Celexa ); id. at 59

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Bluebook (online)
297 F. Supp. 3d 1221, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oakleaf-v-martinez-nmd-2018.