Justice Notes: The Longest War
A White-Collar Journal forum for criminal justice, lived experience, and the personal search for redemption
A Necessary Departure
Most of what I publish here lives squarely in the white-collar experience—preparation, adjustment, survival, and, ultimately, rebuilding. It’s a specific lane, shaped by a specific kind of sentence and a specific kind of fallout. But every now and then, something crosses my desk that makes staying in that lane feel too narrow.
A colleague in our White Collar Support Group, Gina Pendergraph, shared the essay below with me. It’s a departure from the themes you typically see here—not because it’s unrelated to incarceration, but because it confronts a dimension of it that is too often ignored, minimized, or kept out of sight altogether.
Her work takes aim at a reality that exists across the system but rarely gets the sustained attention it deserves: the vulnerability of women and transgender individuals inside prison walls, and the structural conditions that allow abuse to persist.
If you’ve read my Guide for New Inmates , you know I focus on helping people navigate what can be an overwhelming transition. But Gina’s essay is a reminder that for many, the challenge is not just adjustment—it’s basic safety.
I’m sharing it here to support Gina’s voice—and to broaden the conversation we’re having about what incarceration actually looks like, depending on who you are.
Guest Essay by Gina Pendergraph
“Sexual Abuse in Prisons: ‘The Longest War’ – Behind Bars Edition”
Guest Essay by Gina Pendergraph Re: “The Longest War”
The War That Doesn’t Stop at the Prison Gate
Sexual violence against women and transgender people is not confined to the outside world. It exists—and often thrives—inside America’s prisons, where vulnerable inmates have little protection and even less recourse.
Rebecca Solnit famously described violence against women as “the longest war.” What happens behind prison walls is not separate from that war—it is one of its most extreme battlegrounds.
A System That Enables, Not Prevents
The prison system presents itself as a structure of order and protection. But for many incarcerated women and transgender individuals, it functions very differently.
Power imbalances between staff and inmates, lack of oversight, and institutional culture create conditions where abuse is not only possible—but normalized.
This is not about isolated incidents or a handful of bad actors.
It is structural.
Transgender Inmates: The Most Vulnerable Population
Few groups face greater risk than transgender inmates.
Placed in facilities based on birth sex rather than gender identity, many are housed in environments where their vulnerability is immediate and constant. Research shows transgender individuals are dramatically more likely to experience sexual violence while incarcerated.
Reporting that abuse, however, often comes at a cost—retaliation, isolation, or transfer to even more dangerous conditions.
Silence, in this context, becomes a survival strategy.
When Laws Exist Only on Paper
The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was intended to create a zero-tolerance standard.
But implementation has been inconsistent.
Gaps in training, oversight, and enforcement leave many inmates unprotected, particularly those already marginalized. Recent funding cuts have only deepened the problem, stripping away resources meant to prevent abuse and support victims.
The result: a system that acknowledges the issue in theory, but fails to address it in practice.
FCI Dublin: A Case Study in Failure
If there is a single example that illustrates the depth of the problem, it is the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California.
Over years, widespread sexual abuse by staff went unchecked. It took a class action lawsuit to force accountability—resulting in a historic $116 million settlement for survivors.
Even then, the consequences for perpetrators fell far short of the harm inflicted.
Dublin is not an anomaly.
It is a case study.
The Myth of Safety
There is a persistent belief that incarceration, by definition, creates safety.
For many, the opposite is true.
The same cultural and institutional forces that enable violence outside prison walls do not disappear at the gate—they intensify in a closed system where accountability is limited and power is absolute.
What Real Reform Requires
Addressing this crisis requires more than acknowledgment.
It requires:
Restoring and expanding PREA funding
Rethinking housing policies for vulnerable populations
Enforcing oversight and accountability measures
Confronting the broader culture that allows gender-based violence to persist
Most of all, it requires refusing to look away.
Why This Matters Here
This platform has focused largely on helping people navigate incarceration—what to expect, how to endure it, and how to come out the other side.
But understanding prison life also means confronting its hardest truths.
For some, prison is not just a place of consequence.
It is a place of ongoing harm.
Following is a link to Rebecca Solnit’s essay, The Longest War
If this piece resonated with you, consider sharing it or leaving a comment. To support this work and help spread awareness about justice reform for white-collar defendants, subscribe to White-Collar Journal and stay connected. John DiMenna is a member of the White Collar Support Group.
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