{"id":239353,"date":"2026-03-27T15:26:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/239353\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T15:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:26:11","slug":"california-agrees-to-1-9-million-settlement-in-prison-use-of-force-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/239353\/","title":{"rendered":"California Agrees to $1.9 Million Settlement in Prison Use-of-Force Case"},"content":{"rendered":"

A total of 109 incarcerated persons were medically evaluated, CDCR said, and three were transported to an outside medical facility for a short time. In the wake of the incident, CDCR also said it made mental health staff and resources available to those affected.<\/p>\n

Staff were also retrained after the incident on how to respond to alarms and on the appropriate use of force, according to CDCR.<\/p>\n

The women involved in the suit have a broader claim about this incident as well, that it was retaliation for sexual assault complaints that they had filed against correctional staff. <\/p>\n

The women\u2019s prison in Chowchilla has been plagued by reports of sexual assault for years<\/a>. In one high-profile case, at least 22 women accused correctional officer Gregory Rodriguez of sexual abuse dating back to 2014. The state ultimately paid millions of dollars to settle those claims. Rodriguez was criminally charged and sentenced to 224 years<\/a> in prison.<\/p>\n

Last year, an audit <\/a>by the Office of Inspector General found that at least 279 women had sued the department, accusing at least 83 prison employees of sexual misconduct. The audit describes \u201ca wave\u201d of lawsuits filed by currently and formerly incarcerated people alleging staff sexual assault, harassment and misconduct. In response to the lawsuits, the department approved 402 investigations.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Justice is also investigating allegations of sexual abuse and staff misconduct at California women\u2019s prisons.<\/p>\n

\"\"The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a civil rights investigation into staff sexual abuse allegations at two women\u2019s prisons in Chowchilla and Chino, following a series of lawsuits and similar abuses at federal facilities like FCI Dublin, which was closed due to widespread misconduct. (J. David Ake\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

In the settlement reached this past week, CDCR did not agree to any policy changes or other non-monetary terms, and did not admit to wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Department\u2019s focus remains on the safety, security, and well-being of both the incarcerated population and staff,\u201d Xjimenez said. <\/p>\n

Another class action lawsuit tied to the Aug. 2 incident is still pending. That case, known as Hooper v. State of California<\/a>, raises similar claims that medical care was delayed or denied and that the use of force was excessive and retaliatory. It is set to go to mediation in May, according to court filings.<\/p>\n

CDCR said it could not comment on pending litigation.<\/p>\n

Chalfant said that many of his clients were scared to come forward. The incarcerated woman told him that correctional officers continued to reference the lawsuit and retaliate against them by writing them up for minor infractions and searching their belongings up to the day of the settlement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf individuals\u2019 rights are violated in state prisons, lawyers are going to take those cases,\u201d Chalfant said. \u201c[These women] don\u2019t lose their constitutional rights when [they] go into a prison facility.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A total of 109 incarcerated persons were medically evaluated, CDCR said, and three were transported to an outside…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-239353","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-headlines","10":"tag-california-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}