OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) — A federal judge took over Tuesday in a demand for a federal monitor to investigate misconduct within a Bay Area women’s prison where many government officers have been charged or convicted of sexual assault of incarcerated people.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will decide whether to appoint a special master for oversight at Federal Correctional Institute Dublin, located east of San Francisco. A class of plaintiffs have sued, claiming the Federal Bureau of Prisons enabled a pattern of “rampant” sexual abuse of incarcerated people at the low-security facility, which houses about 712 women and transgender and nonbinary people.
Rogers called an evidentiary hearing for Tuesday where she ordered the government to ensure that plaintiffs see evidence that hasn't yet been produced, in order for her to consider it.
The plaintiffs’ attorney Ernest Galvan said there has been sufficient testimony to show a claim of “systemic" Eighth Amendment violation by proving that prison staff are "deliberately indifferent to what is happening to our clients."
Galvan said that the Supreme Court case Farmer vs. Brennan found that a failure to protect a prisoner from sexual violence proves deliberate indifference.
“As everyone has testified, there has never been a place like Dublin where the warden rapes the prisoners and allows a culture of this kind of free-for-all sexual abuse,” Galvan said.
Rogers said that is a very high standard to have to prove, since, “The BOP has come in and cleaned the house.”
The judge said while she thinks there is a lot to improve at FCI Dublin, “Whether it requires the massive kind of relief you’re asking for is highly doubtful.”
Both parties must file status reports this month. Rogers did not indicate how or when she will rule on the request for a special master, and has not yet ruled on whether to certify a class.
A long list of witnesses testified over the past week, including federal officials. Many incarcerated women testified saying the prison has a long history of allowing misconduct, ranging from harassment to sexual assault and rape, without trustworthy ways to report it without retaliation.
Jennifer, currently incarcerated at FCI Dublin, testified Monday that an officer raped her during the summer of 2021 and she was harassed by other officers. She said she continues to work in the same kitchen where she was assaulted despite being “extremely uncomfortable,” because she hopes to run a butcher shop when she is released.
“I just wish we had more people who cared a little bit more,” Jennifer said. “They are supposed to serve and protect, and protect me, and they do not. They’re scared to do the right thing, or they're scared to do something different.”
Another prisoner, Tyra, said Monday officers retaliated against her for reporting when an officer violated her privacy in the shower in 2023. She said when she reported the incident, an officer demanded a sexual favor from her and another accused her of not obeying a direct order. She said after meeting with attorneys and being strip searched, she was immediately patted down in front of other prisoners once she returned to her unit, which she said felt demeaning.
Tyra said when she tried to access mental health services, FCI Dublin’s counselor questioned her: “He made me feel like it was my fault I was violated.”
K.C. said Monday she lost her job working in the prison kitchen after reporting an officer for touching her back and subsequently being accused of impropriety. She said she lost access to her medication for depression and anxiety after arriving at FCI Dublin from an Oregon facility.
The federal government maintains that the class action does not have evidence of a pattern of sexual misconduct or retaliation, or enabling of it, at the prison.
FCI Dublin Warden Arthur Dulgov, on loan from FCI Correctional Complex in Arizona, testified Tuesday. The prison’s former warden, Ray J. Garcia, is currently serving a six-year sentence after being convicted of sexually assaulting incarcerated women under his care.
Dulgov told the judge he personally searches cells, saying, “The staff are afraid to do their job sometimes because they’re afraid of accusations.”
“I get the sense the inmates would like more information as far as maybe how to report confidential wrongdoing, or whatever,” he said. “They would expect staff to be more professional than they are.”
When Dulgov said he has never seen prison staff behave unprofessionally, Rogers asked, “They’re usually on good behavior, right, when the warden’s walking around?” She also noted that Dulgov has not been in the courtroom to personally hear testimony from the plaintiffs’ witnesses.
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