Community activists are calling upon Gov. J.B. Pritzker to grant clemency to a transgender state prisoner who says her sentence was extended in retaliation for reporting abuse while she was incarcerated.
Strawberry Hampton, a transgender woman, was moved between several state prisons, where she alleged mistreatment because of her gender identity. She was finally moved to an all-female facility in Dec. 2018.
But Hampton's lawyers are saying that she's having to serve a longer sentence because of false disciplinary reports from guards over the course of her incarceration, according to multiple reports. They also said she was deprived of opportunities that would have demonstrated good behavior.
Hampton is currently being held at the Logan Correctional Center downstate.
Activist Kofi Ademola urged Illioisans to write Pritzker and demand clemency for Hampton. In a May 9 Twitter post, Ademola addressed Pritzker directly: "She's being punished for reporting sexual abuse and I know you don't want a travesty like this to happen on your watch as Governor!
"Everyone else please CALL GOV 312-814-2121 & demand that her sentence be commuted & that they free her now!"