Feds investigating WA for housing trans women at women’s prison in Pierce County
The Department of Justice told Gov. Bob Ferguson on Tuesday it was starting an investigation of the state’s women’s prison in Pierce County for allegedly failing to protect prisoners from sexual and physical violence from “male prisoners who identify as female.”
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, in a news release, said the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division wouldn’t allow incarcerated women to be subject to unconstitutional risks of harm from male inmates.
“The constitutional rights of women cannot be sacrificed at the altar of appeasing unsupported and dangerous ideologies,” Dhillon said.
The Washington Corrections Center for Women near Gig Harbor is the state’s only women’s prison. Its average daily population in January was 726. A spokesperson for the Washington Department of Corrections said Tuesday there are 20 transgender people there and 347 trans or nonbinary people at its 11 prisons.
In an emailed letter to Ferguson, Dhillon said the investigation was based on information that the Washington Corrections Center for Women has failed to protect female prisoners from “male prisoners who identify as female.” The DOJ’s news release said it would investigate allegations that women were deprived of Eighth Amendment protections from cruel and unusual punishment.
A representative for Ferguson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday morning. Chris Wright, a spokesperson for the DOC, said the department was notified of the investigation Tuesday morning.
“We are reviewing the letter from the Department of Justice and plan to cooperate with federal investigators,” Wright said in an email. “We are currently defending litigation on both sides of the policy, by the ACLU and the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism. DOC remains committed to upholding the rights and providing a safe environment for all incarcerated individuals in our custody.”
Tuesday’s announcement comes on the heels of at least three ongoing lawsuits against the DOC brought by two women incarcerated or formerly incarcerated at the WCCW who have claimed to have been attacked by the same inmate. The plaintiffs have described their attacker as a “biologically intact” male and convicted child sex offender who was transferred to the WCCW after self-identifying as a woman.
The American Civil Liberties Union’s litigation was filed in 2024 on behalf of a transgender woman incarcerated at the WCCW who was moved to a men’s facility. A state appeals court denied her personal restraint petition last year, and the Washington Supreme Court in February agreed to review the decision.
The federal inquiry appears to be the latest move by President Donald Trump’s administration targeting protections for people on the basis of their gender identity. One of Trump’s executive orders signed in his first days in office overturned federal policies that allowed transgender women to be incarcerated at a facility that aligns with their gender identity, setting off a cascade of legal challenges. Last month, according to The New York Times, a federal appeals court ruling opened the door for 17 trans women to be moved to men’s facilities after transfers had been blocked by a lower-court ruling for more than a year.
The DOJ in March notified California and Maine that it was investigating whether their practices of housing transgender women in women’s prisons violated the constitution. The DOJ has told those states and Washington it is collecting information about “men housed in women’s jails and prisons” anywhere in the country.
The DOC has previously said that it takes all allegations of assaults seriously, and that if an inmate reports being harassed or sexually assaulted, the alleged perpetrator and victim are separated. Depending on the claim, according to the DOC, outside law enforcement might be contacted.
The department has also said it has a comprehensive housing-assignment process and that transfer requests are considered case-by-case and reviewed by several multidisciplinary teams. The DOC has said in court documents it conducts twice-yearly individual assessments for transgender people considering their preferences and any safety and security concerns. It said fewer than 20 percent of trans people in custody request gender-affirming housing.
Neil Floyd, the interim U.S. attorney for Western Washington, said in the news release that the state must protect women inmates from the inherent dangers of incarcerating them with “biological men.”
“Our Constitution protects the civil rights of every American, including woman who are in prison and forced by the State of Washington to live with male inmates,” Floyd said in the news release.
Dhillon’s letter to Ferguson said the policies and practices of the prison and the DOC would be reviewed along with evidence that may be relevant to allegations of harm that have been reported.
The letter encouraged the state to cooperate with the investigation and assured Ferguson that the DOJ would try to minimize potential disruption on WCCW’s operations. If the investigation determines there are systemic violations, Dhillon said, the DOJ would inform the state of their findings and try to work with it to remedy violations.
This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 1:16 PM.
