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Trump DOJ Cracks Down on States Housing Biological Men in Women’s Prisons

California Gov. Gavin Newsom. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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The Justice Department opened an investigation into male inmates being placed in women’s prisons in California and Maine.

The DOJ notified California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Maine Gov. Janet Mills respectively on Thursday about the pending probes, noting the danger to female inmates of potential sexual assault.

California law allows male prisoners who identify as females to be incarcerated in women’s prisons under the state’s 2021 Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act.

California has transferred 47 prisoners from male to female prisons since passing the 2021 law. However, out of 84 requests, it has transferred only seven female inmates to male prisons, according to data from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

“Keeping men out of women’s prisons is not only common sense – it’s a matter of safety and constitutional rights,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “The Trump Administration will not stand by if governors are facilitating the abuse of biological women under the guise of inclusion.”

The Justice Department will investigate potential violations of constitutional rights of female inmates at prisons in San Bernardino County and Madera County in California, and at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham, Maine.

Noting allegations of sexual assault, the DOJ press release said that men in California state prisons charged with sex crimes that “have intact genitals, can request transfer to women’s prisons based on self-identification as transgender.”

Prisons under the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation are safe, spokeswoman Terri Hardy said.

“CDCR is committed to providing a safe, humane, respectful and rehabilitative environment for all incarcerated people, enforcing a zero-tolerance policy as mandated by the federal legal requirements known as the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA),” Hardy told The Daily Signal.

“Any suggestion that all transgender women be assigned to men’s institutions as a matter of policy is a suggestion to violate federal law.”

The department says 2,405 inmates are classified as “transgender, non-binary, and intersex.” Of those, 1,028 requested to be transferred from male to female prisons, with 246 requests pending, and 132 denied. Another 140 inmates changed their mind.

The California numbers show that three people were transferred back to male prisons involuntarily, while nine were transferred back voluntarily.

The Justice Department says it will also investigate allegations that Maine has allowed a biological male inmate to remain housed with women despite complaints of assault.

“Incarcerated individuals can be particularly susceptible to having their rights violated,” Andrew B. Benson, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maine, said in a public statement. 

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to protecting the civil rights of all Maine citizens, no matter where they live, and will work with our colleagues in the Civil Rights Division to ensure that this vulnerable population is protected from harm while housed in state custody.”

Jill R. O’Brien, director of government affairs at the Maine Department of Corrections, stated that Maine prison officials refer any crimes to prosecutors.

“The Department follows state and federal law in our practices regarding transgender residents,” O’Brien told The Daily Signal. “Transgender residents’ housing decisions are made by a multidisciplinary team, under department policy, in compliance with state and federal law.”

Under Maine law, inmates have the right to have their “gender identity respected and acknowledged, irrespective of anatomy or physique.”

The law also says that housing “must be consistent with the person’s consistently held gender identity except when such placement or search would present significant management or security problems to the correctional or detention facility or threaten the health and safety of the person.”

However, the most recent monthly report from Maine’s department says that of 2,069 state inmates, “No residents identified as transgender.”

The federal government terminated certain grants to Maine last year on the basis of the Department of Corrections’ transgender policy, but the funding was restored, O’Brien noted.

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