The Trump administration has opened an investigation into the housing of transgender women in female prisons in California, following serious allegations of rape and harassment, including a case where a transgender inmate reportedly impregnated another prisoner.
Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, confirmed that the department will notify Governors Gavin Newsom and Janet Mills about the planned investigation. The inquiry will focus on the California Institution for Women in San Bernardino County, the Central California Women’s Facility in Madera County, and the Maine Correctional Center in Windham, all of which have been linked to troubling allegations.Officials say the probe will assess whether authorities in the two states may have violated the constitutional rights of female inmates by housing them alongside male prisoners.
The investigation comes after a billboard campaign across California by two women’s rights groups, raising concerns about what they describe as an increase in assaults involving transgender inmates in women’s prisons. The campaign, led by Women Are Real and WomaniiWoman, is calling for stricter oversight of biological male inmates placed in female facilities under Senate Bill 132, while also drawing attention to the upcoming rape trial of transgender inmate Tremaine Carroll.
Carroll, 52, was housed at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla under the provisions of SB 132, a 2021 law that allows transgender, nonbinary, and intersex inmates to be placed according to their gender identity.Prosecutors allege that Carroll raped three female inmates while in custody, with one of the victims reportedly becoming pregnant.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi stated that keeping men out of women’s prisons is a matter of safety and constitutional rights, adding that the administration will act if state policies are found to enable harm under the banner of inclusion. The California-focused investigation will examine whether prison officials have engaged in a consistent pattern of violating inmates’ rights at the facilities in question.
Authorities are expected to review claims that female prisoners have experienced sexual assault, rape, voyeurism, and intimidation linked to the presence of male inmates. Investigators will also evaluate possible breaches of constitutional protections, including rights under the First Amendment, the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Dhillon said the investigation aims to determine whether the broader practice of housing male inmates in women’s prisons has led to violations of women’s constitutional rights.
Source: https://m.lindaikejisblog.com/
