DOJ Launches Investigation into Washington Prison for Housing Biological Males With Female Inmates

The Justice Department says it is opening another federal investigation into state policies that allow men claiming to be transgender to be housed in women’s prisons, this time in Washington, where a female inmate claims she was repeatedly assaulted by a “biologically intact” male.The department notified Governor Bob Ferguson on Tuesday that the investigation will focus on whether the state engages in a pattern or practice of violating the constitutional rights of female prisoners incarcerated at the Washington Corrections Center for Women at Gig Harbor.The investigation comes after a federal lawsuit was filed on behalf of a woman housed at the prison who alleges a biological male inmate physically attacked her. The Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism brought the lawsuit claiming a 6’4” male child sex offender came up behind the female inmate, punched her, grabbed her hair, threw her to the ground, and repeatedly kicked her. The lawsuit claims the biological male inmate had previously repeatedly sexually assaulted another female inmate.The Justice Department will investigate allegations of deprivation of female prisoners’ Eighth Amendment protections from cruel and unusual punishment. It will also look into how the state responds to allegations of sexual assaults, rape, voyeurism, and sexual intimidation based on housing of biological male prisoners in the female facility.“Under my leadership, the Civil Rights Division will not allow women incarcerated in jails or prisons to be subject to unconstitutional risks of harm from male inmates,” a Justice Department assistant attorney, Harmeet K. Dhillon, said in a release. “The constitutional rights of women cannot be sacrificed at the altar of appeasing unsupported and dangerous ideologies.”Conservative media outlets in Washington report that biological male inmates have a history of “gaming the system” to get special treatment, including pretending to identify as women so that they can be housed with female inmates. The state has also reportedly paid close to $4.8 million on “gender-affirming” care in the past five years.A request for comment sent to Mr. Ferguson’s office was not immediately returned.The Justice Department has similar investigations into the housing of biological male inmates at women’s prisons in California, Maine, and Colorado. When the investigation into California was announced in March, prosecutors said they were concerned women were having their civil rights violated by state laws claiming to provide “equity” and “progress.”Under California law, biological males, including violent felons charged with sex crimes and who have intact genitals, can request transfer to women’s prisons based on self-identification as transgender.“California’s Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act has provided none of these qualities to the female inmates of state prisons who have been forced to share space with biological men who are violent felons,” the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, Bill Essayli, said in a release.

DOJ Launches Investigation into Washington Prison for Housing Biological Males With Female Inmates

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