Case Update – February 27,2025
The Court issued its written order on February 27 which finds the “Parties have negotiated an agreement that provides procedural protections for class members moving forward, and allows for the continuation of the Monitor’s work.” The Court went on to find that “the class would be well-served with the strong protections afforded by the consent decree without subjecting class members to further delay and possible trauma in the form of a trial.” The Order Approving Motion for Final Approval is here. The final Consent Decree is here.
The plaintiffs are represented by Rights Behind Bars (RBB), Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP (RBGG), and the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ).
Original Press Release – February 25, 2025
For Immediate Release
Judge Grants Final Approval of Landmark Consent Decree to Address Systemic Sexual Abuse and Retaliation in the Federal Bureau of Prisons
Agreement Includes Monitoring, Policy Changes to Protect FCI Dublin Survivors
A federal judge has granted final approval of the Consent Decree negotiated in California Coalition for Women Prisoners et al. v. United States Bureau of Prisons et al. The ruling cements enforceable protections for hundreds of incarcerated individuals who have suffered systemic staff sexual abuse, retaliation, and medical neglect in federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) custody. The judge indicated that the Consent Decree will go into effect on March 31, 2025 at over a dozen federal women’s prisons nationwide, and will remain in effect for the next two years.
“For the first time in BOP history, a consent decree will provide ongoing court oversight across multiple federal women’s prisons,” said Susan Beaty, an attorney with California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, who represents the plaintiffs in this case. “This agreement acknowledges that the abuses at FCI Dublin were not isolated incidents but part of a nationwide pattern of harm. Survivors fought tirelessly for this victory, and this consent decree gives advocates the tools to ensure enforcement and hold BOP accountable.”
Class members submitted comments to the Court in advance of the hearing, and many joined via phone and video call from prisons across the country. The California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP), an organizational plaintiff in the case, also submitted commentary, writing: “We continue to receive alarming reports of ongoing abuse, retaliation, and medical neglect against people transferred from Dublin, and we remain very worried about their safety and wellbeing. . . . We urge the court to approve—and just as importantly, enforce—an agreement that will provide for ongoing monitoring, protections, and resources for survivors of FCI Dublin.”
In another failed attempt to delay enforcement, at the start of today’s hearing BOP requested additional time to re-negotiate terms related to transgender people’s access to undergarments and non-citizens’ access to halfway houses—rights that are already protected by federal law. BOP claimed that those provisions do not align with the new administration’s “priorities,” which advocates say are to terrorize trans people and immigrants. The judge flatly denied BOP’s request for additional time, noting that the agency already entered into a binding agreement, and does not get “two bites at the apple.”
The class action lawsuit, originally filed in August 2023, addressed BOP’s failure to protect incarcerated individuals from rampant sexual abuse and retaliation at FCI Dublin. After the court appointed a Special Master to oversee the facility, BOP abruptly closed FCI Dublin and transferred hundreds of class members to prisons across the country under inhumane conditions. The court’s decision to approve the Consent Decree ensures that survivors will have enforceable protections and ongoing oversight for the next two years.
Key provisions of the Consent Decree include:
- Extensive monitoring and public reporting: The monitor will have access to class members and BOP staff, facilities, and records, and will investigate and make public reports on a range of issues, including staff abuse and retaliation, medical care, and application of early release credits and timely release to halfway houses.
- Outside supports: Class members will have ongoing and confidential access to the monitor, attorneys, and community-based counselors.
- Limitations on solitary confinement (SHU): To prevent retaliatory SHU placements, class members will not be placed in SHU for low-level disciplinary charges (absent specific security threats), and will be guaranteed timely disciplinary proceedings. Class members in SHU will have access to the monitor, legal calls, and reporting mechanisms, and class members in non-punitive segregation will be guaranteed basic privileges.
- Protections related to Dublin transfers: BOP will restore early release credits lost as a result of the Dublin transfers, and will review and expunge invalid and retaliatory disciplinary write-ups by Dublin staff.
- Designations and release: BOP will release eligible class members to halfway houses and home confinement as soon as practicable, and will not deny early release on the basis of immigration status alone. BOP will house class members as close to their families as practicable, and in the lowest security facility possible. Class members will no longer be housed long term at pretrial detention facilities or transfer centers.
- Public acknowledgment of abuse: The BOP Director will issue a formal, public acknowledgement to survivors of staff sexual abuse at FCI Dublin.
With final approval now granted, class counsel, advocates, and survivors remain committed to ensuring the BOP upholds its obligations under the Consent Decree and that meaningful reform is implemented across the federal prison system.
“Our task in organizing alongside Dublin survivors has always been to assert that we believe their stories, trust their experiences, and will commit our support and solidarity until their demands for accountability and justice are won,” said Emily Shapiro, an organizer with CCWP. “Today we packed the virtual courtroom to start a new chapter, which is enforcing our historic legal victory. Don’t mistake this moment for an ending—the movement is really just getting going.”
Selected Media
Federal judge to approve settlement for survivors of ‘rape club’ prison, Courthouse News Service, 2/25/25
Judge OKs prison abuse settlement, rejecting Trump administration’s push to rewrite protections, Associated Press, 2/25/25
Judge signs unprecedented order over now-closed FCI Dublin prison, KTVU, 2/25/25
Judge grants landmark protections for inmates of East Bay’s “rape club” prison, Mercury News, 2/25/25