Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke Delivers Remarks Announcing Civil Rights Investigation into Staff Sexual Abuse at Two California Prisons

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Good afternoon. My name is Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice. I am joined by U.S. Attorneys Phillip A. Talbert and Martin Estrada from the Eastern and Central Districts of California.

We are here to announce that we are launching a civil investigation into two California prisons: Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, and the California Institution for Women in Chino. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation operates both facilities, which house over 3,000 people combined, including women, transgender and non-binary individuals.

This investigation will examine whether the State violates the Constitution by failing to protect people incarcerated at these two facilities from staff sexual abuse.

We are conducting the investigation under the Civil Rights for Institutionalized Persons Act. This federal law authorizes the Justice Department to investigate state institutions to determine whether the people incarcerated there are subjected to a pattern or practice of constitutional violations.

Based on an extensive review of publicly available information and information gathered from advocates, we find significant justification to open this investigation now. Staff sexual abuse of women has been reported continuously in media and through public reporting since at least 2016.

A few critical points:

Women have filed hundreds of private lawsuits in the past two years alleging officer sexual abuse of people incarcerated at the Central California Women’s Facility over the last decade, ranging from allegations of inappropriate groping during searches and genital rubbing to forcible rape.

A civil lawsuit was filed on behalf of 21 women incarcerated at the California Institution for Women and included allegations of forcible rape and penetration, groping, oral copulation, as well as threats of violence and punishment with abusive conduct ranging from 2014 to 2020.

This week in state court, a trial is scheduled to begin involving allegations that a former correctional officer at the Central California Women’s Facility engaged in widespread sexual assaults. Of course, these are allegations and the state process will proceed.

Correctional staff at both facilities reportedly sought sexual favors in return for contraband and privileges.

I’ll note that the correctional officers named in these allegations range in rank and have even included the very people responsible for handling complaints of sexual abuse made by women incarcerated at these facilities.

In March, a working group established by the State and composed of advocacy groups and community-based organizations published a report to the California Legislature that identified longstanding institutional deficiencies in addressing staff sexual abuse, including an unsafe and inaccessible reporting process and the absence of staff accountability.

California is well aware of allegations at Central California Women’s Facility and the California Institution for Women. State oversight reports have documented chronic problems with staff sexual misconduct. Press outlets have reported on allegations of abuse and on the experiences of the survivors of this abuse. And, for years, advocacy organizations have demanded attention to these problems and action to resolve them.

The Justice Department’s efforts to protect the constitutional rights of incarcerated people are part of its central mission to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of all people in the United States, particularly the most vulnerable members of our society. A recent government survey shows that while incarcerated, women are three times more likely than men to be sexually victimized by prison or jail staff. In addition, women are especially vulnerable to the trauma of sexual abuse while in prison because a high number of them have experienced sexual abuse prior to incarceration. This is an urgent issue for many reasons, including because research indicates that the female prison population is expanding at as much as twice the growth rate of men – meaning women are increasingly entering the prison system.

Further, people of color, those with mental illness and the poorest among us, are disproportionately represented in the prison population. Indeed, while less than 6% of Californians are Black, 23% of the population incarcerated in these two facilities are Black. 36% of the women’s prison population is noted as Latina or Hispanic.

As a result, we are also confronting issues that lie at the intersection of race and gender.

In our country, those who work in jails and prisons are constitutionally bound to protect the people held in their custody.  It is a gross breach of trust for officials to commit sexual abuse, and no incarcerated person should have to endure it. Every person in prison retains basic Constitutional rights. Sexual abuse by correctional staff violates these rights. Allowing such violence to drag on is cruel, inhumane and unconstitutional. California must ensure that the people it incarcerates are reasonably protected from sexual abuse. This investigation will determine whether California is meeting its constitutional obligation to these people in its custody.

Today’s investigation is part of a comprehensive effort to address the unconstitutional and inhumane conditions that we see in too many jails and prisons around the country.

In Tennessee, on Aug. 20, the Justice Department opened an investigation into Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, examining whether the State adequately protects incarcerated people from physical and sexual violence.

In Alabama we are engaged in ongoing litigation of conditions inside men’s prisons across the state, including the prevalence of violence, sexual abuse, and staff use of excessive force. 

In Mississippi, we issued findings reports on April 2022 and February 2024, concerning conditions in four Mississippi prisons. These reports outline how the state fails to protect the constitutional rights of incarcerated people, including by failing to protect them from physical violence and the harms caused by prolonged placement in restrictive housing.

In Georgia, we have ongoing investigations into Fulton County Jail, in Atlanta, and the Georgia Department of Corrections, assessing possible unconstitutional conditions, including physical violence.

A team of career attorneys and staff from the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern and Central Districts of California will conduct the investigation. It will be independent, thorough and fair. If it reveals reasonable cause to believe there is a systemic violation of constitutional rights, we will provide written notice to California, along with the supporting facts and minimum remedial measures necessary to address those violations. We will seek to work cooperatively with the State and Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to identify solutions to any problems we uncover. If we identify no constitutional violation, we will close the investigation.

The Civil Rights Division is committed to protecting the rights of people incarcerated in America’s prisons and jails. The goal of our work is to identify the root causes of constitutional violations and help to develop sustainable remedies.

I now turn to U.S. Attorney Talbert and U.S. Attorney Estrada.