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Federal judge likely to appoint reviewer at Bay Area women’s prison following surprise visit

Natalie Hanson, Courthouse News Service

A federal judge said following an unannounced tour of a low-security federal prison, she has concerns about procedures at the facility that prisoners say include ramped-up invasive searches and oversight.

'There's No Support': Incarcerated Survivors Testify in East Bay Women's Prison Court Hearing

Sydney Johnson, KQED

Survivors of sexual abuse at a federal East Bay women’s prison said inappropriate conduct and retaliation persist, multiple women incarcerated at the facility told a federal judge on Friday.

Inmates testify about sexual abuse at FCI Dublin women's prison

CBS News Bay Area

DUBLIN – Following three days of testimony from incarcerated survivors of sexual abuse at Federal Correctional Institution Dublin, the legal teams representing the victims held a press conference Friday outside of U.S. District Court in Oakland.

Facing more than 45 sex abuse suits, judge could appoint special master over FCI Dublin prison

Lisa Fernandez, KTVU

A federal court judge is being asked to appoint a "special master" over the Federal Correctional Institute at Dublin, an all-women's prison notoriously nicknamed the "Rape Club" after eight correctional officers have been charged with sexual assault and more than 45 civil cases have been filed alleging the same abuses.

Judge rips feds for pattern of abuse at Bay Area women’s prison

Natalie Hanson, Courthouse News Service

OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) — A judge is weighing a preliminary injunction demanding that the government take action on abuses of incarcerated people at a federal prison for women in the San Francisco Bay Area, in new claims that the prison enabled a pattern of abuse.

Sex abuse scandal at Northern California women's prison spurs lawsuit vs. feds

CBS News

Survivors of sexual abuse by employees at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, in Northern California, have filed a class action lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Prisons, saying enough hasn't been done to stop the abuse.

Dublin federal prison sex assault victims file lawsuit

OAKLAND, Calif. - Sex abuse survivors at an all-women's prison in Dublin filed a sweeping and major class-action lawsuit on Wednesday, alleging that people incarcerated there have been raped, forced to undress in order to be released from cells, drugged, groped and targeted with threats of deportation, among other atrocities.

Dublin Women’s Prison Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Sexual Abuse Scandal

Sydney Johnson, KQED

Survivors of sexual abuse on Wednesday filed a class-action lawsuit against guards and officials at FCI Dublin, a federal women’s prison where plaintiffs argue there are inadequate systems for preventing, detecting, investigating and responding to rape and sexual assault at the facility.

Inmates at California women’s prison sue federal government over sexual abuse

Olga R. Rodriguez, Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Eight inmates at a San Francisco Bay Area lockup — dubbed the “rape club” by prisoners and workers alike — filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the federal Bureau of Prisons, saying sexual abuse and exploitation has not stopped despite the prosecution of the former warden and several former officers.

Newly sworn in Barnstable Sheriff Donna Buckley ends agreement with ICE

Luis Fieldman, MassLive

The controversial policy triggered a lawsuit from Lawyers for Civil Rights and Rights Behind Bars in 2022 on behalf of a statewide coalition that challenged the agreement between the sheriff’s office and immigration authorities.

The claims of abuses against prisoners in a St. Louis jail are horrific. They’re also not unique.

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg, The Messenger

Incarcerated people in jails throughout the country are left to ask the courts to protect their rights.

SJC lawsuit aims to end deal between Barnstable sheriff and ICE

Nick Stoico, Boston Globe

The lawsuit, filed Thursday by two organizations, Lawyers for Civil Rights and Rights Behind Bars, on behalf of 25 petitioners, asks the Supreme Judicial Court to weigh in on whether the sheriff’s office has the authority to enter such an agreement with ICE.

He Spent Six Days in a Cell Covered in Feces. The Supreme Court Says He Can Sue His Jailers.

Beth Schwartzapfel and Tony Plohetski, The Marshall Project

It’s the first time in years the highest court allowed such a suit to proceed. The ruling suggests it is reconsidering protections for officers who cause harm.

Cracks in a Legal Shield for Officers’ Misconduct

Adam Liptak, the New York Times

The Supreme Court has hinted that it is ready to trim the doctrine of qualified immunity, which makes it difficult to sue government officials for violence and cruelty.

The Supreme Court Is Giving Lower Courts a Subtle Hint to Rein In Police Misconduct

Joanna Schwatz, The Atlantic

And those paying attention haven’t missed it.

Federal judges were once all reliably bad on prisoners’ rights issues. COVID-19 changed that.

Samuel Weiss, The Appeal

Rights Behind Bars Executive Director, Samuel Weiss, on how Trump-appointed judges have decisively hampered legal efforts to force prisons and jails to address the coronavirus.

The other infectious disease ravaging America’s jails and prisons

Samuel Weiss, The Appeal

Rights Behind Bars Executive Director, Samuel Weiss, writes about how Hepatitis C has ripped through prisons and jails, despite more effective treatments for the disease.

In the News

Publications

  • An Open Letter to Mount Olive Correctional Complex.

  • An Open Letter to FCI Dublin.

Press Releases

  • 12 Survivors of Sexual Assault File Lawsuits Against FCI Dublin, Bringing Current Total to 63

    FCI Dublin is facing an avalanche of lawsuits stemming from the systemic staff sexual abuse and misconduct that has long gone unchecked at this facility.

    Read Press Release

  • RBB Files Emergency Litigation on Behalf of Activist on Hunger Strike in Protest of Retaliatory Solitary Confinement

    Writer, Artist, and Activist Rashid Johnson has been on hunger strike for 41 days, during which Virginia Department of Corrections officials have subjected him to cruel and life-threatening treatment.

    Read Press Release

  • Trans Woman Files Lawsuit Challenging Illegal Ban on Gender-Affirming Surgery in Georgia Department of Corrections

    Ms. Doe received recommendations for gender-affirming surgeries from four GDC psychiatrists over the course of six years. Despite this uncontested evidence of her medical needs, Ms. Doe has been told time and again that GDC will not allow her to get gender-affirming surgery.

    Read Press Release

  • RBB and Partners Issue Demand Letter on Behalf of Indigenous People Facing Religous Discrimination in West Virginia Prison

    Incarcerated Native people at Mount Olive State Prison face significant, unlawful barriers to their religious practice.

    Read Press Release

  • As Trial Begins for Former FCI Dublin Official, Community Groups Demand Support and Sanctuary for Survivors of Prison Staff Sexual Abuse

    The Coalition has been calling for sweeping changes at FCI Dublin as the best way to promote true institutional accountability and ensure that such harms are not perpetrated in the future.

    Read Press Release

  • RBB and partners pen letter to the BOP detailing ongoing abuses at FCI Dublin

    After the revelations of serious sexual abuse at the facility, there have been a handful of prosecutions of individual actors, but no meaningful efforts have been made to remedy the harms or seriously change the system that facilitated them.

    Read Press Release

  • Washington v. Massachusetts Department of Corrections, et al. Filed in Federal Court

    Filing Marks Two-Year Anniversary of Wave of Guard Assaults at Souza Baranowski Correctional Center

    Read Press Release

  • Facing Lawsuit, Barnstable County's New Sheriff Ends Contract with ICE

    Move eliminates last “278g Agreement” by sheriffs in New England.

    Read Press Release

  • Victory in Qualified Immunity Excessive Force Case

    The Ninth Circuit Decision in Getzen v. Long affirms that the deputy involved should not be granted qualified immunity for his use of excessive force in clear violation of Mr. Getzen’s civil rights.

    Read Press Release

  • Supreme Court reverses Fifth Circuit ruling in Taylor v. Riojas

    RBB wins rare Supreme Court qualified immunity reversal

    Read Press Release

For media inquiries or to arrange an interview, please contact:

press@rightsbehindbars.org