DUBLIN, CA – In a new report made public Friday by federal district court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, an FCI Dublin Special Master and Prison Conditions expert found, “It is unconscionable that any correctional agency could allow incarcerated individuals to be subject to the conditions that existed at FCI Dublin” for so long without correction.
And, Judge Rogers emphasized some of these issues “are likely an indication of system wide issues within the BOP.”
Wendy Still, the first ever Special Master appointed to oversee a federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facility, was appointed on April 5, 2024 after plaintiffs’ initial filings in a lawsuit demonstrated risky and harmful conditions at FCI Dublin.
According to the CCIJ, 10 days later, the facility abruptly announced it was closing.
Still and her team’s findings were consistent with what people inside Dublin had been reporting for years, according to a California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ) press release, including systematic failures that continue at all levels of the BOP administration, inadequate medical care, and dysfunctional and failing processes within the prison.
Some of the systematic failures included in the report were “the sexual misconduct of FCI Dublin staff” with “mismanagement and lack of appropriate attention from the Region and Central Office,” as well as a complete lack of evidence that “significant resources have been devoted to the problem” despite claims by the BOP Director.
In terms of medical care, while an estimated “40-45 percent of the population had chronic health conditions,” the facility’s list of patients with chronic care conditions only included three names, and “patients at FCI Dublin were not provided timely access to care (resulting) in delays in diagnosis and treatment, preventable pain and suffering, and demonstrable harm to patients,” as stated in the report presented by the CCIJ.
Oren Nimni, from Rights Behind Bars and lead counsel on the class-action lawsuit, said that the report “is strong evidence that the scandal at FCI Dublin has only scratched the surface of problems that run deep within BOP.”
Nimni added, “BOP has maintained, in the face of overwhelming evidence, that everything at FCI Dublin was running smoothly and that there are no problems in their other facilities. This has never matched the experience of those in BOP custody and certainly does not match the facts unearthed by the Special Master during her short tenure.”
“Everyone should be disturbed that our government is severely harming people in their care and custody while representing to the world that all is well. Biden’s BOP must be held accountable and serious change is absolutely necessary,” argued Emily Shapiro from the California Coalition for Women Prisoners.
The CCIJ press release explained the Special Master appointment was granted in California Coalition for Women Prisoners et. al. v. United States Bureau of Prisons et. al., which included all people who were incarcerated at FCI Dublin prior to its closure.
The plaintiffs in the case are represented by Rights Behind Bars (RBB), Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP (RBGG), the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ), and Arnold and Porter, as listed in the CCIJ’s press release.
While the BOP continues to try to dismiss the case and end court monitoring, Still continues to work as a Court-Appointed Monitor, and the case is scheduled to go to trial in June, 2025, said CCIJ.
