The Justice Department initiated an investigation last week into California’s mixed-sex prison housing policy, which places biological males in women’s correctional facilities, after a federal judge struck down a legal challenge to the state’s transgender placement practices.

DOJ officials notified Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) on Thursday of the federal investigation that will determine whether California’s Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act, a law allowing biologically male prisoners, including fully intact sex offenders, to be housed with women based on self-asserted gender identity, violates the constitutional rights of female inmates.