Federal Move Targets State’s Decision to House Double Murderer in Women’s Facility
This week, the Trump administration announced it was withdrawing all “nonessential” federal funding from the Maine Department of Corrections (DOC) due to the state’s decision to house a transgender woman, convicted of a double murder, in a women’s prison. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi revealed the move during an appearance on Fox & Friends, framing it as part of a broader effort to protect women’s safety in correctional facilities.
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The inmate in question is Andrew Balcer (now goes by Andrea Balcer), a 26-year-old man who was sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2018 for the murder of his parents, Alice and Antonio Balcer, and the family dog in Winthrop, Maine, in 2016. Balcer, who was 17 at the time of the crime, later stated he “snapped” amid fears his parents would not accept his gender transition. Initially housed in a men’s facility, Balcer was transferred to the Maine Correctional Center’s Women’s Center in Windham after receiving a gender dysphoria diagnosis and approval from a medical and administrative team, per Maine DOC policy.
Bondi described Balcer as a giant, six-foot-one, 245-pound guy and argued that allowing her to be housed with female inmates endangered their safety. “We will pull your funding. We will protect women in prison,” Bondi stated, linking the decision to President Donald Trump’s broader agenda, which includes restricting transgender individuals’ access to gender-aligned facilities and sports. While Bondi did not specify the exact amount of funding cut, a Fox News graphic suggested it exceeds $1.5 million, affecting grants for substance use disorder treatment, family engagement for incarcerated parents, and probation supervision programs.
The Maine DOC confirmed it received notice of the funding termination from the U.S. Department of Justice on April 7, though the email did not explicitly cite Balcer’s housing as the reason. The department is still assessing the impact on its services. Critics, including Jan Collins of the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition, condemned the move, arguing that defunding essential programs undermines public safety and disproportionately harms women in the prison system. “If the federal government truly cares about women, all women, they would not withdraw funding for essential programs,” Collins said.
This action marks the latest clash by the state of Maine with the Trump administratio over transgender policies. In February 2025, President Trump clashed with Governor Janet Mills at a White House event, threatening to cut federal funding unless Maine barred transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports. Mills responded defiantly, vowing to defend state laws like the Maine Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity. Since then, federal agencies have launched multiple investigations into Maine’s compliance with Title IX and other anti-discrimination laws.
Supporters of the funding cut, including Beth Parlato of the Independent Women’s Forum, praised the administration for prioritizing female inmates’ safety, calling the housing of a “male murderer” in a women’s prison a “failure of common sense.”
