On August 16, 2023, eight survivors of staff sexual abuse and retaliation at Federal Correctional Institution Dublin–a federal women’s prison in Dublin, California–and the California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP) filed a class action lawsuit against the Bureau of Prisons, FCI Dublin officials, and several individual officers. The case was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiffs are represented by Rights Behind Bars (RBB), Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP (RBGG), and the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ). The complaint is here.
The Bureau of Prisons has long been aware of the problems at FCI Dublin. In 1995, three women incarcerated at FCI Dublin were sexually assaulted after guards let incarcerated men into their cells. These women filed a civil rights lawsuit (Lucas v. White, Case No. 96-2905TEH (ND Cal)), against the prison, and won a large settlement in 1998. Since then, numerous investigations and reports have found that abuse and harassment are serious and ongoing problems in the prison. FCI Dublin is not the only prison where these atrocities persist. According to an AP investigation, “the same year some of the women at Dublin complained, there were 422 complaints of staff-on-inmate sexual abuse across the system of 122 prisons and 153,000 inmates.”
Alongside the complaint, plaintiffs filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction, to immediately remedy many of the systemic problems at FCI Dublin. On March 15, 2023 the Court granted Plaintiffs’ motion and ordered appointment of a Special Master to assist the Court in ensuring compliance with anticipated future orders to protect the incarcerated people at FCI Dublin.
Following months of intensive negotiations, the parties reached an unprecedented Consent Decree filed with the court on December 6, 2024. The Consent Decree was approved on February 27, 2025 and went into effect on March 31, 2025. It is currently being monitored and enforced at over a dozen federal women’s prisons which house individuals who were formerly at FCI Dublin, for the next two years. The agreement mandates robust oversight and remedies for issues related to staff sexual and physical abuse, retaliation, medical care, and case work. More information about the case and a copy of the Consent Decree is available here and the Monitoring Teams monthly and quarterly reports are posted under the Implementation tab.
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Formed in 2021, the Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition is a partnership of people currently and formerly at FCI Dublin and their supporters. Coalition members include the ACLU of Northern California, the California Coalition for Women Prisoners, the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, Dolores Street Community Services, and Rights Behind Bars.