Three women have joined a lawsuit challenging Maine’s policy of housing inmates based on gender identity, adding new allegations involving sexual harassment, threats, and retaliation at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham.
Jennifer Albert, Michaela Sargent, and Danielle Foster joined original plaintiff Katie Mountain in the lawsuit against Maine Department of Corrections Commissioner Randall Liberty, Maine Correctional Center Warden Ben Beal, and transgender inmate Andrea Balcer.
Under Maine law and Department of Corrections policy, inmates are generally housed according to their gender identity rather than their sex assigned at birth. The women argue that the policy unlawfully placed female inmates at risk and are seeking a court order blocking its enforcement.
According to the complaint, the women were subjected to sexual harassment, threats, unwanted sexual contact, and intimidation by Balcer while housed at the facility. Court filings also allege prison officials failed to adequately respond to repeated complaints about the conduct.
Mountain, who was serving a 10-month sentence at the time, alleges Balcer subjected her to graphic sexual comments, forcibly kissed her after trapping her in a closet, and repeatedly threatened to rape and impregnate her.
The three additional women describe similar conduct, including unwanted sexual contact, indecent exposure, graphic threats of sexual violence, and ongoing harassment. Albert alleges she was subjected to unwanted sexual contact, while Sargent claims Balcer regularly harassed her, threatened to rape her, and exposed herself. Foster alleges Balcer stood naked in her room and made sexual threats while Foster slept.
The lawsuit also alleges prison staff ignored complaints and retaliated against inmates who reported concerns or refused to affirm Balcer’s gender identity. According to court filings, some women were placed in solitary confinement, denied medication and personal hygiene supplies, or threatened with losing eligibility for early release after raising concerns.
Balcer is serving a 40-year sentence for the 2016 murders of her parents and the family dog. After transitioning while incarcerated, Balcer was transferred from the Maine State Prison to a women’s housing unit under Maine’s gender identity housing policy.
Beyond the allegations against Balcer, court filings accuse Maine corrections officials of violating the women’s constitutional rights through the housing policy and their response to inmate complaints. The women argue the policy compelled them to affirm Balcer’s gender identity and infringed on protections guaranteed by the First, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments.
Along with compensatory and punitive damages, the lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction blocking enforcement of Maine’s gender identity housing policy within the state correctional system.
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