The Justice Department announced on Wednesday that it is investigating the conditions at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla and the California Institution for Women in Chino. The investigation will focus on whether the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is protecting inmates at these two prisons.
Prosecutors stated that both facilities have faced numerous lawsuits. In the last two years, hundreds of lawsuits have been filed, accusing staff at the Chowchilla facility of rape, groping, and sexual abuse. One lawsuit, filed by 21 women at the Chino prison, alleges rape, penetration, groping, and threats of violence from staff between 2014 and 2022.
Staff at both prisons have been accused of exchanging contraband and privileges for sexual favors from inmates, according to federal prosecutors.
No woman in prison should suffer sexual abuse by staff who are supposed to protect them, said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Even in prison, women have civil and constitutional rights and deserve to be treated with dignity.
The investigation is being conducted under the Civil Rights for Institutionalized Persons Act, which allows federal prosecutors to determine if inmates’ rights are being violated. Clarke explained that sexual abuse reports have been made at these facilities since at least 2016, justifying the need for the investigation.
The Justice Department has reached out to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for a response. Clarke emphasized, Allowing this violence to continue is cruel, inhumane, and unconstitutional. California must ensure that incarcerated individuals are protected from sexual abuse.