NCJ Number
182020
Journal
CTM - Corrections Technology & Management Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Dated: March/April 2000 Pages: 52-54
Date Published
March 2000
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article examines court decisions regarding sex-segregation of corrections officer (C.O.) assignments.
Abstract
In a recent lawsuit, the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York declared unconstitutional a correctional facility’s policy of sex segregating certain jobs. Eight current or former full-time female COs at the Oswego County Correctional Facility (OCCF) claimed sex discrimination in their employment, arguing that the policy of different treatment for male and female COs violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. They also claimed that the policy violated a section of New York law. The article describes OCCF’s job assignment policies and demonstrates how they represented misplaced reliance by the county officials on a State law they wrongly interpreted. The Court ruled that New York law does not prohibit the guarding of inmates by officers of a different gender. When a jail holds both male and female inmates, at least one male and one female CO must be present within the jail. The Court declared that the policy of sex-segregating certain CO assignments at the OCCF was in violation of Federal law and granted the plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment.