Judge, officials spar over prison closure
A federal judge and U.S. prison officials are at odds over the government’s plan to close the scandal-plagued women’s prison in Dublin and transfer its 605 inmates across the country — many of whom, their lawyers say, are eligible for home confinement or release.
Ten days after U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers appointed an overseer, known as a special master, to monitor legal compliance by officials at the Federal Correctional Institution — the first such appointment in U.S. prison history — the Bureau of Prisons announced Monday that it would shut down the prison and relocate its prisoners by the end of the week.
Hours later, Gonzalez Rogers ordered the bureau not to transfer any inmates until it had reviewed their eligibility for release — because they had completed their sentences, were safe enough to serve the rest of their terms in home confinement or were eligible for “compassionate release” due to age, illness or other factors. Lawyers for the inmates say those who have been raped or harassed by prison staff should be granted compassionate release rather than kept in prison.
In response, the Bureau of Prisons told the judge her orders were contrary to “public safety and welfare” and that FCI Dublin must be closed immediately.
But the courts have legal authority over the issue, and Gonzalez Rogers has presided over a civil suit by Dublin inmates and years of criminal proceedings against guards and a former warden convicted of sexually abusing prisoners. She held a closed-door hearing in her Oakland court Wednesday on when and how the prison should be closed and what should happen to its occupants.
As many as one-third of the 605 inmates may be eligible for release or home confinement, Kara Janssen, a lawyer for the prisoners, said afterward. She said she could not disclose anything that was stated at the hearing, but confirmed that the shutdown was on hold while the inmates’ eligibility is reviewed.
“We do not oppose closure. … Maybe it should have been done a long time ago,” Janssen said. “But the way it’s being done makes it seem like the primary goal was to get out from oversight. … The Bureau of Prisons created this crisis.”
Under the court’s orders, she said, all decisions on inmate transfers will be reviewed by the special master, Wendy Still, and then submitted to the judge for final approval. Still is a former chief probation officer for both Alameda and San Francisco counties and has spent more than 30 years as a government consultant on prison issues in California.
“Lots of people at Dublin aren’t a threat to their community and should be sent home to finish their sentence on home confinement,” said Emily Shapiro of California Coalition for Women Prisoners, a plaintiff in the lawsuit. She said one inmate she has visited is 81, uses a walker, has been injured by falls in an upper-story cell and would pose no danger to anyone if released.
The Bureau of Prisons has not responded to inquiries from the Chronicle about how many inmates might be eligible or suitable for release rather than a transfer to other federal prisons. Dublin is classified as a low-security prison, based on its inmates’ criminal records. Three other federal prisons in California, none of them low-security, have some female inmates.
Some inmates designated for transfer from Dublin were put on a bus Monday morning — Janssen said they were handed duffel bags to carry whatever they could, and told to discard the rest of their possessions — but the bus turned around and headed back to the prison after Gonzalez Rogers issued her order for further review of their eligibility for release.
The Bureau of Prisons said in a court filing that many staff members had already stopped reporting to work, and about 90% went home after Monday’s announcement of the planned closure.
The government “has been considering the closure of FCI Dublin for many years,” the bureau said in its court filing late Tuesday. “The closure is now compelled due to FCI Dublin’s perpetual short-staffing, aging infrastructure, and ongoing allegations of staff misconduct.”
Those allegations have resulted in criminal convictions of Ray Garcia, the prison’s warden from November 2020 to July 2021, and five staff members, including prison chaplain James Highhouse, for sexually abusing inmates. Two more former guards are facing charges.
The Bureau of Prisons also said Still, the special master, has been “significantly delaying the transfer process” by requiring a doctor to examine every inmate scheduled for transfer in order to determine whether the inmate should instead be sent to a health care facility or released.
Provision of medical care, and transfer of inmates, are “within the exclusive authority of BOP,” Justice Department lawyers representing the bureau told Gonzalez Rogers. “The perverse effect of the Court’s transfer order … is a de facto requirement that BOP keep FCI Dublin open,” which is “beyond the Court’s authority,” the attorneys wrote.
After Wednesday’s hearing, Gonzalez Rogers issued a brief order saying she had provided the Bureau of Prisons with “guidance relative to the closure of the facility and transfer of inmates,” including certain “instructions” that have been “sealed for security reasons.”