The U.S. Department of Justice opened a federal investigation on Tuesday into Washington state’s practice of housing male inmates inside its only women’s prison.
Federal officials officially notified Washington Governor Bob Ferguson that investigators will look into whether the state is violating the constitutional rights of female prisoners held at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) in Gig Harbor.
The investigation focuses heavily on whether the state is violating the Eighth Amendment, which protects citizens from cruel and unusual punishment. Investigators are looking specifically at how the state responds to reports of sexual assault, rape, voyeurism, and sexual intimidation inside the facility since male prisoners were introduced to the housing units.
“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,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The constitutional rights of women cannot be sacrificed at the altar of appeasing unsupported and dangerous ideologies.”
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“Washington State must protect women inmates from the inherent dangers of incarcerating them with biological men,” said Interim U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd for the Western District of Washington. “Our Constitution protects the civil rights of every American, including woman who are in prison and forced by the State of Washington to live with male inmates.”
The Justice Department stated it has not reached any final conclusions yet. The probe is being conducted under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA), a law that gives the federal government authority to step in if a prison shows a widespread pattern of violating inmates’ basic rights.
While this specific probe targets Washington, federal officials confirmed they are also collecting data on male inmates housed in women’s facilities across the entire country. The government is asking anyone with firsthand information about the Washington facility or other prisons to contact them online at www.civilrights.justice.gov/report/, call (202) 616-5939, or email SingleSexPrison.Initiative@usdoj.gov.
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