DOJ opens third state investigation over Washington housing men in women’s prisons

The Justice Department opened a third federal civil rights investigation Tuesday into a state housing transgender women assigned male at birth in women’s prisons, this time targeting Washington state over allegations that female inmates were exposed to sexual violence and intimidation at a women’s correctional facility near Tacoma.

In a letter sent to Gov. Bob Ferguson (D), the DOJ announced it would investigate whether the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor engaged in a “pattern or practice” of violating the constitutional rights of female inmates by housing transgender in the facility.

The inquiry marks the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s nationwide push against transgender prison housing policies. In March, the DOJ launched similar investigations into California and Maine under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, arguing that certain state policies may violate the Eighth Amendment’s protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

“Under my leadership, the Civil Rights Division