The US Department of Justice has opened an investigation into women's prisons in California and Maine over policies allowing transgender-identifying men to be housed with female inmates. Officials cite accusations of rape and sexual advances against women prisoners. The probe examines potential violations of female inmates' constitutional rights.
The Justice Department announced on Thursday an investigation into multiple facilities, including the Central California Women’s Facility in Madera County and the Maine Correctional Center in Windham. A third site, the California Institution for Women in San Bernardino County, also faces scrutiny. The focus is on state policies that permit men identifying as transgender to enter women's prisons, amid claims of assaults on female inmates. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated, “Keeping men out of women’s prisons is not only common sense – it’s a matter of safety and constitutional rights. The Trump Administration will not stand by if governors are facilitating the abuse of biological women under the guise of inclusion.” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon added, “Under my leadership, the Civil Rights Division will not allow women incarcerated in jails or prisons to be subject to unconstitutional risks of harm from male inmates.” Specific cases include Tremaine Carroll, a 53-year-old inmate at the Central California Women’s Facility, charged with rape after one cellmate became pregnant and two others accused him. District Attorney Sally Moreno noted in December 2024, “After his first cellmate became pregnant and was moved to Los Angeles, two other cellmates of his had complained that he had raped them, so we have filed rape charges against this inmate.” Court proceedings use female pronouns for Carroll. In Maine, Andrew Balcer, a 27-year-old serving 40 years for murdering his parents and listed as female at 6 feet 1 inch and 310 pounds, faces accusations of forcibly kissing women and offering to impregnate them, according to state records and the Sun Journal. California's Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act, enacted in September 2020 and sponsored by Senator Scott Wiener under Governor Gavin Newsom, has led to at least 45 such transfers. Last year, state Democrats rejected a measure to bar male sex offenders. First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli criticized the law, saying it has provided “none of these qualities to the female inmates... who have been forced to share space with biological men who are violent felons.” Maine Governor Janet Mills called the probe “politically motivated, predetermined investigation designed to target states that stand up to the Trump Administration.”
