FCI Dublin 'special master' authorized to ensure women cared for at other prisons: judge

OAKLAND, Calif. - The special master appointed to oversee that reforms were made at the now-shuttered Federal Correctional Institute at Dublin also has the authority to ensure that the women who were once incarcerated there receive the proper care at their new prisons across the country, a federal judge ruled. 

U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers issued her order on Monday, expanding Special Master Wendy Still's initial role, which she took on April 5. 

Still is now charged with making sure that the 605 women once housed at FCI Dublin get the "appropriate follow up care and support in their new facilities."

"The court finds that the monitoring of the adults in custody who left the facility for other institutions is now required," Gonzalez Rogers wrote, adding that the Bureau of Prisons must pay for all this work. 

The BOP has not yet responded to the judge's court order. 

The BOP shut down FCI Dublin on April 15, ten days after Still was hired to her unprecedented post to oversee the all-women's prison, where seven correctional officers, including the warden, have been convicted and sentenced to sex crimes. An eighth officer is headed to trial on similar charges. 

The incarcerated women have now been transferred to: FCI Aliceville in Alabama; Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas; FCI Hazelton in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia; Miami Federal Detention Center and FCI Tallahassee, both in Florida; FCI Pekin in Illinois; Federal Medical Center Lexington in Kentucky; Federal Detention Center Philadelphia, FDC SeaTac in Seattle, Washington; FCI Victorville in California and FCI Waseca in Minnesota. 

Dozens have complained directly to KTVU about their treatment at their new prisons. 

The women say that they are being mocked and treated poorly because they came from FCI Dublin and are considered "whiny bitches" for speaking up about the sexual abuse they either endured or witnessed. 

At FCI Hazelton in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia, an FCI Dublin transfer said she was told "not to expect a callback" when she applied for a job because she was from Dublin. Having a job in prison is one of the ways prisoners can earn good time credits and shave months or years off their sentences.

The same woman reported that on her bus trip from the Philadelphia airport to West Virginia, a woman was accused of slipping out of her handcuffs.

She said one of the guards said, "We don't need Dublin problems here, let's shoot 'em now." 

In early May, Tyra Deja Mabon wrote KTVU from Federal Detention Center SeaTac in Seattle, where she said that women from FCI Dublin haven't been given soap, pillows, clean laundry or cleaning supplies.

The beds are soiled, and many women still haven't received medical care. She said the women get looks if they want to make phone calls to their lawyers.

"They keep locking us in all the time like we are a threat," Mabon wrote from prison, allowing KTVU to use her name.

She said that FCI Dublin women were given rice and beans for dinner, while the other 900 incarcerated people were served chicken patties.

"Staff said that they ran out of food for us Dublin inmates," she wrote. "The entire SeaTac staff has been very hostile and aggressive and mean."

On Tuesday, Joelene Piazza, an FCI Dublin transfer now incarcerated at FCI Aliceville, sent KTVU a log of the five times so far this month she's been in lockdown or not gone to a program or class. 

Piazza said she was fortunate enough to be able to take GED classes at the prison, "which I'm sure looks good when they hand over the monthly reports." But, she added that if she's in regular lockdown and can't attend the programs, it makes it "null." 

In addition, she said the women are afraid to speak up about anything there because if they are accused of doing something wrong, the staff will go into a cell and "tear it up, literally toilet papering" people's rooms and "leaving it a disaster." 

The judge's order also indicated that Still would be producing a report with her "findings of fact" relating to the conditions at FCI Dublin before and during the shutdown. 

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