California Coalition for Women Prisoners, et. al. v. United States of America Federal Bureau of Prisons, et. al.
Rights Behind Bars, along with our co-counsel Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP (RBGG), and the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ), are bringing a class action lawsuit against the Bureau of Prisons, FCI Dublin officials, and several individual officers.
The plaintiffs are eight survivors of staff sexual abuse and retaliation at Federal Correctional Institution Dublin–a federal women’s prison in Dublin, California—and the California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP).
This case is a putative class action on behalf of all people incarcerated at FCI Dublin, where inadequate systems for preventing, detecting, investigating, and responding to staff sexual abuse put everyone at the facility at risk. The plaintiffs in this case have endured horrific abuse and exploitation at the hands of prison employees, including but not limited to: rape and sexual assault; manipulation and sexual coercion; rampant degrading sexual comments; voyeurism and taking and sharing explicit photos; drugging, groping, and other forms of abuse during medical exams; and targeted abuse towards immigrant women leveraging the threat of deportation.
FCI Dublin was the center of a massive criminal investigation, Congressional inquiries, and national press attention. Eight former staff members at FCI Dublin–including the former Warden Ray Garcia and the former Chaplain–have been charged with sexually abusing people in their custody, with more charges likely forthcoming. Still, FCI Dublin has failed to remedy the systemic problems that created a culture of sexual violence and shielded the worst perpetrators from accountability.
We’ve filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction, supported by over forty declarations, asking the court to order the BOP to:
end retaliation against people who report staff misconduct, including punitive placement in solitary confinement, transfers to other facilities, and cell and strip searches;
immediately remove staff who have substantiated claims of abuse against them;
ensure access to high-quality, community-based medical and mental healthcare for all people at FCI Dublin;
ensure access to counsel, including confidential legal calls and visits;
support survivors’ requests for release and visas for noncitizen victims of crime; and
allow an audit, regular inspections and reports, and ongoing monitoring by a third-party organization.
In the News
KPFA, Law & Disorder with Cat Brooks
We have been following the scandal and abuse at the now shuttered women’s federal prison in Dublin, California. The First Report by the Special Master is out, which mostly corroborates what the women have been saying for years, but also contains some additional troubling information.
Estelle Masse, Davis Vanguard
DUBLIN, CA – In a new report made public Friday by federal district court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, an FCI Dublin Special Master and Prison Conditions expert found, “It is unconscionable that any correctional agency could allow incarcerated individuals to be subject to the conditions that existed at FCI Dublin” for so long without correction.
Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News
DUBLIN — A blistering report found an “unconscionable” pattern of derelict care and oversight at the FCI Dublin federal women’s prison and raised the alarm that similar problems may be plaguing other federal prisons across the nation.
Katie DeBenedetti, KQED
Documents ordered unsealed on Friday by a federal judge included a special master’s report that detailed systemic abuse and inadequate medical and mental health care at the Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin.
Lisa Fernandez, KTVU
OAKLAND, Calif. - A federal judge on Friday slammed lawyers for the Bureau of Prisons for trying to dismiss a lawsuit over sexual abuse and retaliation at the now-shuttered FCI Dublin, while she also grilled the deputy director of the federal prison system, who flew in from Washington, D.C., to Oakland for the hearing.
WSBTV.com News Staff, WSB-TV
ATLANTA — Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff and a bipartisan group of Senators and members of the U.S. House of Representatives are pushing to strengthen federal oversight of U.S. prisons.
Lisa Fernandez, KTVU
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Senate passed legislation Wednesday to overhaul oversight and bring greater transparency to the crisis-plagued federal Bureau of Prisons where reporting from The Associated Press exposed systemic corruption in the federal prison system and reporting from KTVU highlighted the intense sexual abuses at the all-women's prison in Dublin, Calif.
Michael R. Sisak and Michael Balsamo, Associated Press
The Senate passed legislation Wednesday to overhaul oversight and bring greater transparency to the crisis-plagued federal Bureau of Prisons following reporting from The Associated Press that exposed systemic corruption in the federal prison system and increased congressional scrutiny.
Everyday Injustice Podcast, Davis Vanguard
This spring, the Bureau of Prisons announced they were shuttering the women’s prison at FCI Dublin – after it was rocked with revelations of sexual abuse and whistleblower retaliation that led to the former warden being indicted and convicted.
Victoria Law, Truthout
When FCI Dublin closed, people were transferred to a dozen prisons where they face ongoing mistreatment and retaliation.
Lisa Fernandez, KTVU
DUBLIN, Calif. - Women who were transferred from FCI Dublin to prisons across the country are alleging poor treatment and retaliation by staff and officers in facilities on both coasts.
Christoper Weber, Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nearly all inmates have been transferred out of a troubled women’s prison set to be shut down in California, and U.S. senators on Wednesday demanded an accounting of the rapid closure plan for the facility where sexual abuse by guards was rampant.
Joe Davidson, Washington Post
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has long been an agency in crisis, with poorly managed facilities that are unsafe for inmates and employees alike.
Tim Fang, CBS Bay Area
DUBLIN – Advocates rallied outside Federal Correctional Institution-Dublin on Friday, urging the release of inmates as the troubled prison known for rampant sexual abuse is set to close.
The group Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition protested near the facility, along the route where buses have transferred inmates to other facilities.
Bob Redell and Jodi Hernandez, NBC Bay Area
Activists are asking a federal judge to stop the transfer of inmates from a women's prison in Dublin.
The Bureau of Prisons earlier this week ordered the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin shut down due to a history of sex abuse scandals and employee misconduct.
Lisa Fernandez, KTVU
DUBLIN, Calif. - The scandal-plagued Federal Correctional Institute at Dublin is closing just weeks after a judge ordered the all-women's prison to be placed under unprecedented oversight, KTVU has learned.
Victoria Law, Truthout
The Bureau of Prisons initially planned to empty FCI Dublin by April 19. Those inside fear being sent far from family.
Michael R. Sisak, Michael Balsamo, and Christoper Weber, Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The beleaguered federal Bureau of Prisons said Monday it will close a women’s prison in California known as the “rape club” despite attempts to reform the troubled facility after an Associated Press investigation exposed rampant staff-on-inmate sexual abuse.
Lisa Fernandez, KTVU
OAKLAND, Calif. - A federal judge on Friday ordered a "special master" to oversee the goings-on at the Federal Correctional Institute at Dublin – the first time a Bureau of Prisons facility has been placed under such oversight in U.S. history.
Alan Montecillo, Sydney Johnson, Dana Cronin, and Maria Esquinca, KQED
For decades, the Federal Correctional Institution Dublin, a women’s prison, has been known for a pervasive culture of sexual abuse towards the women incarcerated there.
60 Minutes
FBI agents on Monday searched a federal women's prison in California so notorious for the sexual abuse of inmates that it's known as “the rape club.” Cecilia Vega reported on the prison in January.