Prisons

Keep prisons single sex.

What Is Going on in Prisons in California?

Since 2021, California has been housing males in prisons with vulnerable women. The CA law (SB 132) provides no safeguarding for women — any male, regardless of crimes committed or intact genitalia, can transfer to women’s prisons. Currently, there are at least 44 males in CA women’s prisons with hundreds pending transfer. Most of these males have fully intact genitalia. Some are even in prison for violence against women and girls. There are documented cases of rape, pregnancy, and physical abuse perpetrated by males housed in women’s prisons. Yet women continue to be locked in cells with males.

Incarcerated women are terrified of speaking about these issues because they have watched the women who do speak endanger their parole, be sent to administrative segregation, and possibly lose everything they’ve worked decades for.

We will not stand by while our government houses criminal, violent, predatory males with the most vulnerable women in society.

Women Who Know the Prison System Speak Up

Women’s Liberation Front and People v. Tremaine Carroll

In People v. Tremaine Carroll, Tremaine Carroll, a male prisoner who identifies as a woman, faces three criminal charges, two felony counts of forcible rape (both within a 24-hour period), and one count of convincing a witness to not testify against him. Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF) Executive Director Sharon Byrne and several WoLF supporters attended the preliminary hearing for this case. In response to the evidence of his bodily fluids being found in a victim’s underwear, Carroll claims that he was the one who was raped. On July 9, 2024, the judge ruled that there was sufficient evidence for this case to go to trial.

Carroll has a long criminal history, starting from age 15. When he was 17 years old, he and several other men broke into an apartment, sexually assaulted one of the women who lived there, and stole jewelry and money from both women. Other crimes throughout his career include armed robbery, grand theft, and kidnapping. While in prison, he received 14 serious rules violation reports (RVRs) between 2005 and 2015 for offenses such as possession of a metal shank, getting into fights, refusing to obey orders, and possession of controlled substances.

Carroll began to identify as a woman in prison and is grateful to his doctor for telling him about SB 132, so that he wouldn’t have to share a prison with high profile prisoners such as pedophiles and former police officers.

WoLF will continue to monitor this case. People v. Tremaine Carroll provides more reasons why SB 132 must be overturned.

Women’s Liberation Front Sues: Chandler v. CDCR

WoLF filed a lawsuit on November 17, 2021 against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) on behalf of four incarcerated women in the California prison system. The lawsuit requested that SB 132 be overturned and declared unconstitutional. This bill allows male prisoners who identify as women to be incarcerated with women, even if these men have had no transgender medical procedures.

The CDCR itself provides ample evidence that SB 132 should be abolished. In February 2022, CDCR data showed that of the 287 trans-identifying male prisoners seeking transfer to women’s prisons, 33.08% were registered sex offenders. (This data was provided for Keep Prisons Single Sex USA.) Furthermore, the Federal Bureau of Prisons reported that 48.47% of male prisoners in the U.S. who identify as women are convicted sex offenders. The ACLU supports the transfer of such prisoners into women’s prisons.

Unfortunately, U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston dismissed WoLF’s lawsuit on May 14, 2024, stating that as a state agency, the CDCR is immune under the 11th Amendment to Federal lawsuits. On July 19, 2024, WoLF filed an amended complaint that provides detailed evidence of how SB 132 harms women prisoners. The complaint includes two new women prisoners who were victimized by male prisoners who identify as women and were allowed into the women’s prison as a result of SB 132. The complaint also includes evidence of how SB 132 violates the 1st, 8th, and 14th Amendments. Two nationwide law firms, Dhillon Law Group and Campbell Miller Payne, have joined WoLF in this endeavor. Dhillon Law Group specializes in constitutional and business law, including 1st Amendment litigation. Campbell Miller Payne represents detransitioners.

Resources and Further Reading