SUMMARY
Adrian Uribe is a 42-year-old transgender man of color who has been imprisoned for almost 20 years. At the age of 23, he was sentenced to Life Without the Possibility of Parole. Adrian agreed to this sentence as part of a plea deal made while he was heavily medicated in county jail. Throughout his time in the California prison system, Adrian has faced discrimination and harassment for being transgender. Join us in asking Governor Jerry Brown to commute Adrian Uribe’s sentence from Life Without Parole to a parole-eligible sentence.

BACKGROUND
It is well documented that transgender people in the U.S., especially trans people of color, face widespread injustices in the legal system including patterns of police profiling and harassment, attacks on credibility, and disproportionate imprisonment. While incarcerated, trans people often endure social isolation, medical neglect and mistreatment, and transphobic discrimination, harassment, and violence.

Adrian’s experience with the criminal legal system has been no exception. As a trans man serving his time at the California Institution for Women, Adrian has faced multiple forms of harm and discrimination.  He has been denied access to clothing and products that are consistent with his gender identity and has been denied gender-confirming chest surgery in violation of state policy. He has experienced overt transphobic discrimination by prison authorities, including the regular use of demeaning insults. He has been subjected to discriminatory confinement in the Secure Housing Unit (SHU) with stays lasting for months. Adrian lives with the threat of being confined to the SHU if he expresses frustration about his mistreatment.

As a child and teenager, Adrian faced bias and harassment from authorities, peers at school, social workers, and family members because of his gender expression. Rejection from foster families pushed him into homelessness. Adrian believes that these experiences contributed to his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction. He has worked hard to heal from the traumas of his youth. Over the twenty years he has been incarcerated, Adrian has participated in many programs focused on health and healing, and he has devoted himself to therapy and addiction treatment. He has also been driven by a desire to advocate for others, particularly youth who face similar forms of discrimination.

Governor Brown, we urge you to commute Adrian Uribe’s sentence. Justice is not served when people from marginalized groups are pipelined through a system that targets them, denies them due process, and subjects them to harm and violence. We urge you to stop the cycle of harm and violence that Adrian has faced and continues to face today in prison.