The Department of Justice notified Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) that it was beginning federal investigations in Maine and California, respectively, due to those states over admitting men into women’s prisons. The investigations will assess whether each state engaged in violating the “constitutional rights of female prisoners” incarcerated at specific prisons in California and Maine.

“Today, the United States Department of Justice notified California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Maine Gov. Janet Mills of the initiation of federal investigations into California’s and Maine’s practice of housing men in women’s prisons,” read a Justice Department press release.