DUBLIN, CA – The Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition (DPSC) charged last week the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) plans to abruptly close Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin, is designed to evade the jurisdiction of Special Master Wendy Still.
Judge Gonzalez Rogers appointed the Special Master April 5 “to oversee the facility in light of rampant staff abuse, retaliation, and medical neglect.”
“BOP officials began to load incarcerated people onto buses early in the morning (April 15) before the Judge and Special Master were even aware of their plans, a move that created chaos within the facility, traumatizing incarcerated people who have already been subjected to immense harm by the BOP,” said DPSC.
“As soon as she learned about what was happening, the judge issued an order that people at Dublin needed to be evaluated for possible release and medically cleared before they could be transferred,” added DPSC.
According to the coalition, people incarcerated at Dublin should be released from BOP custody as soon as possible and…no person be transferred away from Dublin until everyone is evaluated for potential release,” to give “justice and accountability to those who have been incarcerated at Dublin and have endured terrible injustices for years.”
“We also echo the National Council’s call for President Biden to grant clemency to anyone who was sexually abused at FCI Dublin,” the DPSC announced.
According to the DPSC, they have worked for more than two years to advocate with and for people incarcerated at Dublin, and brought a “class action lawsuit demanding systemic change.
“At the very point when outside oversight was being brought in, BOP decided to shut Dublin down, a move that should not be able to hide from community accountability,” the DPSC asserted.
The DPSC added, “The only other BOP women’s facility on the West Coast is nearly 400 miles away, and does not have capacity for everyone at risk of being transferred. People forcibly transferred could be sent thousands of miles away from their loved ones and their children.
“In addition, the entire BOP system is plagued by the same issues present at FCI Dublin, including staff sexual abuse, widespread retaliation, and abhorrent medical care. BOP wants to transfer people at FCI Dublin to far-off facilities which have their own records of abuse but do not have the type of consistent community support that has been built at Dublin.”
“We will not let the BOP succeed with its effort to disappear the people detained at Dublin,” the DPSC vowed. 
