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Event Details

This year, the California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP) celebrates 30 years of organizing across the walls of California’s women’s prisons. Since 1995, CCWP has played a unique role in developing an abolitionist feminist vision that is centered around the voices and power of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. We have continuously visited women’s prisons and jails in California, fought for and won freedom campaigns, and welcomed those returning home into our community and leadership roles within the organization.

The challenges we are up against now in 2025 are unprecedented. The racist law and order, anti-immigrant furor and the escalating attacks on women and TGI people directly threaten our work and our community. Your help is critical to fortify our commitment to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people in women’s prisons! Join us to honor three decades of collective work & build for the future.

*Help us raise $300K, $10K for every year of CCWP’s legacy, by purchasing the ticket that you can afford. If these options are not accessible to you please reach out to us at: courtney@womenprisoners.org.

*There is no formal dress code for this event. We invite you to dress up and express yourself if you enjoy that!

*Please note that the fair market value of your ticket purchase is $15. Any amount paid over this amount is considered a charitable contribution.

For more information check ou this link. 

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CLOSURE IS POSSIBLE! FREEDOM IS NECESSARY! 

MERCHANDISE

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For a full array of merchandise go here!

CLOSURE IS POSSIBLE!  FREEDOM IS NECESSARY!

Thank you Morgan Vicki Todd and MOVITO Design for creating a logo that breathes life into our campaign. Two flowers represent the two remaining state women’s prisons in California. Almost 4,000 women and TGI people are incarcerated there. We can bring them home. 

CCWP In the News, Uncategorized

Women sue prison gynecologist over ‘horrific, sadistic’ exams, sexual abuse in California

By Julia Marnin

February 5, 2025

If women needed gynecological care at an all-female prison in southern California, their only option was to see the sole gynecologist on staff — a doctor now accused of sexually and physically abusing scores of patients.

Dr. Scott Lee performed abusive, invasive and unnecessary exams on pregnant women and others incarcerated at the California Institution for Women in Chino, a new federal class-action lawsuit says.

Lee’s patients endured harmful pelvic examinations, pap smears, sexualized digital penetration, physical restraint and retaliation, along with being denied medical care at the facility, where he was the only gynecologist from 2016 to 2023, according to a complaint filed Feb. 2. The lawsuit was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.

To read the full article in the Sacramento Bee, click here.

Organizing Updates, Uncategorized

I helped care for FCI Dublin victims. Trump’s plan to reopen the prison for ICE is horrifying

By Douglas Yoshida

June 12, 2025

As the child of Japanese Americans who were detained for years by the U.S. government, I have witnessed the violent suppression of protests in Los Angeles against Immigration and Customs Enforcement with shock and anger. ICE’s brutal tactics, separation of families and demonizing rhetoric are reflective of a system that is fundamentally flawed and inhumane. That’s why people in California have been organizing for decades to get ICE out of our communities — and are currently filling the streets in protest.

Here in the Bay Area, there’s one disturbing Trump administration plan in particular worth fighting: making sure the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin — a former Bureau of Prisons facility — does not reopen as an ICE detention center.

In April of 2024, FCI Dublin closed amidst rampant abuse. From 2019 to 2021, at least eight employees at the prison, including the former warden and chaplain, were charged with sexual misconduct. Seven of the employees were found guilty and an eighth will go to trial this fall. In many instances, noncitizens incarcerated at the prison were specifically targeted for abuse by staff, who threatened to turn them over to ICE or made false promises that they could help them stay in the United States in exchange for sexual acts.

Read the full article from the SF Chronicle here.

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Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition Update 1/24

From January 3, 2024 to January 9, 2024, Judge Gonzalez-Rogers held a 5-day evidentiary hearing in California Coalition for Women Prisons v. Federal Bureau of Prisons. The plaintiffs in this case are seeking systemic policy changes and oversight to address the rampant sexual abuse and retaliation at FCI Dublin. We expect Judge Gonzalez-Rogers to issue a decision on the motion for preliminary injunction in the coming months.

The Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition echoes the calls for immediate changes to:

  • end retaliation against people who report staff misconduct, including punitive placement in solitary confinement, transfers to other facilities, and cell and strip searches;
  • immediately remove staff who have substantiated claims of abuse against them;
  • ensure access to high-quality, community-based medical and mental healthcare for all people at FCI Dublin;
  • ensure access to counsel, including confidential legal calls and visits;
    support survivors’ requests for release and visas for noncitizen victims of crime; and
  • allow an audit, regular inspections and reports, and ongoing monitoring by a third-party organization.

Reflection from the legal team: Attorney Amaris Montes

“The BOP put on a number of witnesses, who all spoke around the same theme–insisting everything is fine now at FCI Dublin after some of the officers have been removed or criminally prosecuted, They blanketly denied any retaliation against those who spoke out about abuse. In response, 13 survivors inside Dublin gave  powerful testimony about the ongoing sexual abuse, harassment, and retaliation they continue to face, continuously emphasizing that this issue is systemic and is not solved be removal of some of the officers. Their testimony moved many in the courtroom to tears, and spoke truth to power despite the risk they all faced by testifying.”

Reflection from Annie: a member of the Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition

“I followed the evidentiary hearing as a sexual abuse/retaliation survivor from FCI Dublin. I am humbled by the courage of the incarcerated women who bravely came forward into Court to testify. My heart ached knowing that they would be “punished” when they return into incarceration. The brilliant attorneys fighting so hard for change, all working with non-profits and/or pro-bono, are our heroes—they are the true David v. Goliath story. I was inside FCI Dublin when the BOP Task Force left in early 2022–they made promises of change and left us with a direct email to them for sending our concerns. We were optimistic until shortly after they left, BOP closed ranks and cut off all our communication with the Task Force members. There have been promises by BOP of change since the sexual assaults in the mid 1990’s, and still crimes and abuse continue within the Dublin walls. I have faith that Judge Gonzales Rogers will see through the mere promises over 30 years, and ensure there is finally accountable and measurable change to finally protect these women!”

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Thank you to everyone who came out to support the survivors who testified at this hearing. We heard from many folks that it made a difference to know supporters were in the courtroom. We will be in touch about future actions to support survivors and keep the pressure on FCI Dublin.