DUBLIN, CA – One-hundred and three staff sexual abuse and harassment survivors at Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Dublin will share a record $115 million settlement with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, it was announced Tuesday.
With the 103 survivors FCI Dublin’s abuse coming forward, the BOP and FCI have entered into this settlement to resolve class action litigation involving dozens of lawsuits against the Dublin facility, U.S. government and Dublin FCI officials, explained the Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition.
The Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition reports this is the largest “aggregate settlement in BOP history,” along with the closure of the FCI at Dublin, indicating a potential shift in accountability for prisons.
Despite the latest announcement of the Dublin facility’s closure, survivors insist that a culture of abuse perpetuated their harm and must be stopped going forward.
In a statement, Aimee Chavira—a formerly incarcerated survivor at the FCI Dublin—stated, “We were sentenced to prison, we were not sentenced to be assaulted and abused.”
Chavira added the settlement “will not repair the harm that BOP did to us, or free survivors who continue to suffer in prison, or bring back survivors who were deported and separated from their families,” instead insists the “government… take real action to makes sure that no one else suffers like we did at FCI Dublin.”
The Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition and the California Coalition for Women Prisoners said they are paving the way for systemic change with a class action lawsuit of their own to demand policy changes for prisons and ensure such widespread abuses never happen again.
“The DOJ [Department of Justice] and the Biden administration know that sexual abuse and retaliation are rampant in federal prisons, but they have failed to enact the structural changes necessary to prevent future abuse,” said Emily Shapiro, an advocate with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners and member of the Dublin Prison Solidarity Coalition.
“(T)hey seem to think that they can temporarily close one prison, write checks, and hope that everyone moves on, but we will not stop demanding justice for survivors of BOP abuse,” added Shapiro.
The New York Times reported earlier this week the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced the permanent closure of FCI Dublin. The closure comes as part of a broader consolidation effort affecting multiple federal facilities nationwide.
The decision to shut down FCI Dublin follows years of scrutiny and court-ordered oversight due to rampant abuse, wrote the New York Times. The facility, located 30 miles east of San Francisco, previously housed around 600 inmates. Its reputation was marred by the prosecution of former officials, including the prison’s warden and chaplain, for sexual misconduct.
A memo obtained by the New York Times, revealed FCI Dublin’s closure will coincide with the disbanding of six small, minimum-security prison camps in Minnesota, West Virginia, Florida, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Colorado.
The New York Times said the closures will eliminate approximately 400 federal positions. BOP officials noted that affected employees would have opportunities to relocate to other facilities with staffing shortages, though relocations may disrupt workers’ lives.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who oversaw reform efforts at FCI Dublin, previously described the prison as “a dysfunctional mess,” according to the Times, adding earlier this year, Judge Rogers criticized the BOP for its “sluggish” progress in implementing critical court recommendations, leading to the appointment of a special master to oversee reforms – the first such intervention in a federal prison’s history.
The facility’s scandal brought attention to broader issues within the federal prison system, including severe staffing shortages that forced case managers, teachers, and other staff to fill corrections officer roles despite minimal security training, as reported by the New York Times, noting chronic understaffing exacerbated safety risks for both employees and incarcerated individuals.
According to the BOP’s memo, as reported by the Times, the closures are driven by significant repair and maintenance backlogs, combined with Congress’s recent cuts to the BOP’s infrastructure budget. The New York Times writes that financial constraints have left many facilities with unsanitary conditions and unaddressed structural problems.
The announcement has drawn criticism from union leaders, the NY Times noted.
Everett Kelley, President of the union representing BOP employees, expressed concern about the closures’ impact on workers, telling the Times, “This announcement jeopardizes the continued employment of 400 federal employees just weeks before the holidays.”
Despite these challenges, the BOP defended its decision, arguing the closures will “positively impact staffing levels” and “help alleviate the exhaustion our employees feel” due to mandatory overtime, the New York Times reported.
Advocacy groups, however, stress the importance of ensuring the humane relocation of inmates and addressing systemic issues that contributed to FCI Dublin’s closure, the New York Times reported.
“This closure is a wake-up call for the federal prison system to prioritize safety, accountability, and inmate rights,” said a spokesperson for a criminal justice reform organization, wrote the New York Times.
The closure of FCI Dublin underscores a broader need for reform in the federal prison system, which houses over 160,000 individuals across 122 facilities, the NY Times added.
