One Hundred and TwenTy Five years OF ediTOrial FreedOm
Thursday, June 2, 2016
Ann Arbor, MI
Weekly Summer Edition
MichiganDaily.com
INDEX
Vol. CXXVI, No. 118| © 2016 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com
NEWS ....................................
OPINION ...............................
ARTS ......................................
CLASSIFIEDS.........................
SUDOKU................................
SPORTS................................10
NEWS
State Senate sees
transgender bill
Democrats react in opposition
to controversial legislation
>> SEE PAGE 3
NEWS
‘U’ holds Warrior-
Scholar Project
Veterans make transition
to higher education
>> SEE PAGE
OPINION
Why you should
consider a Ph.D
A Ph.D. means a better
understanding of our
world
>> SEE PAGE 4
ARTS
Stars shine at
Boston Calling
New England music festival
gathers artists of many
different genres
>> SEE PAGE 7
SPORTS
Wolverines travel
to Oklahoma City
Michigan takes on LSU in
the College World Series
>> SEE PAGE 10
inside
2
4
6
8
2
Overcrowding and
underfunding lead
to mental health
issues in inmates
By RIYAH BASHA
Daily Summer News Editor
On the night she hung herself,
Janika Edmond asked her guards
at the Huron Valley Correctional
Facility for a suicide prevention
vest, according to her family’s
attorney David Steingold.
Edmond was 25 years old and
was nearly finished serving time
for violating parole following
past
convictions
of
assault,
breaking
and
entering
and
resisting police officers. Records
from the Michigan Department
of Corrections (MDOC) and
Steingold show Edmond spent
her sentence dealing with clinical
depression, bipolar disorder and
suicidal thoughts, all of which
were the aftermath of a deluge
of
emotional
and
financial
problems she experienced as a
child.
Steingold went on to detail
Edmond’s request on Nov. 2, 2015,
for the suicide prevention vest —
a bulky smock with straps known
as a Bam Bam suit — and prison
guards’
dismissive
reactions.
He even referenced a bet placed
by prison staff members on the
likelihood of Edmond’s success
in receiving a vest.
Just 20 minutes later, Edmond
was found hanging in a shower
area with pieces of underwear
tied around her neck. Washtenaw
County vital records confirm she
was pronounced dead at a nearby
hospital four days later on Nov. 6.
Steingold said though he is
not able to comment on the exact
details of Edmond’s death, its
causes are clear.
“Her death was occasioned
by improper action of the prison
and its employees,” he said.
Two
corrections
officers
were fired over the incident
this March, and as Steingold
gathers evidence in preparation
for a lawsuit against MDOC,
the Michigan State Police is still
conducting an investigation into
the death, which has not yet been
officially declared a suicide.
Edmond, however, was just one
of 33 suicide attempts at Huron
Valley in the last year alone, and
she was just one of 2,287 women
packed inside the facility, which
is set to receive more offenders
despite the fact that it’s already
more than 100 inmates above
capacity.
This year alone, the prison
has been in the news for stories
such as women being housed
in converted break rooms and
offices, rationing sanitary pads
and a double amputee inmate
forced to crawl to shower areas.
Though
Edmond’s
end
may
have been exceptional, many
claim her experiences suggest
common, endemic problems of
overcrowding and inadequate
inmate
resources
at
Huron
Valley.
Lack of Resources
MDOC
spokesman
Chris
Gautz emphasized that prison
officials are working to alleviate
issues of overcrowding. Since
a November Detroit Free Press
article exposed the prison for
housing women in offices and
TV rooms, Gautz said officials at
Huron Valley have devoted more
time to carving out space for
more inmates.
“We’re dealing with the space
we have available at Women’s
Huron Valley,” Gautz said. “We
had to, in some housing units,
convert
areas
that
weren’t
traditionally cells, and we’ve
been able to take a few of those
offline. We also created a new
housing unit in a newer area of
the facility that had about 90
beds. It’s a situation we continue
to monitor daily.”
Many critics are still not
satisfied. Birmingham attorney
Lynn Shecter, on behalf of
three Huron Valley inmates,
sued the state in a class action
suit in April on claims that the
overcrowding violated inmates’
basic constitutional right against
cruel and unusual punishment.
The suit, still under preliminary
consideration by state courts,
alleges the three inmates spent
up to 23 hours with multiple
cell partners in confined spaces.
Shecter emphasized that her
clients’
experiences
are
not
isolated.
“We
keep
hearing
the
same story again and again,”
Shecter
said.
“When
we
distributed a survey to find out
if (overcrowding) is a universal
problem at Huron Valley, we
discovered it is. And this has
an effect on the mental health
and attempts to rehabilitate
prisoners.”
Huron Valley’s population has
jumped by more than 17 percent
in the last five years, though the
2
454
43.9%
41.9%
14.2%
1,151
36
1
ND HIGHEST NUMBER OF
EMERGENCY ROOM
VISITS IN MICHIGAN
inmaTes On waiTing
lisT FOr ged prOgrams
crime type of all michigan inmates
nOn-assaulTive
assaulTive
drug regulaTed
inmaTes On waiTing lisT
FOr vOcaTiOnal prOgrams
Infographic by: Anjali Alangaden
suicide aTTempTs
suicide
1,884
1,952
2,010
2,287
582
624
581
544
TitleTitleTitleTitleTitleTitleTitleTitle
Prison
Staff
Prison
Population
2011
2012
2013
2014
Number of Inmates
Number of Employees
See PRISON, Page 9
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/corrections/MDOC_2014_Statistical_
Report_-_2015.07.02_493514_7.pdf
Echoes of statewide prison woes
at Huron Valley women’s facility