Feds Investigate California Prisons Where Women Say ‘Culture of Impunity’ Surrounded Abuse

Following hundreds of lawsuits alleging systemic sexual abuse by correctional officers at two California state prisons, advocates for incarcerated women are hopeful a newly launched federal investigation by the Department of Justice will bring change.

The department said on Wednesday that it had “significant justification” to evaluate whether the state was meeting its constitutional duty to protect residents of the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla and the California Institution for Women in Chino, which for years have been plagued by misconduct scandals.

The announcement references the May arrest of Gregory Rodriguez, 56, who is accused of abusing or raping 22 women in his custody at Chowchilla, the state’s largest women’s facility, for years. The former correctional officer is set to go on trial in state court this week on nearly 100 counts of sexual abuse.

Among his accusers is Latasha Brown, a Vallejo woman who has been incarcerated at both the Chino and Chowchilla facilities over the past 21 years. She testified last year at a legislative hearing on sexual violence that she suffered abuse at the hands of Rodriguez and other officers.

“Not everyone employed by [California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation] is a predator. I’m only saying that the uniform or the suit makes a perfect camouflage for one,” Brown said in recorded remarks from prison.

In the Justice Department’s announcement of its investigation, Kristen Clarke, who leads the department’s Civil Rights Division, said, “California must ensure that the people it incarcerates are housed in conditions that protect them from sexual abuse.”

“No woman incarcerated in a jail or prison should be subjected to sexual abuse by prison staff who are constitutionally bound to protect them,” Clarke said.

The investigation comes more than two and a half years after the passage of a state bill that extended the statute of limitations for victims of sexual assault by police and correctional officers to sue their assailants in civil court.

“We are incredibly grateful that the DOJ is stepping in,” said Amika Mota, executive director of advocacy group Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition.

“As formerly incarcerated people that have lived inside, it tends to be when the feds get involved that we see some action and shift. And unfortunately, in these last couple of years working closely with CDCR and also trying to get access to provide more trauma-informed support to people on the inside, we’ve seen reluctance to allow advocates inside.”

The state bill, AB 1455, allows victims to sue in civil court up to 10 years after their assailants are convicted of sexual assault or a crime in which sexual assault was initially alleged. It also gives victims the option to sue up to 10 years after their assailants leave the law enforcement agency they were working at when the assault occurred.

Since the law took effect, women have filed hundreds of lawsuits describing numerous instances of sexual assault by correctional officers overseen by CDCR, including the Chowchilla and Chino facilities.

The lawsuits range from allegations of inappropriate searching to forcible rape, and officers at both facilities reportedly sought sexual favors in return for contraband and privileges, the DOJ said in a press release. And among the correctional officers accused of misconduct are some of the very people responsible for handling complaints of sexual abuse made by women incarcerated there, according to the DOJ.

“Prisons were initially built to ‘reform,’ places of ‘penance,’ but they have become places where society’s throwaways suffer a litany of abuses by the ones we hold responsible for our safety and security. Places where a culture of impunity pervades,” Brown said.

In her testimony, Brown described the retribution she faced after speaking out against sexual violence.

“Since I am completely at the mercy of my captors, I have a feeling of perpetual uneasiness since I know the lengths they will go to cover up their misconduct,” she said. “I was stripped of my property, isolated, surveilled and deprived of communication with my loved ones when I came forward.”

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, who represents the East Bay, visited the Chowchilla prison with other legislators last January and spoke with women inside about the difficulties of reporting abuse.

“No person, … no matter what the actions that they took that resulted in their getting a sentence, should be subject to being assaulted or raped while they are incarcerated. Nobody,” said Skinner, chair of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus.

The joint efforts of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus and Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition to shine a light on sexual abuse were cited by the Justice Department for helping launch its investigation.

“I’m relieved that some of our work in the Women’s Caucus has come to the surface, and people are acknowledging the work we’ve done by having this investigation,” said Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry of East Sacramento.

“When people say the government doesn’t work, well, it does. Sometimes, it takes a little bit longer than we would like.”

As part of their work, the Women’s Caucus will travel next week to visit prisons in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Aguiar-Curry added, to learn from other countries about rehabilitation and how they prepare women for reentry into society.

In response to the allegations around the Chowchilla and Chino facilities, CDCR plans to intensify staff training with a focus on misconduct and will increase cameras and surveillance at both of the facilities, according to a statement from department secretary Jeff Macomber.

“Sexual assault is a heinous violation of fundamental human dignity that is not tolerated — under any circumstances — within California’s state prison system,” Macomber said.

“Our department embraces transparency, and we fully welcome the U.S. Department of Justice’s independent investigation.”

The investigation also comes after the closure of a federal women’s prison in the East Bay following years of sexual misconduct allegations and scandals. Seven former corrections officers at FCI Dublin have been sentenced, and the eighth is set to go to trial after pleading not guilty on Tuesday to 15 counts of sexual abuse of incarcerated women.

KQED’s Madi Bolaños contributed to this report.