US to pay nearly $116M to settle lawsuits over rampant sexual abuse at California women’s prison
NEW YORK– The U.S. government will pay nearly $116 million to resolve lawsuits filed by more than a hundred women who say they were abused or assaulted in a now-closed federal prison in California that was known as the “rape club” because of its rampant prisoner staff. sexual misconduct.
Under settlements approved Tuesday, the Justice Department will pay an average of about $1.1 million to each of the 103 women who have filed individual lawsuits against the Bureau of Prisons over their treatment at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California.
The settlement follows a separate class action last week in which the Bureau of Prisons agreed to open some of its facilities to a court-appointed monitor and publicly acknowledge widespread abuse and retaliation at FCI Dublin.
“We were sentenced to prison, we were not sentenced to assault and battery,” said prosecutor and former Dublin prisoner Aimee Chavira.
“I hope this settlement will help survivors like me as they begin to heal – but money will not repair the damage BOP has done to us, or free survivors who are still suffering in prison, or bring back survivors who have been deported and separated from their families,” Chavira said.
The Bureau of Prisons acknowledged the settlements in a statement Tuesday.
The agency said it “strongly condemns all forms of sexual abuse and takes seriously its obligation to protect those in our custody and maintain the safety of our employees and the community.”
Tuesday’s settlements cover an initial wave of lawsuits seeking monetary compensation from the Bureau of Prisons a former administrator and other FCI Dublin employees went to prison for sexually abusing prisoners. The subsequent lawsuits have yet to be resolved.
The Bureau of Prisons and plaintiffs’ attorneys said a neutral third-party process was used to determine the individual settlement amounts.
Last week, in settling the class action lawsuit, the Bureau of Prisons and plaintiffs’ attorneys filed a proposed consent decree calling for a variety of reforms, including a monitor to oversee the treatment of nearly 500 ex-Dublin inmates which are now housed in more than a dozen federal lockups across the US
Also under that agreement, agency director Colette Peters will “issue a formal, public acknowledgment to the victims of staff sexual abuse at FCI Dublin” as part of the settlement.
The Bureau of Prisons temporarily closed FCI Dublin in April and announced last week that the low-security prison would be closed permanently.
The Bureau of Prisons said in a statement that it agreed to “the substantive terms of a proposed settlement to resolve all preliminary claims” in the class action lawsuit on Nov. 21 and that while that settlement was filed in district court on Friday, “ the decision to permanently close (FCI Dublin) is not a consequence of the agreement.”
Some of the women who alleged abuse in Dublin say they were victims of similar misconduct at other institutions, and the AP found multiple arrests and convictions of Bureau of Prisons employees for sexually abusing inmates in other federal lockups .
A AP research discovered a culture of abuse and cover-up that had persisted for years in prison. That reporting led to increased congressional oversight and pledges from the Bureau of Prisons that it would fix the problems and change the culture at the prison — promises that came alongside Thursday’s closure announcement.
Since 2021, at least eight FCI Dublin employees have been accused of sexually abusing prisoners.
Five have pleaded guilty. Two were convicted at trial, including former director Ray Garcia. There is another case pending.
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