The U.S. Department of Justice said it is investigating whether California and Maine violate the rights of female inmates by housing transgender women with women in prison, and it named specific facilities in both states as the focus of the inquiry.
In a Thursday press release, the Justice Department said the investigation will examine the California Institution for Women in San Bernardino County and the Central California Women’s Facility in Madera County, along with the Maine Correctional Center in Windham. The department said it will look at whether those states’ policies—both of which include provisions to house inmates based on gender identity—create risks for female inmates when transgender women are housed with them.
Harmeet K. Dhillon, an assistant U.S. attorney general, said in the Justice Department’s statement that the federal government “will not allow women incarcerated in jails or prisons to be subject to unconstitutional risks of harm from male inmates.” The department did not provide further details about specific allegations in the press release or identify particular cases being examined.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office referred requests for comment to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which said it is committed to providing “a safe, humane and respectful environment for all inmates.” The Justice Department said California’s existing law, which Newsom signed in 2020, requires the CDCR to house inmates based on their gender identity rather than their sex assigned at birth unless there are security concerns.
The Justice Department said that law has led to “allegations of sexual assaults, rape, voyeurism and a pervasive climate of sexual intimidation due to the presence of males in the women’s prison,” but the press release did not outline the allegations. The Justice Department also pointed to the upcoming trial of a transgender female inmate charged with two counts of rape while at the women’s facility in Madera County. According to court documents described by AP, the defendant moved into the facility after identifying as a female in January 2021 and was later moved to a men’s facility after forcible rape charges were filed.
Maine’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills dismissed the federal probe, with a spokesman saying the inquiry was political rather than based on fact-finding. Ben Goodman said in an email statement that “Despite the Department of Justice’s claims, this is yet another politically motivated, predetermined investigation designed to target states that stand up to the Trump Administration and its abuses,” according to AP.
In Maine, the Justice Department said the allegations involve whether a transgender woman assaulted or harassed female inmates. The department previously drew attention to Maine’s corrections practices last year; AP reported that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the federal government was revoking some funding from Maine’s Department of Corrections due to a transgender woman being housed in a women’s prison, though the current status of that money was not immediately clear.
Jill O’Brien, director of government affairs at the Maine Department of Corrections, said her department takes safety complaints seriously and “follows state and federal law in our practices regarding transgender residents.” The Justice Department said it would not allow “women incarcerated in jails or prisons” to face what it described as unconstitutional risks and said the question it is investigating centers on how transgender women are housed in female prisons under state policies.