BOP questions settlement with FCI Dublin, citing finances, Trump administration, leadership changes
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. - Bureau of Prison lawyers are questioning whether they can enter a two-year legal settlement with women who sued FCI Dublin citing financial concerns, the Trump administration and the change of leadership at the top of the federal prison system.
BOP attorney Madison Mattiolii, wrote in a court filing this month, that she would at least like to push off the hearing for the settlement, formerly known as a consent decree, by a month to March 25.
She said that she does not have "sufficient information to ascertain" whether the BOP has enough money to implement the reforms of the consent decree and to pay Special Master Wendy Still for her work, as well as cover her costs for the next two years, which is how long the oversight would last if approved by U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.
Mattioli also said that with the "recent change in administration," and the "key change in personnel," including the retiring of BOP liaison Jennifer Knox, as well as Trump's executive orders and Attorney General memos, she needs more time to figure out whether the Department of Justice can actually implement the key issues outlined in the consent decree.
Not only has Knox retired, but BOP Director Colette Peters left the agency the day Trump took office, and then, her replacement, William Lothrop, and other key management announced their retirements last week.
Lothrop said he's leaving after he signed a contract with ICE to turn at least five BOP prisons into immigration detention centers.
Gonzalez Rogers denied the BOP's motion to delay the hearing and kept it for Tuesday afternoon.
The consent decree would last for two years from the date it is approved.
In December, the proposed consent decree was filed, following a 2023 class-action lawsuit against the BOP.
The consent decree would mandate that the BOP provide better medical and mental healthcare, stop punishing women indiscriminately by putting them in isolation and open its doors and books to a court-appointed monitor who will issue regular reports about what's going on.
The consent decree would also mandate increased transparency and key protections for the women once held at the now-closed FCI Dublin – and who are now at other prisons across the country, including easier pathways to early release and home confinement.
But lawyers for the women in a case known as the California Coalition for Women Prisoners wrote on Tuesday that they oppose delaying the hearing, saying the BOP didn't articulate their case or provide any good reason as to why they should hold off.
In fact, lawyers Kara Janssen, Susan Beaty and Amaris Montes, wrote that precisely because the BOP has concerns about how to practically administer the consent decree, "all the more reason" to hold the court hearing on time so that the specifics can be discussed.
Besides, the lawyers wrote, it doesn't matter who is president: "The BOP remains contractually bound to the provisions of the consent decree."