Michigan Department of Corrections

Michigan Department of Corrections

 

A circuit court judge in Ann Arbor has ordered the state to enter into settlement negotiations with hundreds of women who claim that they were sexually assaulted while serving time in Michigan prisons.

In his Jan. 6 order, Judge Timothy Connors noted that the case has been ongoing for 13 years with two juries having already awarded up to $60 million in damages to 18 women. With approximately 482 claimants still to be heard, he wrote, the matter “represents significant future expense.”

For 13 years, current and former inmates have sought damages and reforms from the prison system, which they say failed to stop a “culture of abuse” with rampant sexual violation and intimidation.

Throughout the case, the attorney general’s office, which is representing the Department of Corrections, has objected to settlement discussions, calling them “an exercise in futility.”

“While the Attorney’s Office indicates that they ‘may’ consider participating after a ruling from the Court of Appeals on the first trial,” Connors wrote, “they have also indicated that they may not participate until all State and Federal appellate processes are exhausted. Such a plan insures increased rather than decreased costs.

“Over the objection of the Attorney’s office this case is ordered into [Alternative Dispute Resolution]… the parties are ordered to engage in ‘responsible and effective participation’ pursuant to the Court Rule.”

Deborah LaBelle, the Ann Arbor attorney who represents the women in the case, expressed satisfaction with the judge’s order.

“We always have been interested in settling,“ she said.

LaBelle said that further verdicts against the state are likely if the cases continue to go to trial. She cited two recent cases that the state lost to her clients. In February 2008, an Ann Arbor jury awarded $15.4 million plus attorney’s fees and interest to 10 women who gave accounts of sexual abuse at Scott Correctional facility in Plymouth. In November 2008, another Ann Arbor jury ruled in favor of eight women who were assaulted and raped by guards at Crane Correctional facility in Coldwater.

After awarding damages in the first trial, the jury took the unusual step of issuing an apology to the women. Its members stated, “We, the members of the jury, as representatives of the citizens of Michigan, would like to express our extreme regret and apologies for what you have been through.”

The litigation against the state has resulted in some improvements in prison conditions for women, LaBelle said. Male guards no longer patrol housing units for female prisoners and are no longer permitted to do body searches. But further changes are necessary, she said, because assaults are ongoing in the prison system.

LaBelle said that her clients want increased supervision of prison staff and adequate investigation when woman claim harassment or assault.

Female inmates also need better access to treatment, she said.

“There are a lot of women in there who have been victims of assault who are not getting adequate treatment, and there are women who are released without getting this.”

Untreated sexual trauma can contribute to recidivism, she said.

The state attorney general’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Marlin was unaware of Connor’s order when contacted on Tuesday.

Marlin disputed LaBelle’s figures on the cost of the lawsuit to the state — he put the amount ordered paid to the women at $43.4 million rather than more than $60 million — and he said that he is confident that the money will never be paid out.

“We are confident that these cases will be turned over in Court of Appeals,” he said. “These judgment are legally invalid.”

The state Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear an appeal of the first case settled in favor of the women on Jan. 13.

Marlin said that the state should not be held responsible for failing to respond to assaults at the women’s prisons because many of the allegations were never reported to the prison system. Additionally, he said, the statute of limitations has expired for some crimes that took place more than a decade ago.

This week the Detroit Free Press is running an indepth series on the case with video of the women’s testimony and a report by Human Rights Watch on sexual assault in the state prison system.