Case Timeline
Chandler v. CDCR
SB 132 Introduced in CA Senate (Jan 2019)
May 22 2019 - WoLF Sends letter to Senator Wiener to STOP SB 132
“SB 132 is a stunning act of female erasure and elevation of men’s feelings over women’s physical and psychological safety. It ignores the fundamental reasons that facilities for incarcerated individuals exist in the first place: whether for biological or social reasons, men are far more likely to sexually assault or rape women and to engage in other forms of violence and voyeurism. Further, women are the only sex capable of being involuntarily impregnated.” (link)
June 26, 2019 - WoLF Testifies at Hearing Against SB 132
“This bill permits male inmates to be housed with female inmates at the mere request of a male inmate, even though males commit violent crimes three times more often than women, and there are no studies to show that males who self-ID as trans commit less violent crimes relative to the general male population.” (link)
August 2020 - WoLF Poll Shows CA Voters Oppose Self ID in Prison (link)
Sept 26, 2020 - Signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom
SB 132 Goes Into Effect
(Jan 2021)
Jan 1, 2021 - SB 132 goes into effect
March 2021 - WIIW approaches WoLF on behalf of potential plaintiffs
May 12, 2021 - WoLF Submits PRA request to CDCR re: various facets of implementation
May 31, 2021 - Abigail Shrier publishes op ed in WSJ about SB 132 (link)
June 21, 2021 - WoLF issues demand letter to Gov. Newsom for immediate action to protect incarcerated women
“The civil and human rights of female prisoners must not be sacrificed in the pursuit of obliging the demands of men, no matter how they identify.” (link)
July 15, 2021 - WoLF shares whistleblower documents regarding implementation of SB 132
“The men who wish to transfer need only take a laughable “Right Person, Right Prison” class… The women, meanwhile, are being prepared with free condoms and guidance on how to obtain an abortion in prison.” Also learned: body cams being left on during searches due to sexual harassment of female guard; result is women are being recorded during strip searches. (link)
Aug 12, 2021 - WoLF Responds to Wiener Town Hall
“In his four-and-half minute response on SB 132, Wiener did not once address the concerns of these women. Instead, the state senator resorted to smearing the women bravely speaking up on this issue (despite great personal risk and consequence) as “right-wing,” “TERFs,” and “fake news.”” (link)
Aug 25, 2021 - WoLF testifies at CDCR hearing against appointment of Jeffrey Macomber “I also request that the Committee ask the Inspector General to investigate the conditions in the women's facilities that are resulting from mixed-sex prison housing on the basis of gender identity, and in particular make sure that… CDCR leaders are aware of conditions on the ground.” (link)
Oct 15, 2021 - Stephen Crowder Suspended on Youtube after citing WoLF work on SB 132
“The video cited the groundbreaking legal advocacy work and reporting by the Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF) which first revealed the devastating conditions and instances of violence that have taken place inside California’s women’s prisons after the passage of SB 132. Since then, WoLF has been smeared in national liberal media as “anti-trans” and “transphobic,” and our work called “fake” and “misinformation.”” (link)
Nov 11, 2021 - Results of WoLF PRA request reveal condom purchases & increased sexual assault in CA women’s prisons
(link)
Chandler v. CDCR Lawsuit Filed (Nov 2021)
Nov 17, 2021 - WoLF Files Chandler v. CDCR Lawsuit (link)
Key points include violations of First, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments.
See information about plaintiffs: Janine Chandler, Tomiekia Johnson, Krystal Gonzalez, and Nadia Romero.
April 11, 2022 - State Files Motion to Dismiss (link)
May 10, 2022 - SF Chronicle publishes hack job on Lauren quote (link)
May 11, 2022 - ACLU Moves to Intervene
“Along with Lambda Legal and the Transgender Law Center, the ACLU foundations of Northern California and Southern California are representing four incarcerated men along with the Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project (“TGIJP”).” (link)
May 16, 2022 - ACLU files brief in support of state’s Motion to Dismiss (link)
May 31 2022 - WoLF Submits Opposition to Motion to Dismiss
(link) - includes declarations from plaintiffs, numerous other witnesses, biologist Colin Wright and sociologist and criminologist Callie Burt.
June 10, 2022 - State Files Motion to Strike WoLF’s Witness Declarations
State and proposed intervenors also filed replies to our opposition brief in the motion to dismiss.
June 16, 2022 - WoLF Submits Opposition to Motion to Strike
(link)
June 2022 - Tomekia faces retaliation for witnessing (and reporting) sexual harassment of another woman; the victim and another witness were also retaliated against (written up, removed from honor dorm)
July 5 - 6, 2022 - Proposed intervenors and WoLF each file motions following WoLF reports re: allegations of sexual assault and harassment in our opposition briefing (all denied by judge)
July 14, 2022 - WoLF attorneys submit third party group PREA report on behalf of dozens of incarcerated women regarding incidents of reported sexual assault, harassment, intimidation, and retaliation from both staff and male offenders against WoLF plaintiffs and other victims and witnesses of abuse and harassment [link]
Sept 22, 2022 - WoLF Shares story of Sagal Sadiq, during a hunger strike in protest of ongoing retaliation for reporting witness of voyeuristic harassment
Sagal was moved out of the honors dorm in apparent retaliation for filing a report about the male inmate who she witnessed allegedly sexually harass a fellow prisoner. She went on a hunger strike that lasted a month, at which point she was moved back to the honors dorm. (link)
Case Continues
(2023 - present)
Jan 21, 2023 - WoLF submits plaintiff Tomiekia Johnson’s first set of interrogatories and requests for the production of documents to defendant CDCR.
“An unprecedented backlog in the docket leaves the motions to dismiss (by the state) and intervene (by the Transgender Law Center and the ACLU) undecided seven months after the conclusion of the briefing. While WoLF continues to pursue every available mechanism for justice while this case makes its way through the system, the only way to require the state to provide vital factual information about the welfare of the women under SB132 is through the discovery process” (link)
Jan 31, 2023 - Jeff Macomber promoted to Secretary of CDCR
WoLF previous testified against his appointment as Undersecretary (link)
March 2, 2023 - 2022 Moss Report made available to the public
The report backs up many of our claims, including that women’s safety and needs are not considered at all under SB 132. It demonstrates preferential treatment, retaliation, and a disregard for women’s concerns when raised. It even suggests the legislation be amended by the legislature. (link)
April 17, 2023 - Lauren Op Ed in WSJ
“New York state lawmakers are pushing legislation that would allow male criminals to serve their terms in women’s prisons.”
(link)
Aug 21, 2023 - ACLU, etc granted right to intervene
The judge in the case granted (with restrictions) a motion to intervene by TGIJP as well as four men who want to be housed in women’s prisons. These intervenors — Kelli (Kelly) Blackwell, Katie (Keith) Brown, Tremayne (Tremaine) Carroll, and Jennifer Rose — are represented by lawyers at the Transgender Law Center, the ACLU, and Lambda Legal. Although they are now officially parties to the case, they cannot file anything longer than ten pages. (link)
Sept 22, 2023 - OIG report, prompted by WoLF request, validates our concerns about women’s treatment
The report shows that transferees lie to get into the women’s prison in order to have sex with women, that the process is geared to favor the men, and that women are traumatized and afraid of living with men. (link)
Jan/Feb 2024 - Confirmation by state that woman was recently impregnated at CCWF.
March 2024 - CDCR files report to legislature about efforts to reduce sexual assault, which completely disregards the reality of life inside women’s prisons under SB132.
April 2024 - Intervenor Tremaine Carroll charged with multiple counts of rape and one charge of dissuading a witness.
May 2024 - Judge grants Order of Dismissal, with leave to file an amended complaint. The amended complaint is due July 19.
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