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As scrutiny of the federal prison system continues to grow amid a mounting number of scandals, many of which were centered in the Tri-Valley at the now-shuttered FCI Dublin, new legislation has been approved by the White House aiming to increase and formalize oversight mechanisms throughout the system.
The Federal Prison Oversight Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden on July 25, “establishes an inspections regime for the Bureau of Prisons and an Ombudsman office in the Department of Justice,” according to a description from the White House. The bill — co-sponsored by local U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) — passed the House of Representatives in May and the Senate on July 10.
“The bipartisan Federal Prison Oversight Act, which I was proud to co-sponsor in the House, is an important, long-overdue first step to prevent this kind of abuse at correctional facilities across the country, protect incarcerated people, and ensure accountability for bad actors,” DeSaulnier told the Pleasanton Weekly. “I am pleased that the President has signed it into law and hopeful it will send a message to the BOP that Congress is watching.”
Fellow Tri-Valley Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Livermore), the former Dublin councilman whose congressional district included FCI Dublin prior to the most recent redistricting process that placed it in DeSaulnier’s 10th District, did not respond to a request for comment on the new legislation.
DeSaulnier said that the need for additional oversight in the federal prison system had been clear to him prior to the passage of the law in Congress in May amid the escalating reports of abuse of inmates at the all-women’s Federal Correctional Institution Dublin, leading to criminal charges against multiple staff members and the facility’s abrupt closure in April.
“Since the disturbing reports of abuse at FCI Dublin came to light, I have been committed to conducting federal oversight and bringing accountability to the perpetrators by demanding answers from the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and requesting hearings and an investigation into the matter in the House,” DeSaulnier said.
FCI Dublin came under increasing fire and scrutiny in recent years following widespread media reports, internal investigations and criminal charges against multiple employees of the agency.
One high-profile case included the sentencing of former prison chaplain James Highhouse in August 2022 to seven years in federal prison himself for repeatedly sexually abusing an incarcerated woman at the facility. Months later, former warden Ray Garcia was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for sexually abusing three incarcerated women, having been initially charged in 2021 and convicted in December 2022.
In September 2022, a prison worker facing allegations of sexual assault died by suicide.
By this March, a total of seven former employees of the prison had been sentenced for sex crimes against inmates, one of whom formerly lived in Pleasanton – John Bellhouse, who was found guilty on two counts of sexual abuse and three counts of abusive sexual contact.
Also in March, now-former warden Art Duglov – Garcia’s successor – was ousted himself after just months on the job amid allegations of retaliating against an inmate who had brought complaints about the facility forward in a lawsuit, which she’d appeared in court for in January.
The continuous stream of scandals emerging from government and media investigations into the facility culminated that month with the FBI descending upon the prison upon Duglov’s departure and the appointment of his interim successor, N.T. McKinney.
The closure of the facility was announced the following month on April 15, with all inmates having been cleared out by the first week of May.
Prior to its closure, FCI Dublin had been one of the five all-women’s federal prisons in the system, housing 605 inmates at the time it was ordered to be abruptly shut down by the Bureau of Prisons earlier this year. Since then, those inmates have been dispersed to other facilities throughout the state, with just four other federal women’s prisons now remaining.
But that was not the end of the road for the embattled prison, despite its closure and the departure of those incarcerated from the Tri-Valley. On May 24, 10 members of Congress, including DeSaulnier and Swalwell, signed a joint letter to the House Judiciary Committee and House Committee on Oversight and Accountability citing concerns about the “frantic” nature of the closure and relocation of former FCI Dublin inmates, and that the closure could “delay or deny much-needed accountability.
New details have continued to emerge about sexual abuse and misconduct at FCI Dublin since its closure. One former guard, Darrell Smith, is now facing a total of 15 counts of sexual abuse and misconduct in a new indictment that was filed on July 25 — the same day as the Federal Prison Oversight Act was cleared by Biden — with two more victims and three additional counts.
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