The state Appellate Court has ruled that the Department of Children and Families denied due process to a transgender teen last year by asking a judge to send her to an adult prison without providing enough evidence that incarceration was necessary.

The teen, who came to be known as Jane Doe, is now 17 and is back in DCF custody. She is referred to as Angel R. in a 25-page decision published Monday. Appellate Court Judge Thomas A. Bishop wrote the decision in concurrence with Judges Douglas S. Lavine and Bethany J. Alvord.

The appeals court rejected Jane Doe's attorneys' claims that the teen was entitled to a jury trial in which the DCF would have to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that she was too dangerous to remain in a juvenile facility. 

The court found instead that the child welfare agency must prove there is "clear and convincing evidence" she should be incarcerated. The standard of proof used during a six-day juvenile court hearing that had preceeded her transfer was a "preponderance of the evidence," which means the state merely had to show it was more likely than not that she should be transferred.

According to court documents, witnesses from juvenile facilities had testified at the juvenile court hearing in Bridgeport that Jane Doe's behavior was "more severe than other residents" and became "steadily more aggressive and intense as she increased in size and strength." One witness estimated the teen was 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighed about 180 pounds.

In reversing Bridgeport Judge Burton A. Kaplan's order to transfer Jane Doe to adult prison, the appeals court would normally order that a new hearing be held in the case.

"In this particular case, however, because the respondent is back in the custody of DCF and will reach the age of majority during this calendar year, we are unable to provide her with any practical relief from the court's transfer order," the decision says.

Jane Doe's attorney, James J. Connolly from the Chief Office of the Public Defender, said he spoke with his client about the decision before issuing a statement early Monday evening. 

"We are pleased with the Appellate Court's reversal of Judge Kaplan's decision on the grounds that a higher burden of proof is required to transfer a child into an adult prison," Connolly said in the statement. "We had anticipated that such a reversal would be based on findings that the statute itself is unconstitutiohal because it allows for the state to imprison society's most vulnerable without requiring a criminal conviction. It is unfortunate that, as the court recognizes, there is no remedy for the harm Angel experienced during this transfer. Sadly, the detrimental impacts this had on Angel are not capable of reversal."

The American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, which had filed an amicus brief in the case calling for more overwhelming evidence before DCF transfers children to prison, said the ruling would benefit other children.

"We think today's ruling means things got a lot better for kids in Connecticut," said Dan Barrett, legal director of Connecticut's ACLU affiliate. "Moving someone to prison as a child is such a serious thing. For us there was a procedureal due process problem."

The Department of Children and Families issued a statement noting the Appellate Court had upheld the constitutionality of placing a juvenile in a more secure setting while articulating a new burden of proof for such placements. The agency had tried "many other interventions" before approaching the court in the Jane Doe case, the statement said.

"It is important to note that we have worked extremely hard as an agency to reduce the number of youth in care and in institutional care, and we consider this to be a significant accomplishment of this administration," said the statement. "In keeping with this direction, the law in question has been used extremely rarely since it was established decades ago and properly so. We are committed to the principle that youths with behavioral health treatment needs should be served in the community and in the least restrictive setting consistent with safety."

Agency spokesman Gary Kleeblatt said the DCF will not divulge Jane Doe's current whereabouts. The teen, who was born a boy but identifies as a girl, was transferred in June 2014 from the women's prison in East Lyme to the DCF's newly opened psychiatric facility for girls in the Albert J. Solnit Center in Middletown.

The agency indicated it respected the teen's sexual identity and was providing her with hormone treatments, but moved her to the Connecticut Juvenile Training School, a secure facility for delinquent boys, in July 2014 after she was allegedly involved in a fight at Solnit.

In September 2014, she was transferred to a therapy program at Hartford's Institute of Living and walked away from the facility on the first day, according to The Courant.

In December 2014, the DCF revised its sentencing policy to give residents of juvenile facilities either a six- or 12-month sentence from the day they arrive, noting that children could be released earlier or later depending on behavior.

k.florin@theday.com

TWITTER: @KFLORIN