SB 132 Endangers Women Prisoners
In 2021, despite a poll that shows California Voters Oppose, California passed SB 132, the bill that allows all male inmates (who self-identify as females) to be placed with females in prison.
Before this law was passed, transgender males who already had surgery, and who did not pose a “management and security risk” were already allowed to request housing in women’s facilities. However, it did not allow men with penises, or men who were “too dangerous”.
This new law lets ALL men who self-identify in. This is cruel and unusual punishment for women.
Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act
SB 132, Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act became California law on January 1, 2021.
It added Penal Code sections 2605 and 2606, and required the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to implement it.
Penal Code 2605 Initial intake and classification process; refusal to answer; gender pronoun and honorific specified
Penal Code 2606 Transgender, nonbinary, or intersex individuals; search preference; written statement; reassessment
1 in 3 Men Requesting Transfers are Sex Offenders
One-third of the men requesting transfer into California women’s prisons are sex offenders. CDCR Office of Research
16 Women are Pregnant as of May 2024
Amie Ichikawa, Executive Director of Woman II Woman, revealed that there are now 16 pregnant women housed at California Institution for Women (CIW), another one of California’s women’s prisons. Some women may enter prison pregnant, but CDCR has confirmed via a new Public Records Act request that at least one woman this year has already become pregnant while incarcerated at CCWF where the male rapist was also housed.
“I wish I could say that Tremaine was abusing SB132/TRADA or that it’s being taken advantage of in some way,” said Amie, “but I can’t. The law is being used exactly the way its author intended it to be: without guardrails and with complete disregard to the safety and well-being of women.”
SB 132 Hurts Women
To no one’s surprise, housing male prisoners with women hurts women.
Read the report by the California Office of the Inspector General (OIG) Independent Prison Oversight Committee. I attach it for you here: Special-Review-No.-22-01
Summary of Report
The Women’s Liberation Front provides a great summary here:
1. Tranferees lie to get into the women’s prison in order to have sex with women.
The report states that “The Act’s broad language limiting the bases to deny a transfer request has also made it challenging for the department to develop specific criteria to evaluate transfer requests.” (pg. 2)
The OIG described the problem with the standard laid out in SB 132 plainly:
If a person with a history of raping women requests to transfer to a women’s prison, this language may prohibit the department from denying the person’s transfer request based solely on the prospective transferee’s history of raping women. (pg. 19)
The OIG also identified that it was difficult for the department to “accurately assess a prospective transferee’s sincerity in self-identifying their gender identities or their true intentions in requesting a transfer under the Act.”
In fact, even some trans-identifying male transfers called out their fellow transferees:
“Some believed prospective transferees were seeking to transfer to have sexual relations with incarcerated people who were designated female at birth. Some transferees suggested the department should better screen prospective transferees and deny transfer to those with histories of abuse to increase safety at women’s prisons… One prospective transferee made the following observation: “There are a lot of wolves in sheep’s clothing. There are a lot of men who are now all of a sudden transgender.” (pg. 26)
2. The process is geared to favor males transfers – creating disparate treatment against women.
The report describes a toxic environment inside women’s prisons, where staff members reportedly claim that
transferees [men] must be treated like an ‘endangered species’ for the department to avoid lawsuits.
Transferees gain special treatment like the ability to choose their bed assignments, and other special considerations that most prisoners are not afforded. This creates a major power imbalance in the prison, where men are prioritized over women in their own space. California has thus placed the desire of trans-identifying male inmates over women’s rights to their safety in women’s prisons.
The Act creates inequity and tension between TNI people, whose perception of health and safety must be given serious consideration, and the rest of the incarcerated population, who must either accept housing assignments or be subject to disciplinary action. This disparity contributes to a feeling of resentment toward the transferees and the perception that transferees are treated differently.
3. Women remain traumatized and afraid of being forced to live with male offenders.
The OIG’s report confirmed that many women are still living in fear 2 years after the implementation of SB 132. The report states,
Many incarcerated people at CCWF and CIW have expressed safety and privacy concerns living with transferees. Especially concerning to the incarcerated people we interviewed was showering around transferees, particularly those who have not had gender-affirming surgery” (men with penises). (pg. 3)
Of the women living at CCWF and CIW (the state’s two women’s prisons) nearly two-thirds of those interviewed stated that they fear for their safety around all or some of the transferees. Over a quarter of women reported bad experiences with the men, including sexual assault (pg. 25).
Living in close spaces with individuals designated male at birth was particularly triggering for the 20 percent of incarcerated people we interviewed who reported a history of abuse. Consequently, being required to house, dress, and undress with transferees triggered past trauma. This type of intimate setting was also problematic for some incarcerated people who expressed religious objections to living with unrelated individuals designated male at birth. (pg. 29)
It should be noted California prisons have long had well-documented issues with guards sexually assaulting female inmates, and the present ‘protections’ have never adequately protected women from those dangers, either.
Women’s Liberation Front Filed a Lawsuit
On November 17, 2021, the Women’s Liberation Front Filed a Lawsuit against SB 132 alleging violations of the First, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the US Constitution, as well as violations of the California Constitution: See Chandler+v+CDCR+Complaint_Case+No.+21-cv-1657
On May 17, 2024, Biden-appointed Judge Jennifer Thurston of the Eastern District Court dismissed on procedural grounds. However, according to the group, the fight is not over.
Danger of SB 132
Any person with even below-average intelligence can see why this law is a horrible idea. Any man who “self-identifies” as a woman at intake can be housed with women. This includes men with histories of sexually abusing women and children.
Trans-identified Inmate Who Said He Was “No Threat” To Women Charged With Sexual Assault After Transfer To Women’s Prison
Tremaine “Tremayne” Deon Carroll, a male who identifies as a woman, was housed at the Central California Women’s Facility when he raped a woman there. He has since been transferred back to a male prison.
Trans-identified man found guilty of sexually abusing 7 yo stepdaughter changed pronouns to she/her just after he was sentenced.
A trans-identified male who was found guilty of repeatedly sexually abusing his 7 year-old stepdaughter in their Tulsa, Oklahoma home is appealing his conviction, arguing the prosecution had made “improper remarks” against him when they labeled him an “abuser” in court.
Robert William Perry II, 32, changed his pronouns to “she/her” just after he was sentenced.
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