'Unconscionable': DOJ says CA prisons failed to stop systemic sexual abuse of female prisoners

California prisons repeatedly and knowingly violated female prisoners’ civil rights by failing to prevent systemic sexual abuse , a two-year federal investigation revealed.

The state now has 49 days to address the issues outlined in a report released Thursday summarizing the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation, after which the federal government can sue the state to force changes within the system.

“The findings in this report are unacceptable,” U.S. Attorney Bilal Essayli said at a news conference announcing the investigation’s findings Thursday morning. “They’re unconscionable, and should serve as a turning point in California’s failed state prison system, and the way they handle these types of allegations.”

The investigation revealed “systemic deficiencies” that violated prisoners’ 8th and 14th amendment rights, Essayli said, and found that California’s prison system has failed to implement the Prison Rape Elimination Act.

In a statement, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesperson Will Matthews said the agency has already undertaken reforms, including “many” that began before the federal investigation. Those changes, Matthews wrote, reflect the agency’s “sustained commitment to safe and constitutional operations.”

Matthews also pointed to recent independent audits that concluded that both women’s prisons had met all standards under the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003, as well as the fact that the agency’s own proactive actions led to criminal prosecutions under that act.

“Sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and retaliation against individuals in our care are unacceptable. CDCR takes every allegation seriously,” Matthews wrote.

Robert Chalfant, a lawyer who has represented women who’ve accused prison staff of sexual assault and retaliation for reporting the abuse, said the federal findings were a “huge deal” and corroborated severe problems he has been litigating for years.

Chalfant represented 13 women who sued the state following a Central California Women’s Facility staff operation on Aug.