FCI Dublin officers scream at women to pack before transfer, others released early
BOP buses were at FCI Dublin to take women away ahead of a sudden shutdown. April 17, 2024
DUBLIN, Calif. - Women incarcerated at the soon-to-be-shuttered FCI Dublin are complaining that they are getting treated very poorly in the rush to pack up and leave the troubled prison.
At the same time, attorneys are saying that some of their clients who had a short amount of time left on their sentences were sent home early for good behavior, put on home confinement or freed on compassionate release.
Attorney Jessica Pride said she knew of at least two cases where that happened this week. KTVU learned of one other early release to a halfway house.
Stephanie Madsen was not one of those early releases.
On Thursday, Madsen emailed KTVU to say that she and the others are getting screamed at as they try to fit their belongings into a small bag before they are transferred across the country.
"Get your shit packed, or I will pack it for you," Madsen recounted that officers told her this week. "The trauma that we are all enduring is trying to be swept under the rug, but we all want the public to know what is going on. We need our voices to be heard. Women are having severe panic attacks and emotional breaks and a lot of our past traumas are resurfacing."
Madsen is one of 605 incarcerated women at the minimum security prison, which the Bureau of Prisons suddenly announced it would close on Monday.
The shutdown came 11 days after U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez named Special Master Wendy Still to begin overseeing reforms at the scandal-plagued facility, where eight officers have been charged with sex crimes and more than 60 civil sexual assault lawsuits have been filed against individual officers at FCI Dublin.
Attorneys who represent the incarcerated women in a class-action suit also noted what they describe as a lack of respect.
"We were not provided any kind of advance notice, which tells a lot about the approach the government has taken in keeping the welfare of the women and others who live at Dublin in mind," Stephen Cha-Kim, attorney representing women
Miranda Chavez called KTVU from FCI Dublin to report that women are being given a single green bag to pack up all their belongings. She said she had to throw a lot of clothes away. Other women told KTVU they had to toss out legal paperwork, toiletries and other sentimental items.
"They're giving us like 15 minutes," Chavez said. "They're literally forcing us. None of our regular staff is here. It's a complete mess. We're being treated like animals. They don't know what they're doing.
Esther Aguirre said her mother's unit is leaving on Thursday and "the guards are yelling at them and the girls are saying it feels like they are being punished and they're having really bad anxiety."
Rhonda Fleming, who is incarcerated at FCI Dublin, told KTVU that she knows of three Mexican-American trans men from Southern California who were sent to FTC-Oklahoma on their way to FCI Pekin in Illinois, where they have already reported being harassed.
In an email, BOP spokesman Scott Taylor said he respectfully declined to comment on anecdotal allegations.
But in general, he said it is the mission of the BOP to "operate facilities that are safe, secure, and humane." Anyone who has a complaint about treatment, he said, can file a formal complaint.
The reason BOP Director Colette Peters said she was shutting FCI Dublin down, was because it just wasn't working, despite providing tremendous resources, in changing the culture at FCI Dublin.
"Despite these steps and resources, we have determined that FCI Dublin is not meeting expected standards and that the best course of action is to close the facility," Peters wrote.
Hours after Peters' announcement, Gonzalez Rogers issued an order saying that her special master must review all the paperwork before each woman could be transferred; an order the BOP pushed back on, saying that exceeded the judge's authority.
Gonzalez Rogers held two private court hearings on Wednesday.
Apparently, transfers are still taking place and Still, the special master, is being allowed to review the situation.
Women and attorneys said that there are also two doctors on site, one provided by the BOP and one provided by Still, to medically clear women before they are taken elsewhere.
Sources have told KTVU the women will be moved by either Friday or Sunday.
Buses were seen on Wednesday at FCI Dublin to take women to one of six other minimum- or low-security prisons around the United States. None are on the West Coast.
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