Grandma sues after being booked into an all-male jail because nurse and doctor ruled her to be transgender
55-year-old Fior Pichardo de Veloz claimed in her lawsuit that she was subjected to "cruel and unusual punishment" in violation of the US Constitution
A grandmother is suing after she was forced to spend nearly 10 hours in a cell at the all-male Metro West Detention Center in Miami-Dade County surrounded by 40 men after a medical gaffe resulted in a jail nurse and a doctor classifying her as a transgender.
According to the Miami Herald, the now-55-year-old Fior Pichardo de Veloz — who had flown into the country from the Dominican Republic to witness the birth of her grandchild — was arrested at the Miami International Airport on November 4, 2013 on an outstanding drug charge, with the arresting officer noting down her gender as a female.
