chandler v. cdcr

WoLF is suing to protect SINGLE-SEX prisons.

On November 17, 2021, the Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF) filed a lawsuit on behalf of four incarcerated women challenging a California law that allows men to "self-identify" as women or non-binary and be housed in women's facilities. WoLF is asking the court to overturn this law and declare it unconstitutional.

In May 2022, the ACLU and other advocacy groups, representing four incarcerated males who want to be housed in women's facilities, petitioned the court to be added as parties to the case. They argued that California will not adequately defend the law, and they demanded "full implementation" of SB 132 - the placement of 300+ men in women's facilities.

Despite the mounting evidence that this law is dangerous and inhumane, the state and the ACLU continue to seek dismissal of this case.

On July 19, 2022, the judge issued an order denying two motions for leave. Due to delays related to the pandemic backlog, WoLF cannot predict the timeline for the next development in this important case.

Support This Case

why we’re fighting

Tomiekia Johnson is one of the women we’re representing. Watch her story here, and see the stories of other women affected by SB 132 here.

lawsuit background

In 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 132 into law. This legislation, which went into effect in January of 2021, allows incarcerated men to be housed in women’s correctional facilities based on self-declared “gender identity.”

Men can transfer to women’s facilities even if they do not claim to have a female “gender identity;” they can also identify as “non-binary,” “gender-fluid,” or similar. Men who transfer into women’s prisons are not required to take hormones or have surgery; in fact, most of them retain their penises.

This law has caused pervasive, foreseeable, and well-documented physical and psychological damage to incarcerated women.

Hundreds of men have applied for transfers to women’s prisons, and dozens have already been transferred. These transfers have resulted in intimidation, sexual harassment, physical assaults, and sexual assaults committed by the men against female inmates. This policy has also prevented women whose religions require sex separation from practicing their faith. Moreover, sharing intimate space with male offenders has exacerbated women’s symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD; diminished their quality of life due to increased security measures for male offenders; and reduced their access to appropriate trauma-informed care and rehabilitative programs.

Thousands of California women are impacted by this law, including WoLF plaintiffs Janine Chandler, Krystal Gonzales, Tomiekia Johnson, and Nadia Romero.

constitutional violations

First Amendment

Freedom of speech and the right to petition the government. This law prevents women from describing the men they are housed with using sex-based language; this also interferes with their ability to use the grievance process to describe their experiences and living conditions.

Free exercise of religion. This law prevents religious women whose faith requires sex-separation to freely exercise their religion.

No establishment of a state religion. This law imposes a faith-based belief system founded on the unscientific idea that a person’s sex is subjective, changeable, and/or defined by one’s inner thoughts and feelings, thus establishing a government-sanctioned religious doctrine that is not based in material reality.

Eighth Amendment

Cruel and unusual punishment. This law subjects incarcerated women to known, substantial risks of physical and sexual violence (including consequences such as pregnancy and STIs) and associated psychological distress and terror.

Fourteenth Amendment

Equal protection under the law.

Based on sex: This law converts women’s correctional facilities to mixed-sex correctional facilities, depriving women - but not men - of a single-sex prison environment.

Based on identity: This law treats inmates differently based on identity; it affords special privileges and protections to people who claim a transgender or nonbinary identity, such as the right to choose your bed assignment or cellmate.

WoLF has made additional claims under California’s State Constitution. Read the full complaint for more details.

Meet the Women We’re Representing

Press and Case Updates

Curious if your state has policies similar to SB132, or may implement them in the future? Check out our women’s prison page to learn more!