In 2016, a firestorm of controversy arose when the Obama Administration announced new guidelines for transgender students. Transgender people are often a target for harassment, but in a prison, the...

In 2016, a firestorm of controversy arose when the Obama Administration announced new guidelines for transgender students. Transgender people are often a target for harassment, but in a prison, the plight of the transgender inmate is magnified. Transgender people are incarcerated at six times the rate of the general population. Once incarcerated, they face disproportionate risks. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, about 40% of transgender prison inmates and about 27% of transgender jail inmates reported unwanted sexual activity with other inmates or sexual activity with prison or jail staff members—a rate 10 times higher than for the general prison and jail populations. Housing policies for transgender inmates varies by states. Some states allow male transgender inmates to be housed according to their sexual identity but others require them to be housed with men. Not all states provide transgender inmates with hormone treatment that costs from $500 to $3,000 per year. In 2015, California was the first state—as a result of a lawsuit—to provide for sex reassignment surgery for prisoners.

Is it a right of incarcerated transgender inmates to have access to hormone treatment, sex reassignment surgery, and “gender identity” housing? Explain.