The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and two women’s prisons are violating the U.S. Constitution by allegedly failing to protect female prisoners from sexual abuse and harassment by staff, officials announced Thursday in Los Angeles.
Investigators say they’ve uncovered a “longstanding pattern of sustained staff sexual misconduct” and other systemic failures at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla and the California Institution for Women in Chino, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The DOJ concluded that the alleged deficiencies “grievously violate prisoners’ rights.” The defendants also failed to effectively implement the Prison Rape Elimination Act, the department alleged.
“Female prisoners have the constitutional right to be free from sexual assault and harassment by prison staff,” Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement, adding that the corrections department “knew of repeated incidents of sexual assault and harassment against female prisoners and failed to protect them.”
Federal officials made the announcement Thursday at a press conference in downtown Los Angeles.
The DOJ stated it has provided California with notice of minimum measures required to address the alleged 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, according to the DOJ.
“These facts are unacceptable,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “California owes a legal and moral duty to safeguard prisoners in its custody. 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.”