Records of Sexual Abuse Unsealed at a Federal Prison
The prison officials who ran the all-female federal facility at FCI Dublin buried their secrets. For decades, prison staff, from the warden to the chaplain on down, sexually preyed on incarcerated women and scared them into silence. To keep them quiet, they threatened to stop them from seeing their family, deny them early release, or transfer them to cold, “little cells” that were like “dungeons.”
After years of work by journalists, advocates, and survivors, the truth finally began to come to light. Since 2021, nearly sixty lawsuits have been filed against FCI Dublin, including a class action brought in August 2023 by eight survivors. In April 2024, the federal Bureau of Prisons abruptly decided to close the prison.
It was at this time that the federal district court ordered numerous records sealed. Some related to abuse at FCI Dublin, while others pertained to the sudden decision to close the site. The court also held a series of closed hearings without prior notice, and in many instances, the docket did not reflect that they even occurred.
For many of the sealed documents, the court had issued a one-line order and nothing more.
On June 12, 2024, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California and Public Justice intervened. We filed a motion to unseal the records and restore public access to future hearings.
The First Amendment protects the right of public access to court records and judicial proceedings. This includes the right to know the full extent of the systemic sexual abuse that occurred in FCI Dublin, as well as what happened during the final chaotic weeks leading up to the facility’s closure and in the immediate aftermath.
The last point is especially important, because of reports that many of the 600 women who were transferred from FCI Dublin to other prisons now face new retaliation. Dozens have been kept inside without seeing sunlight for months.
Thankfully, in late July the court unsealed a majority of the records. Remarkably, the government admitted that many of the records should never have been sealed to begin with.
The records deepen what we already know: FCI Dublin was plagued by a toxic culture that permeated the facility and continued through its closure. If the Bureau of Prisons is to be held accountable, there must be full and complete transparency as the cases against it proceed.
