The Department of Justice (DOJ) informed the state of Washington today that it is investigating whether the state’s prison policies violate the Constitution. The DOJ is launching a federal investigation into Washington State’s practice of housing men in women’s prisons, the Daily Wire can first report. It will investigate if these policies violate the constitutional rights of incarcerated women housed at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) in Gig Harbor, Washington. The Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) gives violent male convicts who self-identify as transgender full access to the women’s prisons, including cells, bathrooms, and showers. “Under my leadership, the Civil Rights Division will not allow women incarcerated in jails or prisons to be subject to unconstitutional risks of harm from male inmates,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon. “The constitutional rights of women cannot be sacrificed at the altar of appeasing unsupported and dangerous ideologies.” The DOJ investigation comes on the heels of an April 2026 lawsuit filed by The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) that argues forcing women to share a prison with violent men violates the fundamental constitutional rights of women to be safe while incarcerated. The lawsuit describes two women who were allegedly assaulted by Christopher Williams, a man who self-identifies as female. The lawsuit calls Williams a “six-foot-four, ‘biologically intact’ male” and “convicted child sex offender” with a history of violence against women. The Daily Wire uncovered a document through a public records request showing the former Superintendent of a male prison where Williams had been incarcerated recommended against his transfer to WCCW due to his history of violence against women. The DOJ will investigate allegations of “cruel and unusual punishment” against female prisoners, including claims of sexual violence being perpetrated against women by male inmates at WCCW. “The Justice Department will investigate allegations of deprivation of female prisoners’ Eighth Amendment protections from cruel and unusual punishment, including Washington’s response to allegations of sexual assaults, rape, voyeurism, and sexual intimidation based on WCCW’s housing of male prisoners in the exclusively female facility,” a DOJ press release states. Washington DOC has some of the nation’s most radical transgender policies and provides tax-funded sex change surgeries to inmates who claim to be transgender. A Daily Wire investigation showed the state of Washington gave millions of taxpayer dollars to a controversial “gender-affirming” surgeon who performs surgeries on prison inmates. The DOJ has launched a nationwide initiative examining men being housed in Women’s Prisons and is encouraging individuals with “relevant information” on this issue to contact the DOJ, according to the press release.