Federal investigators announced Thursday they are examining correctional policies in California and Maine that place transgender women in facilities alongside female inmates, citing potential constitutional violations.
The inquiry targets three facilities: two California women’s correctional institutions in San Bernardino and Madera counties, plus Maine’s correctional center in Windham. Both states maintain policies requiring inmates to be placed in facilities matching their gender identity rather than biological sex.
Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon stated the department “will not allow women incarcerated in jails or prisons to be subject to unconstitutional risks of harm from male inmates.”
Maine’s Democratic Governor Janet Mills rejected the federal probe through spokesman Ben Goodman, who characterized it as “yet another politically motivated, predetermined investigation designed to target states that stand up to the Trump Administration and its abuses.”
California’s corrections department defended its approach, emphasizing its commitment to maintaining safe conditions for all inmates. “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 stated.
Governor Gavin Newsom enacted legislation in 2020 mandating that California house inmates according to their gender identity rather than birth-assigned sex, with exceptions for security concerns.
Federal officials claim this policy has resulted in “allegations of sexual assaults, rape, voyeurism and a pervasive climate of sexual intimidation due to the presence of males in the women’s prison,” though specific details were not provided.
One notable case involves a transgender woman facing rape charges at the Madera County facility. This individual entered the women’s prison in January 2021 after identifying as female but was subsequently transferred to a men’s facility following the criminal charges.
Maine faces similar allegations involving a transgender woman accused of assaulting or harassing female inmates. The federal government previously withdrew some funding from Maine’s corrections department over transgender housing policies, though the current status remains unclear.
Jill O’Brien from Maine’s Department of Corrections emphasized that officials take safety concerns seriously and “follows state and federal law in our practices regarding transgender residents.”
