DOJ probing California, Maine for allowing trans-identified males in women's prisons

The Department of Justice has launched probes into cases in California and Maine involving allegations of rape and harassment of female inmates at the hands of trans-identified male prisoners. 

The Department of Justice announced that it has notified governors Gavin Newsom of California and Janet Mills of Maine that it is conducting federal investigations into their states’ housing of trans-identified males alongside female inmates in their prisons.

The investigation is looking into whether officials in the states have engaged in a "pattern or practice of violating the constitutional rights of female prisoners" who are being housed at the California Institution for Women (CIW) in San Bernardino County,  the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF) in Madera County, and the Maine Correctional Center in Windham (MCC Windham).

In regard to California, the DOJ said it will be looking into "widely reported allegations of deprivation of female prisoners’ rights, including the First Amendment’s guarantees of freedom of speech and free exercise of religion, the Eighth Amendment’s protection from cruel and unusual punishment, and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause." 

One of the highest-profile cases out of California involves Tremaine Carroll, who was housed alongside women at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla. He has been charged with raping three women at the facility, one of whom prosecutors say became pregnant as a result. 

The DOJ will be investigating a recent report that a biological male has been allowed to remain at MCC Windham alongside female inmates "despite complaints that the male inmate has assaulted or harassed several female inmates." The transgender inmate, Andrea Balcer, also known as Andrew, has been accused of intimidating and assaulting a female inmate inside the prison. Balcer is serving a 40-year sentence for murdering his parents, as well as the family dog. 

Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement, "Keeping men out of women’s prisons is not only common sense – it’s a matter of safety and constitutional rights. The Trump Administration will not stand by if governors are facilitating the abuse of biological women under the guise of inclusion."

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said, "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. These investigations will uncover whether the dangerous national trend of housing men in women’s prisons has resulted in violations of women’s constitutional rights."