The Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition’s mission is to demand justice for survivors of sexual abuse at California’s Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin (FCI Dublin).
CCWP was a founding member of The Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition which formed in early 2022 to support survivors of the horrendous sexual abuse that was taking place there.
The Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition includes: California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP), Centro Legal de la Raza, Rights Behind Bars (RBB), ACLU Northern California, Dolores Street Community Services, California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice and Survivors of FCI Dublin Abuse.
FCI Dublin is a federal women’s prison located 30 miles south of Oakland in Dublin, California. About 800 people (women, trans and nonbinary people) are incarcerated there for a wide variety of legal offenses.
In 1995, three women incarcerated at FCI Dublin were sexually assaulted after guards let incarcerated men into their cells to rape them. These women filed a civil rights lawsuit against the prison, and won a large settlement in 1998.
Over the past several years, people incarcerated at FCI Dublin started speaking out about ongoing sexual, physical, and psychological abuse by prison staff.
FCI Dublin became the center of a massive criminal investigation, Congressional inquiries, and national press. Five Dublin officials were charged with sexually abusing people in their custody, including the Warden and the Chaplain.
Advocates have now spoken with over 100 people who were abused by at least 20 different FCI Dublin employees in the last several years.
Through dozens of conversations with advocates, survivors identified key demands:
- an end to staff abuse and retaliation
- confidential, community-based reporting
- access to outside advocates + community-based mental healthcare
- release + reparations for survivors
- safeguards against ICE detention + deportation
Since its founding the coalition has organized to uplift survivors’ demands and push government officials and agencies to enact systemic change. The coalition uses a wide variety of methods to accomplish these goals:
- visits, calls and correspondence with people at FCI Dublin
- legal services for survivors
- restorative justice process for released survivors
- advocacy to state and federal elected officials
- testimony to government agencies and committees
- civil litigation
- public campaign to pressure ICE to safeguard noncitizen survivors from detention and deportation
- community education + mobilization
CCWP’s Writing Warriors program coordinates correspondence with people incarcerated at FCI Dublin. If you are in the Bay Area and are interested in Writing Warriors please contact:
The Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition held a wonderful gathering of Dublin Survivors and community on August 13th hosted by Robin Lucas. Robin and her family were amazing hosts – sharing their home, their backyard, fabulous food and loving warmth! We hope to have more such community gatherings in the future as we continue to fight together for freedom and justice!
Statements, Articles, and Videos
Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition Statement April 2024
Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition Calls for Releases Not Transfers – Condemns BOP Effort to Evade Accountability and Systemic Change!
Federal Judge Orders Appointment of Special Master to Oversee FCI Dublin, Prison where Sexual Assault Against Incarcerated People Runs Rampant.
[Content warning: this press release mentions SA, r*pe]
On Jan. 5, 2024 currently incarcerated women testified in federal court before US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers that they have difficulty accessing medical and mental health care and face retaliation if they report staff misconduct.
Read More From KQED Here
Updated on: January 5, 2024 / CBS/Bay City News Service
Following three days of testimony from incarcerated survivors of sexual abuse at FCI Dublin, the legal teams representing the victims held a press conference Friday outside of U.S. District Court in Oakland.
Read more from CBS News
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.
Read more here.
CCWP is a plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) See the August 16, 2023 Press Release.
She reported being abused by US prison guards. Now she faces deportation.
Read full article here from the Guardian.
Over the course of eight months, KTVU has spoken with more than three dozen women who say they have been sexually assaulted or witnessed such abuse at FCI Dublin. Many who spoke up were retaliated against.
Watch entire investigative report here.
Justice Dept. Struggles to Carry Out Early Release Program for Abused Inmates
Prison officials and judges have been reluctant to support “compassionate releases” unless an inmate is ill, dying or incapacitated by age.
Read full article here from The New York Times.
