DOJ Gives California 49 Days to Fix Women's Prison Abuse or Face Lawsuit

Federal authorities have given California 49 days to address systemic sexual abuse and harassment in its women's prisons or face a lawsuit, following a two-year investigation that found the state knowingly violated prisoners' constitutional rights. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the findings Thursday at a press conference in Los Angeles, detailing a longstanding pattern of misconduct at two facilities and a failure by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to implement basic safeguards.

The investigation, which began in September 2024 and continued across two presidential administrations, focused on the Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla and the California Institution for Women in Chino. Federal investigators concluded that the prisons and the state corrections system knowingly exposed inmates to a risk of sexual assault by failing to detect and prevent abuse, provide confidential reporting mechanisms, and hold staff accountable. The report states that these failures constitute deliberate indifference to unconstitutional conditions, violating the Eighth and 14th Amendments.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon...