Sharee Miller, a prisoner at Huron Valley Women’s Prison, was fired from her job at the prison for seeking help for mentally ill women prisoners who were being abused and neglected by the guards.
A civil rights lawsuit was filed in state court on behalf of young men who had been sent to adult prisons in Michigan when they were under the age of 18 and were sexually assaulted by adult male prisoners and female prison guards. The state moved to dismiss the case, arguing that prisoners are not protected by Michigan’s civil rights law, known as the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA), because in 1999 the Michigan legislature amended ELCRA to specifically remove prisoners from the protections of that law.
In 2013, the ACLU of Michigan won a class action lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) on behalf of Muslim prisoners whose meals did not comply with the halal requirements of Islam. Soon after this important religious freedom victory for Muslim inmates, we learned that MDOC had stopped ordering pre-packaged kosher meals for Jewish inmates. Instead, it adopted a “one size fits all” vegan diet that it claimed met the religious requirements of all religions.
Josie Mills is a prisoner in the custody of the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC). Although classified by MDOC as male, she has identified as female since she was a child. Prior to her incarceration she was diagnosed with gender dysphoria and was prescribed estrogen.
DETROIT—Concerned over potential civil-rights violations in the grisly death of Macomb County Jail inmate David Stojcevski, the ACLU of Michigan in a letter today urged US Department of Justice officials to investigate not only the fatality but also the unconstitutional “pay-or-stay” sentencing practices that landed Stojcevski in jail in the first place.
The United States is the only country in the world that sentences juveniles to life in prison without the possibility of parole. This inhumane practice is condemned throughout the world and is prohibited by international law.
Yet, in Michigan, there are over 360 prisoners who were sentenced to life without parole for offenses committed before the age of 18, including some who were as young as 14. These cases even include individuals who did not actually commit the homicide, but were convicted as an aider-and-abettor or under the “felony murder” doctrine.
At the Muskegon County Jail, male guards have routinely viewed naked or partially naked female inmates while they are showering, dressing, or using the toilet; the women have been denied feminine hygiene products, so that they bleed into their clothes; and female prisoners have rarely if ever been allowed any exercise outside of their cells.
In a disturbing new trend that has been sweeping the country, some jails are prohibiting inmates from sending or receiving any mail unless it is written on one side of a small postcard. Although most jails say they are trying to prevent contraband, few have documented any serious contraband problems with the mail system because they are already allowed to open and search all envelopes and packages that enter or exit the jail.
The Livingston County Jail has a postcard-only policy, but there is supposed to be an exception for legal mail.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan welcomes Governor Rick Snyder’s executive order establishing a commission to improve Michigan’s system for providing defense to poor people in criminal cases.
