The LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic at Harvard Law School developed this guide to support attorneys and advocates fighting the criminalization and incarceration of transgender and gender expansive people. 

In response to escalating attacks on the rights of incarcerated transgender people, Clinical Instructor and Lecturer on Law, Deborah Lolai—together with Harvard Law School clinical students, research assistants, and interns—created a comprehensive, practice‑oriented resource focused on criminal defense and post‑conviction advocacy to support the decarceration of transgender people. While grounded in federal law and procedure, the strategies, tools, and templates in this guide are designed to be adaptable to state and local jurisdictions across the country.

The guide includes: 

• Practice tips to prevent the incarceration of, and seek the release of, transgender people facing jail or prison
• Interviewing templates tailored to transgender clients
• Mitigation report frameworks and examples tailored to transgender clients
• Legal arguments and strategies to support the decarceration of transgender clients
• An affidavit from Dr. Rachel Lynn Golden to support attorneys and advocates in criminal and post-conviction matters

Our goal is to equip criminal defense and post‑conviction practitioners with concrete tools to advance the safety, dignity, and freedom of transgender people in the criminal legal system.