ASU social work senior Monica Jones issued an appeal to her conviction for “manifesting an intent to commit an act of prostitution” with a Tuesday press conference and later public discussion at the Herberger Theater Center. She was joined by Emmy-nominated actress Laverne Cox and New York-based American Civil Liberties Union staff attorney Chase Strangio.
Jones’s conviction stems from the fact that she is a transgender woman of color, she and one of her lawyers, Jean-Jacques Cabou, a partner at Perkins Coie LLP in Phoenix, said at the press conference. The intersection of those three aspects of her identity, along with her background as a former sex worker, contributed significantly to both her arrest and the “unfair” trial, Cabou said.
“If I was a white woman walking down Arcadia, I never would have been stopped for manifestation,” Jones said.
Cox, who is also a transgender woman of color, is best known for playing the groundbreaking character Sophia Burset on the hit Netflix show “Orange is the New Black.” She is one of the nation’s most prominent transgender activists and was the first openly transgender person to be on the cover of Time magazine.
“I was really distressed that I felt that enough people weren’t talking about this case nationally,” Cox said. “So often our identities as trans women of color are stigmatized and criminalized, and so I just sort of felt like it was my duty. I had to be here, and I was just so moved by (Jones’s) courage.”
‘Walking while trans’
Jones’s appeal recounts her perspective on the events of the night of her arrest: On May 17, 2013, Jones accepted a ride near her home from a stranger. She was headed to a local bar to have some drinks with friends. Unbeknownst to her, the man was an undercover Phoenix Police Department officer. Four minutes after she accepted the ride, another officer pulled the car over in a pre-planned traffic stop.
The officers were participating in a Phoenix Police Department anti-prostitution sting. Jones was charged with violating Phoenix Municipal Code Section 23-52(A)(3), which “criminalizes ‘manifest(ing) an intent to commit or solicit an act of prostitution,'” according to the text of Jones’s appeal. Cabou called the code, which has existed for more than 20 years, a “wrestling match with the English language,” questioning the degrees of separation from “manifesting an intent to commit or solicit prostitution” to actually engaging in prostitution.
Under that municipal code, people could be arrested for a wide variety of behaviors, including waving at cars, talking to strangers, dressing a certain way and asking if someone is a police officer. The behavior targeted by that Phoenix municipal code and similar ones in other cities across the U.S. has been referred to as “walking while trans.” Those against it, including Jones and her lawyers, say it unfairly and unconstitutionally targets members of several minority groups, including women, people of color, transgender people and people from a lower economic class.
In mid-April 2014, Jones was found guilty by Phoenix Municipal Judge Hercules Dellas and sentenced to 30 days in jail and a $150 fine. In his decision, as quoted in Jones’s appeal, the judge said, “I also have to consider factors such as mode of intent by any witnesses testifying. And with respect to this particular proceeding, the Defendant having acknowledged, admitted, a record of not too long ago, less than two years ago, of a prior conviction, a motive to avoid a mandatory 30-day sentence would be something that I can’t ignore. When evaluating the credibility of the witnesses in front of me, I do find that the State has met its burden.”
Jones made the uncommon decision to appeal her conviction. Cabou said most people facing similar convictions accept the plea deal they are offered because it is easier than pleading not guilty or appealing the court’s decision. The code has been challenged previously, Cabou said, although not recently.
Two-pronged appeal
Jones’s appeal focuses on two key claims: that the municipal code she was charged with violates the U.S. Constitution, and that she was denied her right to a fair trial.
Cabou said the municipal code itself is unconstitutional because it violates people’s First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Targeting people for specific behaviors that fall within the framework of those protections is unconstitutional, Cabou said.
Cabou also said the code is unconstitutional because the individual police officer is responsible for determining what is in violation of the law.
“By permitting police officers to arrest someone for literally any bodily gesture, the law encourages the criminalization of protected speech and expression including expression related to gender identity,” Strangio, the ACLU staff attorney, said. “When officers are free to use a person’s gender-related appearance as evidence of a crime or as sufficient evidence of a crime, transgender people, particularly transgender women of color, end up targeted by police when simply walking down the street.”
Cabou also presented several issues with the process of Jones’s trial, in particular. First, the trial court relied on evidence of Jones’s prior conviction to reach its verdict. Second, the judge considered Jones’s potential punishment — the fact that she was facing jail time no matter what — in finding her guilty. And third, Jones was denied a jury trial.
“Monica’s conviction would be reversed if the law were declared unconstitutional … We’ve also pointed out a number of other errors that are more kind of mundane trial-level errors in terms of admission of evidence and consideration of prior punishment. Those would also be grounds to declare the conviction unconstitutional,” Cabou said. “Whether we win on one ground or whether we win on several, it’s important that we win.”
In addition to the appeal from Jones and her lawyers, the ACLU has filed an amicus brief to point toward some of the broader legal effects of the court’s ruling on the municipal code. The ACLU offered its support of Jones but noted that the amicus brief was not solicited by her or her lawyers in any way. The purpose of an amicus brief is to draw attention to the wider reach of a court’s decision; in this case, ruling the municipal code unconstitutional, for example, would affect many more people than just Jones, although her appeal of course focuses on her own case.
Cabou said that after the prosecutors and Jones’s legal team file briefs and an oral argument is held, the court will issue a written decision in Jones’s case. That will likely take a month or more, he said.
‘Stand with Monica’
Later Tuesday night, Jones and Cox spoke at the Herberger Theater Center about the social-justice implications of Jones’s conviction and appeal, focusing on how laws, stigmas and other forms of discrimination and prejudice affect members of different minority groups and transgender women of color, in particular.
During the press conference, Jones and Cox talked about how the ‘T’ in LGBT is often silenced — in other words, how transgender people are often left out of discussions about equality and oppression even within the broader LGBT community. Jones said support from outside the transgender community has been minimal, which is part of why Cox’s decision to fly to Arizona to publicly support Jones and draw attention to her case was so monumental. Cox noted that other similar recent cases, such as the debates over Arizona Senate Bills 1062 and 1070 and New York’s stop and frisk law, have drawn much more public attention and outcry, as well as support from businesses and other organizations.
“If any of our citizens are treated unfairly, it affects all of us,” Cox said. “It affects the rights of every single American.”
However, the atmosphere at the Herberger event was nothing less than supportive, with many shouts of appreciation and the rallying phrase “Stand with Monica,” which was also used as a Twitter hashtag. The audience gave Jones and Cox several standing ovations and during a question-and-answer period at the end of the presentation, several spoke up to express their gratitude toward the two women for being an “inspiration to … every single one of the people in this room.”
Jones and Cox took turns complimenting and thanking each other, with Cox first saying that Jones was a hero to her. Jones humbly denied this, saying, “Many trans women before me carried a lot on their shoulders, so I’m just taking a little bit.”
“You made it a little bit more easier to walk down the street because your face is on TV and so people recognize a trans woman, especially a trans woman of color, on TV,” Jones said to Cox. “So when a trans woman of color walks down the street, it’s a little bit more easier, so I can walk in my own skin with my head held high. I just want to thank you for laying down that groundwork.”
Contact the reporter at kimberly.koerth@asu.edu
