Washington Jury Awards $150,000 to Female Inmate Housed With Violent Biological Male

A federal jury in Tacoma, Washington, awarded $150,000 in damages to former inmate Mozzy Clark for constitutional violations stemming from her placement in a cell with a biological male inmate who had a documented history of violence against women. The verdict, reached in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, found that corrections officer Gregory Brooks made an intentional decision that placed Clark at substantial risk of serious harm from sexual assault.

Clark sued the Washington State Department of Corrections and staff at the Washington Corrections Center for Women. She alleged she was forced to share a cell with Christopher Scott Williams, a 6-foot-4 biological male previously denied transfer because of his record but later approved under the state’s gender-identity housing policy. Williams had prior sexual incidents with a female cellmate and a history of violence, including an assault on a corrections officer in a men’s facility, according to the complaint and related reporting.

The jury concluded Brooks failed to take reasonable measures to abate the risk despite subjective awareness of it, and that his action or inaction caused Clark’s injuries. It did not find the conduct malicious, oppressive, or in reckless disregard. A separate negligence trial against the department is scheduled for February 2027.

Under Washington DOC policy, requests for “gender-affirming housing” are reviewed case-by-case, with officials directed to consider history of violent infractions, sexual abuse, and predatory behavior. Roughly 2 percent of the women’s facility population is reported as transgender. Clark alleged that staff discouraged complaints, told her that objecting could be treated as a hate crime, and suggested suicide watch as the only separation option. Brooks allegedly laughed off earlier reports and described Williams as known to trade sex for “a bag of chips.”

The case sits within a broader pattern of litigation against policies that prioritize self-identified gender over biological sex in prisons, shelters, and sports. Washington and Colorado voters recently approved measures restricting males in girls’ sports, while the state continues to defend its prison policy in court. The Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism and America First Policy Institute have pursued related challenges; the Justice Department previously opened a civil-rights probe of the facility.

Amie Ichikawa of Woman II Woman, which advocates for female inmates, said the verdict acknowledges that housing predatory males in women’s prisons is a female human-rights violation. State officials have argued the policy is individualized and that Clark suffered no injury traceable to it—an argument the jury rejected on the constitutional claims. A second female inmate has also alleged assault by the same male.

The $150,000 award is described by some advocates as modest relative to the alleged harm, but it establishes a jury finding that the placement created substantial risk. Further damages may be pursued in the negligence phase. The outcome arrives as several states face voter pushback against gender-identity policies in single-sex spaces, even as some Democratic officials seek to maintain or expand them.