DOJ opened civil-rights investigations into California and Maine for housing transgender women with female inmates

On March 26, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice notified California Governor Gavin Newsom and Maine Governor Janet Mills that it was opening federal civil- rights investigations into both states' practices of housing transgender women with female inmates. The investigation targets the California Institution for Women (San Bernardino County), the Central California Women's Facility (Madera County), and the Maine Correctional Center in Windham, Maine—all facilities subject to state laws or policies requiring housing consistent with gender identity. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, head of the Civil Rights Division, announced the investigations under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA), claiming the policies exposed female inmates to "unconstitutional risks of harm from male inmates." Maine Governor Janet Mills' spokesman Ben Goodman dismissed the probe as "another politically motivated, predetermined investigation designed to target states that stand up to the Trump Administration and its abuses." The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation stated that any policy mandating all transgender women be housed in men's facilities would violate federal law. The investigations follow a 2025 move by Attorney General Pam Bondi to revoke federal funding from Maine's Department of Corrections over a related transgender-housing dispute, situating this probe within the administration's broader campaign to use federal enforcement mechanisms against states maintaining transgender-inclusive correctional policies.

Updates

2026-04-03 — Maine inmate filed federal civil lawsuit over transgender housing policy [3]

Katie Mountain, an inmate at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham, filed a federal civil lawsuit against Maine Department of Corrections Commissioner Randall Liberty, Warden Ben Beal, and transgender inmate Andrea Balcer, alleging repeated sexual assault and staff retaliation after she filed grievances about Balcer's housing. The lawsuit claimed violations of the Eighth Amendment, equal protection, and free speech guarantees, and sought injunctive relief and damages.

2026-05-27 — Three more inmates joined civil lawsuit; expanded complaint added retaliation claims [4, 5]

Three additional women — Jennifer Albert, Michaela Sargent, and Danielle Foster — joined Mountain's lawsuit. The expanded complaint alleged that women who refused to affirm Balcer's gender identity were placed in solitary confinement, denied hygiene supplies and medication, and had early-release eligibility revoked. Plaintiffs sought a permanent injunction against Maine's 2021 gender-identity housing law and the Department of Corrections policies derived from it.

2026-07-01 — Maine AG filed motion to block DOJ subpoena for transgender inmate records [6, 7]

The DOJ subpoenaed Maine's Department of Corrections for all grievances filed against the transgender inmate, investigative materials, housing decisions, and records related to inmates who had complained. Maine's Attorney General filed a motion in federal court to block the subpoena, invoking Maine's statute protecting inmate medical, administrative, and PREA investigative records and seeking a confidentiality order if the court were to compel production. No ruling had been issued as of early July 2026.