A federal judge in Oakland approved a consent decree on February 27, 2025, in a class action brought on behalf of women formerly held at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California. The decree gives class members two years of court-supervised protections after their transfer out of the now-closed prison. The Federal Bureau of Prisons issued a public statement acknowledging women who were verified victims of sexual abuse there.
What the court said
The case is California Coalition for Women Prisoners v. United States of America Federal Bureau of Prisons, No. 4:23-cv-04155-YGR, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. In her order granting final approval, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers wrote that the approximately 650 women housed at FCI Dublin and its satellite camp “endured years of systemic sexual assault and whistleblower retaliation as perpetrated by all levels of facility staff.”
The order recounts that the plaintiffs sued in August 2023. The court held evidentiary hearings in January 2024 and made an unannounced, nine-hour inspection of the facility the next month. It then found the defendants deliberately indifferent and ordered relief that included an outside monitor. Days after the monitor began her work, the Bureau of Prisons announced it would stop housing women at Dublin, and the women were transferred to other facilities around the country.
What the consent decree requires
The court described relief in eight areas for a two-year term from the date of approval. Among other things, the decree covers:
- Medical and mental health care for class members, including access to rape crisis services
- Confidential ways to report staff sexual abuse, and routing of retaliation complaints to outside investigators
- Limits on time spent in administrative detention
- Placement, where practicable, within 500 driving miles of a class member’s home
- Review of disciplinary reports issued at Dublin between January 1, 2020, and May 1, 2024, with flawed reports to be expunged
- Handling of property lost in the transfers
- A formal, public acknowledgement by the Bureau of Prisons Director to victims of staff sexual abuse at Dublin
The court appointed Wendy Still as monitor. Under the decree, the Bureau may not ask the court to end it for substantial compliance until at least 18 months after it takes effect. The decree states that the government does not admit liability by entering it, and that claims for money damages are outside its scope. Individual damages cases are separate.
The Bureau of Prisons statement
In a statement dated February 26, 2025, then-Acting Director William W. Lothrop said Bureau leadership had concluded that “only ceasing the operation of FCI Dublin as a women’s prison would effectuate the needed change.”
On behalf of the FBOP, I want to acknowledge those women who were verified victims of sexual abuse while they were designated at FCI Dublin.
The statement also credited federal investigators and prosecutors for “seven criminal prosecutions and convictions,” with an eighth trial then scheduled, and reaffirmed the agency’s zero-tolerance policy for employee sexual misconduct and retaliation.
What the decree does not tell us
A consent decree is an agreement approved by a court. This one sets rules for the future; it is not an award of money, and it is not a finding about any single person’s claim. No decree or settlement is a measure of what another survivor’s case may be worth. Every case depends on its own facts and the law that applies.
The Dublin case does show how federal courts can respond when evidence of abuse in a prison is strong. Our page on correctional facility sexual abuse explains the laws, oversight rules and claim procedures that can apply in federal and state facilities.
What this means for survivors
If you were sexually abused in a federal prison, claims can involve special steps, such as a written administrative claim to the agency before any lawsuit. Deadlines vary depending on the type of claim and the facility. A lawyer can review your situation. More general information is on our sexual assault and abuse page.
This article is general information about how these cases work. It is not legal advice, it does not create an attorney-client relationship, and no two claims are alike. If something here sounds like your situation, the useful next step is a conversation about the facts.
