Maine’s Department of Corrections has had all nonessential funding pulled after it allowed a man who identifies as a woman into a female prison.
According to Fox News, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi made the announcement Wednesday, confirming with “Fox and Friends” host Lawrence Jones, that the Trump administration cut funding after the 6-foot-1, 245-pound male was put into general population with biological females.
Jones also asked Bondi if Trump has the authority to determine where federal funds will go.
“We can determine where that money goes — all federal money,” Bondi said. “What’s happening there is they’re not abiding by what President Trump said. They’re allowing men [in] women’s sports. And in the case right now, what we did last night, some breaking news — we pulled all nonessential funding from the Department of Corrections in Maine because they were allowing a man in a woman’s prison, a giant 6-foot-1, 245-pound guy who committed a double murder with a knife, stabbed his parents to death and the family dog, and, he identified as a woman,”
Bondi said they are protecting the women in prison, just like in women’s sports.
“So, they were letting him be housed in a female prison? No longer,” Bondi said. “We will pull your funding. We will protect women in prison. We will protect women in sports. We will protect women throughout this country. No more of that.”
The Bangor Daily News reported in January that Andrea “Andrew” Balcer, 24, would be moved out of the Maine State Prison to the female part of the Maine Correctional Institute.
Balcer was sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2018 after Balcer was convicted of stabbing his parents and the family dog to death, which Balcer blamed on his gender identity. Maine allows inmates to be housed with their preferred gender if they have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
Originally listed as a male by the Department of Corrections, records were updated since that now list Balcer as a female.
Maine has also flouted President Donald Trump’s executive order banning men from competing in women’s sports, with the president promising to cut federal funding if Maine continued to not comply.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills is also clashing with state lawmakers, with state senators saying Tuesday that allowing trans athletes to compete against biological females violates the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), as well as Title IX. Lawmakers further said the majority of adults living in Maine don’t support the policy.
“Dear Mr. President, as you know, the working people of Maine agree with your commonsense approach to protect women’s sports and spaces. We applaud your administration’s efforts to bring Maine into compliance with not only the protections for women and girls guaranteed under the nation’s landmark Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, but what has also been identified as violations of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974,” the letter read.
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