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CITING IMPROVED CONDITIONS, JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SEEKS TO DISMISS

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Citing improved conditions at two Michigan correctional facilities, the Justice Department today asked a federal court to dismiss a 1997 suit that it filed against the state seeking to protect female inmates from sexual assaults, sexual harassment, and unnecessary invasions of privacy. The court granted the request this afternoon.

The move to dismiss follows an agreement filed last May in U.S. District Court in Detroit, in which the state, among other things, agreed to conduct more extensive pre-employment screening of staff, implement new training programs for employees and create new education programs for inmates at the Crane and Scott Correctional facilities, located in Plymouth and Coldwater respectively.

As part of the agreement, the parties agreed to dismiss the suit if an expert, who toured the facilities and reviewed the state's progress, determined that Michigan was in substantial compliance with the provisions of the agreement. The expert found substantial compliance in a report dated February 25, 2000.

"We are pleased that years of work on this case has brought necessary change to Michigan's women's prisons," said Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "This follows our successful resolution of our action against the state of Arizona for sexual misconduct in its women's prisons. We remain committed to protecting the rights of women to be free from sexual misconduct while in jail or prison."

The Justice Department began looking at Michigan's facilities in June 1994, after receiving complaints about alleged misconduct by staff. In March 1997, it sued the state under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA), enacted in 1980 to protect the rights of people housed in state and local governmental institutions, including state prisons.

As part of its investigation, the Justice Department interviewed hundreds of inmates, participated in the depositions of more than 170 inmates and approximately 70 employees, and reviewed thousands of documents, including investigation reports, and inmate and employee files.

In an effort to comply with the agreement, Michigan took many important steps, including implementing significant new policies and procedures, creating more extensive pre-employment screening of staff, and setting up new training programs for staff and education programs for inmates. In addition, under the agreement, the state:

• hired a Special Administrator to receive confidential complaints from inmates and oversee the Department of Corrections' efforts to respond to these issues;
• improved investigation procedures and training, increased monitoring and security in secluded areas of the prisons and made many physical plant changes;
• instituted a program of random interviews of inmates to identify problems of misconduct;
• now makes personal, individual offers of psychological services to inmates who report misconduct;
• now requires male staff to knock and announce their presence before entering areas where they could view women in a state of undress and forbids male staff from being alone with female inmates, except in special circumstances;
• created a useful complaint tracking system, which can be used by investigators, administrators and human resources staff to monitor complaints and the outcome of investigations; and,
• re-examined its staffing patterns with the goal of increasing female staff presence in the housing units, and will implement changes to meet this goal.

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