DOJ to investigate Maine over transgender inmate at Windham women’s prison
By Russ Reed
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WINDHAM, Maine (WMTW) — The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday that it notified Maine Gov. Janet Mills of the beginning of a federal investigation into whether the state engages in a pattern or practice of housing transgender inmates who were assigned male at birth in women’s prisons.
The DOJ said it will specifically investigate allegations that Maine has allowed a transgender inmate who was assigned male at birth to remain housed with women at the Maine Correctional Women’s Center in Windham despite complaints that the transgender inmate has assaulted or harassed several female inmates.
The Justice Department also said it will launch a similar investigation in California and has notified Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“Keeping men out of women’s prisons is not only common sense — it’s a matter of safety and constitutional rights,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “The Trump administration will not stand by if governors are facilitating the abuse of biological women under the guise of inclusion.”
“Incarcerated individuals can be particularly susceptible to having their rights violated,” Andrew B. Benson, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maine, said in a statement. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to protecting the civil rights of all Maine citizens, no matter where they live, and will work with our colleagues in the Civil Rights Division to ensure that this vulnerable population is protected from harm while housed in state custody.”
The DOJ noted that it has not reached any conclusions regarding allegations in these matters.
“Despite the Department of Justice’s claims, this is yet another politically motivated, predetermined investigation designed to target states that stand up to the Trump administration and its abuses,” a spokesperson for Mills said in an email to Maine’s Total Coverage political reporter Jackie Mundry.
“The Department of Corrections takes resident safety concerns very seriously. Anytime a resident makes a report of physical violence or harassment to staff, the department investigates,” a Maine Department of Corrections spokesperson said in an email to Mundry. “If the conduct that occurred rises to the level of a crime, it is referred to the [District Attorney] for prosecution. If it violates the department’s disciplinary policy, the residents involved are disciplined.”
The announcement from the Justice Department comes nearly a year after Bondi said all nonessential federal funding had been pulled from the Maine Department of Corrections because a transgender inmate was being held in a women’s prison. Bondi made that announcement during an appearance on the Fox News program “Fox & Friends” on April 8, 2025. A graphic run during the interview showed that the Maine DOC was losing more than $1.5 million in federal grants.
Bondi did not mention the inmate by name, but did say the inmate had killed their parents and a dog in a stabbing.
Maine’s Total Coverage previously covered a double-murder case in which the convict was transgender. Andrea Balcer, who went by Andrew at the time of the crime in October 2016, was sentenced to 40 years in prison in December 2018, nearly three months after pleading guilty to stabbing their parents and the family’s dog to death.
A search of the Maine DOC online database on Thursday shows Andrew Balcer, who has a listed alias of Andrea Balcer, is serving a sentence at the Maine Correctional Women’s Center in Windham.
The Women’s Center is in a separate housing unit of the Maine Correctional Center in Windham and has a capacity of 86 inmates, according to the Department of Corrections.
Days after the nonessential federal funding for the Maine Department of Corrections had been pulled, Bondi announced that the DOJ had filed a lawsuit against the Maine Department of Education. Bondi argued that Maine violated Title IX by allowing transgender athletes who were assigned male at birth to compete in girls’ sports.
Mills and her administration have argued Maine has allowed transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports in order to be in compliance with state law, namely the Maine Human Rights Act.
The Maine Department of Education has argued the Title IX case was one made in political retaliation after Mills challenged President Donald Trump during a February 2025 confrontation over transgender athletes participating in women’s and girls’ sports. That heated exchange happened during a National Governors Association event at the White House, during which Mills told Trump: “We’ll see you in court.”
A judge has ordered both sides to be ready for the Title IX case to go to trial by April 1.
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