Via Wikimedia Commons
By Kayla Garcia-Pebdani
ALAMEDA, CA—The Bureau of Prisons, as expected, has announced the shutdown of Federal Correctional Institution Dublin in Alameda County after decades of extensive reporting on sexual abuse against incarcerated women by prison guards, writes the San Francisco Chronicle.
The article notes claims by the Bureau of Prisons emphasizes a commitment to a “safe and orderly transfer of adults in custody to different prisons.”
However, the sudden closure and transfer of FCI Dublin resulted in mass transport, crowded buses, and aggressive drivers, the article adds.
Attorney Shanna Rifkin, deputy general counsel at FAMM, where she advocates for reform of federal sentencing and corrections law and policy, has been working alongside partner organizations in Northern California to identify sexual abuse survivors in Dublin and bring charges to federal court.
According to the Chron article, Rifkin claims the ultimate goal is to “free survivors of abuse from a prison system that sheltered their abusers at the expense of their well-being.”
Defined by the U.S. Sentencing Commission to include sexual abuse by Bureau of Prison Employees, inmates can be given compassionate release, which allows a federal judge to reduce a sentence in “extraordinary and compelling” circumstances—a compassionate release can apply in circumstances such as rape, medical negligence, and so forth, Rifkin states.
For advocates like FAMM, their access to people and information in federal custody is incredibly limited for compassionate release applications, the Rifkin Chronicle story notes, arguing the Bureau of Prisons has unfettered access to known sexual abuse survivors within federal prisons and has the legal authority to identify qualifying candidates for compassionate release.
According to Rifkin, across the country, 17 Dublin survivors have been granted compassionate release—yet the number of survivors who could qualify for said release remains unknown.
Referenced in the article, the U.S. Senate report on Sexual Abuse of Female Inmates in Federal Prisons found that two-thirds of women prisons had bureau employees responsible for sexual abuse against inmates.
The disorganized transfer of Dublin inmates and sexual abuse survivors was inhumane and horrific at the very least, Rifkin notes, including one bus driver found playing “Wheels on the Bus” at full volume, and who continued to increase the volume as passengers complained about no access to restrooms, and were forced to sit in soiled clothing in their over-12-hour journey.
One individual in custody, said Rifkin, charged the Bureau of Prisons is “treating us like pieces of dirt on the ground.”
In light of the horrific mishandling of sexual abuse complaints, and then the transferring of survivors and inmates, the Justice Department and Bureau of Prison must utilize their legal authority and identify qualifying candidates for compassionate release, Rifkin argued.
