Justice Department Finds California Women’s Prisons Violate the Constitution by Failing to Protect Female Prisoners from Sexual Abuse by Staff

The Justice Department announced today that it has reasonable cause to believe that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), the Central California Women's Facility (CCWF) in Chowchilla, and the California Institution for Women (CIW) in Chino are violating the U.S. Constitution by failing to protect female prisoners from sexual abuse and harassment by staff.

Investigators uncovered a longstanding pattern of sustained staff sexual misconduct, inadequate safeguards, failures in confidential reporting, improper investigative practices, and insufficient accountability measures. The Department concluded that these systemic deficiencies grievously violate prisoners' rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Further, CDCR, CCWF, and CIW fail to adequately and effectively implement the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA).

"Female prisoners have the constitutional right to be free from sexual assault and harassment by prison staff," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. "The Department of Justice's investigation revealed that California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation knew of repeated incidents of sexual assault and harassment against female prisoners, and failed to protect them. This deliberate indifference to the suffering of female prisoners at the hands of prison staff is illegal, and the Civil Rights Division, in partnership with the U.S. Attorneys' Offices for the Eastern and Central Districts of California, will end this brutal abuse."

"These facts are unacceptable. California owes a legal and moral duty to safeguard prisoners in its custody," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. "The State must confront the persistent failure of its own employees to prevent and address sexual abuse at these facilities and the systemic breakdowns that have permitted these conditions to persist. This report should serve as a turning point."

"Today's findings highlight why robust, independent enforcement of federal civil rights laws remains critical," said U.S. Attorney Eric Grant for the Eastern District of California. "The pattern and practice described here is exactly what Congress intended CRIPA and PREA to address. I commend the investigative team for its thorough work and urge swift compliance with the remedial measures the report identified."

The Justice Department has provided California with notice of the minimum remedial measures required to address these violations, including expanded camera coverage, enhanced confidential reporting channels, strengthened investigative protocols, improved staff training and monitoring, and implementation of PREA-compliant safeguards. If state officials do not satisfactorily address these concerns within 49 days, the Attorney General may initiate litigation under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA), 42 U.S.C. § 1997 et seq.

The Department looks forward to working cooperatively with California to ensure that the State remedies these alleged violations.

The Civil Rights Division's Special Litigation Section and the U.S. Attorneys' Offices for the Eastern and Central Districts of California initiated the investigation in September 2024 under CRIPA which authorizes the Department to take action to address a pattern or practice of deprivation of constitutional rights of individuals confined to state or local government-run correctional facilities.

Individuals with relevant information are encouraged to contact the department via phone at 1-888-392-9490 or by email at [email protected].

Additional information about the Civil Rights Division's work regarding correctional facilities is available on its website at https://www.justice.gov/crt/rights-persons-confined-jails-and-prisons.

Note: Read the Notice of Findings here and the Findings Report here.