Gina Champion-Cain is one of the many female inmates sexually and psychologically abused by the staff of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) at its minimum-security camp in California (FCI Dublin). For years, even though FCI Dublin became known as the “Rape Club,” the BOP Central Office failed to take sufficient corrective measures, while the women who complained, as Gina did, experienced retaliation.

When the BOP closed FCI Dublin in April of 2024, these abused women were transferred to facilities around the country. The transfer was horrific, with numerous reports of abuse by guards who blamed the women inmates for the closure and resultant loss of jobs. 

Gina, in May of 2024, provided the Senate Committee on the Judiciary with an account of her transfer to FCI Pekin in Illinois, which took several days. She described the abuse her group endured: threats, name calling, long hours of exposure to cold and loud music with sexual lyrics, sleep and excretion deprivation, water and food deprivation, and the denial of medication to those with special medical needs.

Within days, on May 20, 2024, the BOP sent a memo to Warden Walters at FCI Pekin denying her request for home confinement, which had been approved by then-warden Justino at FCI Dublin in June of 2023, but ignored by the BOP Central Office for nearly a year. This sudden denial after a year of silence was an obvious act of retaliation for her cooperation with the Senate inquiry.

The Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, which includes sexual abuse and harassment. The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) also addresses sexual violence within correctional facilities, reinforcing that any form of sexual abuse or harassment of inmates violates the Eighth Amendment. 

Courts have consistently ruled that prison authorities must protect inmates from the threat and occurrence of sexual assault and provide necessary medical and psychological care if such an assault occurs. But the BOP has been and remains unwilling or unable to provide such care to Gina.

At FCI Dublin, Gina was denied routine dental and medical care like mammograms despite a history of cancer. There was no access to psychological treatment after reporting the sexual abuse, and she was denied access to a cardiac specialist after an episode of supraventricular tachycardia (irregular rapid heartbeat) in which her heart had to be stopped and restarted with drugs and electrical defibrillation, and the ER doctor stated in his report that she should see a specialist within a day or two. 

Now, at FCI Pekin, there is no medical staff, and she is again denied needed care. The atmosphere and conditions are much the same as they were at Dublin and these act as triggers that cause Gina to relive the traumatic events that occurred at FCI Dublin. She has admitted to emotional distress: mood swings, inability to sleep, flashbacks and feelings that the same events will happen again. At 103 pounds, she is seriously underweight for a 5’5” tall, 59-year-old woman. 

It does not take a psychologist to recognize a civilian version of PTSD, and we fear that she will suffer long-term psychological problems. She needs to be back in her community where she can access adequate medical and psychological care.

REMORSE AND REHABILITATION:

Gina has repeatedly expressed remorse for misusing investor monies to allay the financial pressures of her extensive business enterprise. She has also fully cooperated with the authorities in any way she could to achieve a return of investor monies, which is 98% returned to date and expected to be 100% by year-end.

She has served her fellow inmates with counseling and training. She earned a paralegal license and wrote dozens of petitions for compassionate relief on their behalf. She has also taught them classes for license exams (food handling, bistro) so they can get jobs in restaurants and coffee shops once they are released.

Gina has been a model prisoner with no infractions on her record, has the lowest recidivism score possible for her age (-21), has a security level score of 0, which means she is cleared to be placed back in the community. She also has a job offer to work as a paralegal once she has access to the internet.

In summary, Gina has done everything possible to rehabilitate herself. By any measure, whether it is redress warranted by the abuse she has suffered or an evaluation of her rehabilitation, she deserves to be placed back in society where she can use her talents and education in service to her community.

Gina is a non-violent, first-time offender, who presents no danger to the community. It serves none of the purposes of the criminal justice system to keep her incarcerated; it just wastes taxpayer dollars.

Please sign this petition to help bring Gina home to her family and loved ones where she will be safe! Thank you!