Woman's Death at Rikers Raises Questions

The death of a 27 year old transgender woman at Rikers Island is raising questions about the way officials at the jail hold people in solitary confinement.

Layleen Polanco was found dead in punitive segregated housing in June. She was being held on $500 bail for misdemeanor sex work and drug possession charges. The city medical examiner ruled that Polanco died from a seizure caused by her epilepsy, and that no foul play was involved.

Polanco had already had at least two seizures since her arrest in April, and had also been hospitalized for an unknown condition in May. Rosa Goldensohn from the news site The City found that in May, her lawyer asked for Polanco's file to be marked "medical attention." Yet in June she was sent to serve 20 days in solitary confinement. 

Goldensohn said the fact that Polanco was medically cleared for segregated housing, despite a known medical disorder, is troubling. "The question, of course, is if epilepsy is not serious enough to exclude you but it's serious enough to kill you, where's the line?"  

Goldensohn spoke with WNYC's Richard Hake.