Cruel and Unusual Punishment: Female Inmates in Washington Forced to Be in a Cell With Biological Men With a History of Violence

A year ago I called Olympus Spa the hill I was willing to die on. I wrote about a Korean owned women’s spa in Lynnwood. Forced by the state to let biological males into a nude, women only space. I also mentioned almost in passing. A lawsuit by a former inmate named Mozzy Clark who alleged she was repeatedly sexually assaulted. By a male inmate housed at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) after he told the state he identified as a woman.

That was not a passing detail. It was a preview.
On April 27, 2026 the America First Policy Institute filed a federal lawsuit. Against the Washington Department of Corrections and Secretary Tim Lang. 0n behalf of Fair for All, Inc. and a 28 year old WCCW inmate named Faith Booher-Smith. The complaint alleges that on August 7, 2025 Booher-Smith was attacked from behind in the prison cafeteria by Christopher Williams. A six foot four male inmate convicted of a child sex offense. Who had been transferred to WCCW under DOC’s gender identity housing policy. She says he struck her, threw her to the ground. And kicked her repeatedly while she had no realistic way to defend herself. She suffered facial bruising, mouth laceration and jaw and eye swelling that was still documented days later.

This is the same Christopher Williams from the Mozzy Clark case I cited last year. WDOC had already been sued once over him. According to that earlier lawsuit. Williams was housed as Clark’s cellmate and over months he

“masturbated in front of her, groped her while she slept and repeatedly threatened her with rape.”

WDOC housed him at WCCW anyway. He assaulted a second woman.

WDOC has since moved Williams to a men’s facility. But do not mistake that for a fix. Williams is one man. The policy that put him in a women’s prison is still in place. The complaint alleges at least five male inmates remain housed at WCCW under it today. Moving one man after two women were hurt is not a solution. It is an admission.

Let Me Be Clear About What This Is and Is Not

I have said this before and I will say it again here. Because it matters. This is not about denying anyone’s identity. I have always supported the rights of gay, lesbian and transgender people. And there are transgender women who have genuinely transitioned and who simply want to live in peace. Many of them support reasonable boundaries. Because they understand biological reality better than anyone.

This is about something narrower and more urgent. It is about whether the state can take a biological male. With no medical transition required. No screening for who he is or what he has done. And place him in a cell with women who cannot leave. That is not a question of identity. It is a question of safety. And on that question. Women do not have to apologize for wanting an answer.

They Were Told. They Did It Anyway.

The complaint is not just an account of one assault. It is a record of warnings that went unheeded.
Eric Jackson, the superintendent of the men’s prison Williams was being transferred out of. Recommended against sending him to WCCW. His reason in writing was. Williams had a serious infraction history and a recent conviction for inflicting life threatening injuries on a female victim. WDOC moved him to WCCW anyway.
In a separate case a senior WDOC official. Deborah Wofford, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Women’s Division. Described another transferred male inmate as an “unmitigated threat to the safety of other incarcerated individuals” with “overtly threatening and aggressive behavior” that was “not typical” of the WCCW population. He was housed there too.

And WDOC’s own public messaging dismissed the danger outright. Stating that fears of violence from transgender identifying inmates are based on a “myth.” The lawsuit lays out case by case. Exactly how false that statement was.

This is not a story about one bad incident slipping through the cracks. It is a story about an agency that built a system with no real screening. Was warned by its own staff that specific individuals were dangerous and proceeded regardless. Booher-Smith says she shares a pod or unit with three of the male inmates still housed there. Men she cannot avoid while walking to chow, standing in line for food or sitting down to eat.

The Policy Itself Has No Safeguards
Under DOC Policy 490.700. An inmate seeking transfer to WCCW fills out a form asking what risk he might pose to the women already there. WDOC does not ask the female inmates who will have to live with him. There is no parallel process letting women request to be housed only with other women.
The policy does not require proof of hormone therapy. It does not require any history of medical transition. It does not ask about sexual orientation. It does not screen out men convicted of raping women. A man can check a box, declare a gender identity. And be moved into a facility where women sleep, shower and use the bathroom. Without WDOC making any meaningful inquiry into whether that claim is genuine. I said this plainly in the Olympus Spa piece. And the lawsuit confirms it in granular, document by document detail. This is not a high bar. It is no bar at all.

Women Pay Twice

The complaint also lays out something I had not previously detailed on this site. While WDOC has built formal, prioritized pathways for transgender identifying male inmates to receive sex reassignment surgeries, hormone therapy, gender affirming clothing and cosmetics. Female inmates at WCCW are according to the complaint. Routinely denied or delayed for medically necessary care. Including cancer screenings, mastectomies and hysterectomies. With that care frequently classified as “elective” or “non-urgent.” Women in the one prison built for them are told their healthcare can wait. Men transferred into that same prison are not. If true that is not a footnote to the housing issue. It is the same pattern showing up twice. An agency that has decided accommodating a gender identity claim. Takes precedence over the safety, privacy and even the basic medical needs . Of the women it was supposed to protect.

This Is Not Just Bad Policy. It Is Unconstitutional.

The lawsuit makes two claims. They track exactly what I have been arguing for a year.
The first is an Eighth Amendment claim. Prison officials violate the Constitution’s bar on cruel and unusual punishment. Think about it. Female inmates forced to be in prison with men . Forced to sleep next to men. Forced to shower with men. It is cruel. It is also cruel to force female athletes to compete against men. To have males in women’s locker rooms . It is cruel to force the women at Olympus Spa to be nude around men.

The second is an Equal Protection claim under the Fourteenth Amendment. The state is treating similarly situated people differently based on sex. Without anything close to the “exceedingly persuasive justification” the Constitution requires for that kind of distinction. Women bear the physical risk and the risk of pregnancy. Women lose access to single sex space that exists nowhere else for them in the state prison system. And per the complaint. Women lose out on medical resources that are being prioritized for the men housed alongside them. This is more than not having equal protection. This is having no protection.

Where Suzan DelBene Stands

I have said this before and I will keep saying it. Representative DelBene voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025. She cosponsors the Transgender Bill of Rights. Which would amend Title IX to do the opposite of what that law was written to do. She has had over twelve years in Congress and has never once stood up on this issue. This lawsuit is not about sports. It is about something more basic.

Whether a state can put a violent male sex offender in a cell block with women. Get warned in writing that he is dangerous and do it anyway. If that is not where a Democrat draws the line, I do not know what is. Women in WCCW were not protected by the policies of the Democratic Party . They were protected by a federal lawsuit filed by a conservative legal organization. That should embarrass every Democrat who has stayed silent on this. This is exactly why I am running. The Democratic Party has decided to throw women under the bus. For the sake of men who pretend to be women. The Democratic Party is on the wrong path. It must change course before all women abandoned it.

Kincaid is a moderate, common sense Democrat and official candidate for Congress in Washington’s 1st Congressional District. The campaign is focused on practical solutions for public safety, healthcare, economic fairness and the protection of women’s rights.

https://www.americafirstpolicy.com/issues/afpi-files-suit-challenging-washington-policy-that-houses-men-in-womens-prison

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/may/1/female-inmate-allegedly-pummeled-transgender-prisoner-sues-washington/

https://www.kincaidforcongress.com/2026/06/cruel-and-unusual-punishment-female.html