DOJ Launches Civil Rights Probe into Transgender Housing Policies in CA and ME Prisons

The U.S. Justice Department officially launched an investigation on Thursday into California and Maine’s prison housing policies, questioning whether the placement of transgender women in female correctional facilities infringes upon the rights of incarcerated women. The probe targets three specific sites: the California Institution for Women in San Bernardino County, the Central California Women’s Facility in Madera County, and the Maine Correctional Center in Windham.

The federal inquiry follows a broader shift in national correctional policy under the Trump administration. The Justice Department asserts that current housing policies in these states have led to allegations involving sexual assault, rape, and voyeurism within women’s prisons. Officials maintain that the presence of biological males in these facilities creates an “unconstitutional climate of sexual intimidation.”

“The department will not allow women incarcerated in jails or prisons to be subject to unconstitutional risks of harm from male inmates,” stated Harmeet K. Dhillon, an assistant U.S. attorney general.

This investigation arrives amid a series of sweeping federal policy changes regarding transgender inmates. As of February 19, 2026, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has implemented a new mandate barring gender-affirming care—including hormone therapy, gender-affirming surgeries, and items related to social transition—across the federal system. Federal guidance now characterizes gender identity as “disconnected from biological reality,” replacing traditional transition-related care with mental health monitoring.

State officials in California and Maine have pushed back against the federal focus. In California, where Governor Gavin Newsom signed 2020 legislation requiring inmate housing to align with gender identity, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation defended its legal position. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation stated that blanket assignments of all transgender women to men’s institutions would constitute a violation of federal law.

Maine officials were more direct in their criticism of the probe.

Despite the Department of Justice’s claims, this is yet another politically motivated, predetermined investigation designed to target states that stand up to the Trump Administration and its abuses

— Ben Goodman, Spokesman for Maine Gov. Janet Mills

The intensity of the debate is highlighted by specific pending cases. An inmate at a women’s facility in Madera County, California, is currently awaiting trial on two counts of rape, a case that has become a flashpoint for critics of existing placement policies. Similarly, in Maine, federal regulators under Attorney General Pam Bondi have previously moved to revoke funding from state corrections departments over concerns regarding housing policies.

While the DOJ frames the investigation as a matter of inmate safety and constitutional rights, the move has drawn sharp rebukes from civil liberties groups. Advocates, including representatives from the ACLU, have characterized the recent federal policy shifts as a dangerous denial of established medical standards for incarcerated individuals. With Maine and California now under the regulatory microscope, the dispute underscores a deepening schism between state-level protections for transgender inmates and the federal government’s current stance on gender-segregated carceral systems.