The Women's Liberation Front or WoLF has filed a lawsuit against California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on Wednesday, accusing the law enforcement agency of placing female prisoners' lives in danger after it allowed the housing of biological males in women's prisons.
The feminist advocacy organization argued that the the state department of corrections of is violating the First, Eighth and 14th amendments by upholding the the Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act, a new legislation (S.B. 132) approved by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 26, 2020.
According to the National Review, the lawsuit named the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Corrections Secretary Kathleen Allison, and wardens Michael Pallares and Mona Houston as defendants and argued that the law "cannot be applied in any manner that avoids violating the federal and state constitutional rights" of the plaintiffs. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
The lawsuit names Krystal Gonzalez as a plaintiff who said she was sexually assaulted by a biological male inmate who was transferred to Central California Women's Facility under the law. The lawsuit said that when Gonzalez filed a complaint with the women's facility and requested to be transferred away from the biological men, the prison responded by calling her alleged attacker a "transgender woman with a penis."
"Krystal does not believe that women have penises and the psychological distress caused by her assault is exacerbated by the prison's refusal to acknowledge the sex of her perpetrator," the lawsuit read. Gonzalez is joined by several other plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including the nonprofit advocacy group Woman II Woman, prisoners Janine Chandler, Tomiekia Johnson, and Nadia Romero, and other unnamed individuals.
"California is home to the largest women's prison in the world, where being degraded and humiliated is now part of the daily routine," Amie Ichikawa, who founded Woman II Woman, told the Daily Signal. "Some incarcerated women sharing a cell with a man, along with other women, now make sleep schedules among the women so that a woman is on watch to try to prevent rape by the male cellmate."
According to a press release, WoLF alleged that the Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act or S.B. 132 violates incarcerated women's rights, specifically the First Amendment, the Eight amendment "right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment," and the 14th Amendment "right to equal protection under the law."
WoLF Executive Director Dr. Mahri Irvine argued that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has "unequivocally violated the basic human rights of incarcerated women by subjecting them to traumatizing, terrifying conditions" and committed to continue fighting for women's rights in prisons.
The lawsuit against the California corrections department is also supported by Keep Prisons Single Sex, the Family Policy Alliance, Concerned Women for America, the U.S. chapter of the Women's Human Rights Campaign, the Independent Women's Law Center, and the California Family Council.
