Agreed. I’ve been thinking about this overnight, and since it seems unlikely that Watkins’ right-wing allies will do anything to help her, maybe if people on the left fight for her, it’ll give her an opportunity to grow.

Also, yes! There’s a solid argument that prisons should only be used for individuals that are too dangerous to be roaming society, and only then until they’ve been rehabilitated, where possible. I don’t think prison sentences for non-violent crime serve any real purpose - even for the “punishment” element of dealing with crime, it would be better for society if non-violent criminals did volunteer work in the community or something similarly constructive/reparative, something that helps forge connections with others rather than cutting them off.

Definitely agreed that trans people should have their own wings. That is the case in some places. In the UK prisons have separate wings for vulnerable inmates, and that’s where trans prisoners generally end up. It’s part of why all the recent fuss about a trans woman with a history of sexual violence being housed in a women’s prison was a bit of an overreaction: she was kept in a segregated wing and never actually had any contact with other prisoners. That said, there are questions about whether she was genuinely trans, because she was a rapist who started transitioning after being convicted - I do believe that when someone with a history of sexual assault transitions in prison, it’s a reasonable to ask a lot of questions. But whether she was being honest or not, she was never in a position to actually hurt anyone, and moving her back to a male prison would also require she be segregated from the general population.