Teamsters Local Union No. 117 v. Washington Department of Corrections

OPINION

McKEOWN, Circuit Judge:

For years, Washington faced problems common to a number of states in their women’s prisons: sexual abuse and misconduct by prison guards, breaches of inmate privacy, and security gaps. A primary driver, according to prison authorities, was the lack of female corree- tional officers to oversee female offenders and administer sensitive tasks, such as observing inmates showering and dressing and performing the pat (or “pat-down”) and strip searches that are stitched into the fabric of day-to-day-prison life. After long wrestling with this gender gap, the state…