Zera Lola Zombie, 41, filed the lawsuit in 2021, citing harassment, forced searches, and alleged sexual assault during her time at Two Rivers Correctional Institution in eastern Oregon. She later transferred to Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, a women’s prison. Zombie, who is serving a sentence through 2049 after a 2014 manslaughter and assault conviction, transitioned while incarcerated around 2020.
According to court filings, she experienced “ongoing harassment and verbal, mental, and psychological abuse by both prisoners and staff as a result of her sex, gender, and gender identity.” In 2023, U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled Zombie was likely repeatedly subjected to abuse, including sexual assault, and ordered protective measures.
These included halting cavity searches and preventing exposure to other inmates and staff. Court filings also allege guards paraded her in undergarments, conducted strip searches, and forced her to provide urine samples in front of staff. Zombie said she was terrorized by a cellmate but told to get over it by a guard.
The Oregon Department of Corrections settled the case this week, awarding $95k to Zombie, with $200k allocated to attorneys. The case comes as courts and policymakers continue grappling with how transgender inmates are housed, amid shifting federal policies on gender identity and prison care.
