SB 310, authored by Sen. Atkins, helps to ensure that transgender people will be legally recognized for who they are while incarcerated and increases the likelihood of their successful reentry into society upon release from custody. The current belabored process that an incarcerated transgender person must complete before petitioning the court to change their legal name or gender marker often results in improper denials or no resolution to requests. SB 310 establishes the right of transgender people incarcerated in state prisons or county jails to petition the court directly to change their legal name or gender marker. The bill requires corrections officials to use the new name of a person who obtains a name change, and to list the prior name only as an alias. SB 310 is cosponsored by Equality California, St. James Infirmary, the Transgender Gender-Variant Intersex Justice Project, Transgender Law Center, the Western Regional Advocacy Project, the Women’s Foundation of California and the Women’s Policy Institute.
Status: Signed by Gov Brown Author: Sen. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego)
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