DOJ says California prisons violated Constitution by ignoring inmate sexual abuse

The Justice Department announced that it has reasonable cause to believe the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, along with the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla and the California Institution for Women in Chino, are violating the U.S. Constitution by failing to protect female prisoners from sexual abuse and harassment by staff. Federal investigators found what the department described as a longstanding pattern of staff sexual misconduct, inadequate safeguards, failures in confidential reporting, improper investigative practices and insufficient accountability. The department concluded that these systemic failures violate prisoners’ rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments and that the corrections department and both facilities have failed to adequately and effectively implement the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act, known as PREA. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, who leads the department’s Civil Rights Division, said female prisoners have a constitutional right to be free from sexual assault and harassment by prison staff. Dhillon said the investigation showed that California’s corrections department knew of repeated incidents of sexual assault and harassment against female prisoners and failed to protect them. She characterized the state’s conduct as “deliberate indifference” that the Civil Rights Division intends to end in partnership with the U.S. attorneys’ offices for the Eastern and Central Districts of California. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California said the findings were unacceptable and that California has a legal and moral duty to protect people in its custody, adding that the report should mark a turning point. U.S. Attorney Eric Grant for the Eastern District of California said the pattern described in the investigation is exactly what Congress intended the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act and PREA to address, and he urged the state to comply swiftly with the identified remedial measures. The Justice Department has notified California of what it considers the minimum steps required to address the alleged violations, including expanded camera coverage, stronger confidential reporting channels, tighter investigative protocols, better staff training and monitoring, and PREA-compliant safeguards. If state officials do not satisfactorily address the department’s concerns within 49 days, the U.S. attorney general may pursue litigation under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act. The Justice Department said it intends to work cooperatively with California to resolve the alleged violations. The Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section, along with the U.S. attorneys’ offices for the Eastern and Central Districts of California, opened the investigation in September 2024 under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act. The statute authorizes the department to address patterns or practices that deprive people confined in state- or local-government correctional facilities of their constitutional rights. This article was constructed with the assistance of artificial intelligence and published by a member of The Washington Times' AI News Desk team. The contents of this report are based solely on The Washington Times' original reporting, wire services, and/or other sources cited within the report. For more information, please read our AI policy or contact Steve Fink, Director of Artificial Intelligence, at sfink@washingtontimes.com The Washington Times AI Ethics Newsroom Committee can be reached at aispotlight@washingtontimes.com.