OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) — The federal government must continue reporting to a court-ordered special master for several months, ahead of a trial over claims that officials violated incarcerated individuals' rights at a prison facility notorious for cases of sexual assault against inmates, a judge in California ruled Monday.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers extended injunctive relief through Oct. 2 in the class action brought by the California Coalition for Women Prisoners and individuals who were incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin — a San Francisco Bay-area prison. The plaintiffs accuse the government of enabling a pattern of rampant sexual abuse of incarcerated people with inadequate policies to detect and prevent mistreatment.
In March, the judge ordered a special master, Wendy Still, to oversee and report back on issues at the facility to safeguard the constitutional rights of people in custody.
The facility abruptly closed in April, but on Monday, the judge said that the Bureau of Prisons still has not corrected the issues at the heart of the case, including an ongoing risk of sexual abuse by staff, a failure to urgently treat people with serious medical and mental health needs and an ongoing use of "Special Housing Units" to limit people’s free speech rights. Inmates say they are sometimes moved to such units in retaliation after filing complaints against officers.
“The fact that the BOP may have closed FCI Dublin does not relieve them of their obligations,” Rogers said in her eight-page order Monday.
Since, the prison's closure, more than 600 women have been moved to other facilities all around the country, including some who are witnesses in the case.
Rogers said that conferences with the government following the facility’s shutdown brought to light other issues. Critically low staffing levels jeopardized people’s health and safety and prevented addressing administrative requests for months or years — delaying casework the court needs to have, particularly relating to reports on file about known complaints against federal employees and whether disciplinary action was taken on them or not.
“BOP does not appear to have maintained accurate and up-to-date casework on the class members,” Rogers said. “This failure has a constitutional valence; without accurate casework, [adults in custody] may be improperly classified, which affects their accrual of credits, and, thus, could result in them being incarcerated longer than necessary.”
Rogers added that certain inmates are being tracked to ensure that they get proper treatment for different medical needs.
The judge emphasized the narrow scope of her order, since she did not place a nationwide injunction on all federal facilities.
“Further, the court has not heard from the government that the relief ordered is adversely impacting BOP’s ability to operate,” the Barack Obama appointee said.
The plaintiffs were ordered to respond to the government’s objections by July 12. The parties will return to court for an evidentiary hearing, likely in September.
The closure of the facility occurred despite officials’ assertions that reforms were underway to prevent abuse of incarcerated people.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs told Courthouse News last month that government officials have not given definitive answers to complaints submitted about where people or their property may be. They criticized Bureau Director Collette Peters for transferring individuals from the prison overnight in “inhumane” conditions, knowing that nearly all inmates are abuse survivors and experienced serious trauma without support before or after incarceration..
The parties last returned to court in May, where the judge decided that the government will face a trial in June 2025.
In 1998, the bureau settled claims that FCI Dublin officers placed incarcerated women in a men’s solitary confinement unit and allowed rape — and agreed to implement numerous reforms. In 2019, the Congressional House Subcommittee on National Security determined widespread misconduct in the federal prison system was tolerated, routinely covered up or ignored. An Associated Press investigation in 2021 found a culture of abuse and cover-ups persisted for years at the prison.
At least eight FCI Dublin employees face charges of sexually abusing inmates, and five pleaded guilty. Warden Ray J. Garcia, 55, was sentenced to six years in prison.
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