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DOJ Civil Rights Division opened an investigation into Washington state's policy of housing transgender women in women's prisons

On May 19, 2026, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon notified Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson that the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division would open a federal civil-rights investigation, under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, into the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor over the state's policy of housing some transgender women in women's prisons. DOJ said it would examine whether the state failed to protect female prisoners from sexual and physical violence, citing potential Eighth Amendment violations. The action was the third such state probe of 2026, after DOJ notified California and Maine of similar investigations in March.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

On May 19, 2026, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division notified Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson that the department would open a federal civil-rights investigation into the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor. The probe, brought under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, targets the state's policy of housing some transgender women in women's prisons; DOJ said it would examine whether female prisoners had been deprived of Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment in the state's handling of the policy.

The investigation was the third of its kind in 2026: in March, DOJ had notified California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Maine Gov. Janet Mills that it would open similar investigations into those states' prison-housing practices. The Civil Rights Division, historically charged with enforcing protections for marginalized groups, framed the Washington inquiry around allegations that the policy exposed female prisoners to sexual and physical violence, harassment, and voyeurism.

Washington's policy is not the blanket rule the framing implies: under state practice, corrections officials assess housing on a case-by-case basis, reassess placements roughly every six months, and operate consistent with federal Prison Rape Elimination Act regulations, which likewise call for individualized housing decisions for transgender inmates. Recording the investigation captures a coordinated use of federal civil-rights authority to press against state accommodations for transgender people.

Why we recorded this

The Justice Department's investigative power is meant to be directed by evidence, not to pressure disfavored policies, and the Civil Rights Division exists to protect vulnerable groups rather than to target them. Here the division opened a federal probe into a state corrections policy that accommodates transgender inmates — a policy the state administers case-by-case and consistent with federal Prison Rape Elimination Act regulations. Turning the division's authority against a state's accommodation of a marginalized group, as one of a coordinated series of such probes, uses law-enforcement power to press a political position and singles out that group for adverse federal scrutiny.

Sources

  1. DOJ probes Washington prisons' transgender inmate policy — USA Today primary accessed July 11, 2026
  2. Washington's transgender prisoner policy is target of new federal investigation — The Spokesman-Review investigative accessed July 11, 2026
  3. Department of Justice launches investigation into Washington prison trans policies — KUOW secondary accessed July 11, 2026

See also