In this case, the ACLU represented Franklin Torrey, a 21 year old male transgender prisoner who was raped by other male prisoners while en route to court in Oakland on the Santa Rita Rehabilitation Center (where Torrey was an inmate) bus. The Santa Rita facility is chiefly used "for the pretrial detention of persons accused of felonies and misdemeanors and also for the incarceration of misdemeanants." Torrey was in prison for petty theft. There were prison guards present while the rape took place, and it is alleged that they did nothing to stop the assault. He sued the City of Alameda and those entities responsible for the negligence which allowed the attack to take place, and the ACLU was notified by Torrey's mother Yvonne, who sought justice.

The complaint for damages writes that: "Defendants Houchins, Alameda County, and the Board of Supervisors...were aware of the pattern of violence and sexual assault among prisoners and of the existence of inadequate inmate security at Santa Rita" since as early as 1975 (the assuault took place in 1978). The argument states that the County and Board of Supervisors "acted with conscious and deliberate indifference to the safety and welfare of Santa Rita prisoners..." Torrey had also been identified as someone at a particularly high risk for attack, though little had been done to protect him, besides segregating him from other prisoners. The causes of action were "Deprivation of Civil Rights," as well as "Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress" by guards Hillman and Schalk. Additionally were "Assault and Battery" and "Negligence." Torrey also sought damages for emotional distress as a result of the incident.

Unfortunately, the outcome of the trial is not obvious from the documents provided here.