Powerless in Prison: The fallout of FCI Dublin
In April, the Bureau of Prisons abruptly shut down the troubled FCI Dublin. KTVU interviews dozens of women and explains what led up to the closure, questioning whether this was retaliation for outside oversight over the prison, which has been riddled with sex abuse for decades.
OAKLAND, Calif. - A federal judge on Friday slammed lawyers for the Bureau of Prisons for trying to dismiss a lawsuit over sexual abuse and retaliation at the now-shuttered FCI Dublin, while she also grilled the deputy director of the federal prison system, who flew in from Washington, D.C., to Oakland for the hearing.
U.S. District Court Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers made it clear she thought it was ridiculous that the BOP is trying to get out of a lawsuit by claiming all the problems at FCI Dublin are now "moot" because the agency closed the prison in April.
A trial is set for June 2025.
"You're asking to dismiss this case and are saying that everything is hunky dory, and you can't even resolve" a myriad of issues that include giving the women their property back or proper medical treatment, the judge said. "The BOP caused these problems themselves. It's strains credulity that this motion was filed, given everything. Clearly, majorly issues still need to be resolved."
Some of those issues include 126 medical cases, 63 people with substance abuse needs, 39 mental health issues and 137 property claims that are still not resolved – all stemming from the closure of the prison, where 605 women were transferred to prisons across the country.
Gonzalez Rogers mostly directed her ire at two attorneys representing the BOP, Robert France and Madison Mattioli.
Both argued that BOP staff can't process all these claims because they are severely understaffed at all their prisons, which the judge reminded them was completely of their own doing.
But the judge also asked pointed questions to the second-in-command at the BOP, Deputy Director William Lathrop, who works directly under Director Colette Peters.
Gonzalez Rogers ordered that he appear before her, or she would throw out the BOP's motion to dismiss entirely.
Bureau of Prisons Deputy Director walks in front of the Oakland federal courthouse after testifying about FCI Dublin. Aug. 2, 2024
Gonzalez Rogers asked him exactly when the BOP decided to close FCI Dublin – which occurred 10 days after she ordered a special master to overee reforms there, an unprecedented move in federal prison history.
Lathrop told her that there had been talk of closing FCI Dublin "for years" but a high-level executive decision was formally made in early March of this year.
The judge questioned why they would close FCI Dublin and simply spread the problems elsewhere.
"So you sent [the incarcerated women] to understaffed facilities and didn't increase staffing?" the judge asked.
"Correct," Lathrop answered.
Even though the BOP had argued in court papers that everything was fine at FCI Dublin once eight correctional officers had been charged with sex crimes, and many more employees were put on leave for similar allegations, Lathrop conceded that things were simply too broken there to fix.
He told the judge that the BOP had spent plenty of time and money trying to correct the sexualized culture at FCI Dublin, by hiring outside consultants, retraining staff, installing high-tech cameras and removing wardens and executives – but all to no avail.
"What we had done up to that point was not working," he said.
Lathrop did say that FCI Dublin will never open as a women's prison again, but he didn't rule out reopening it as a male facility, though it will cost "tens of millions" to modernize aging infrastructure.
The judge also took issue with a new argument the BOP lawyers raised at the three-hour court hearing.
Mattioli told the judge that another reason FCI Dublin closed because "community providers" did not want to practice medicine at the prison because these unnamed practitioners were "unwilling" to work there because they were worried the women would falsely accuse them of sexual assault.
These medical providers "think they'll lose their medical license" because they will be charged with sex crimes by the FCI Dublin women, Mattioli told the judge.
Mattioli did not name any of the doctors or specify who didn't want to work there.
This revelation surprised the judge.
"This is all news to me," Gonzalez Rogers said. "It's nowhere in the record and I have not heard any evidence of that."
Lisa Fernandez is a reporter for KTVU. Email Lisa at lisa.fernandez@fox.com or call her at 510-874-0139. Or follow her on Twitter @ljfernandez
