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A $500 million<\/span> lawsuit filed Monday in Washtenaw County Circuit Court is taking aim at the Michigan Department of Corrections, alleging that prison officials subjected hundreds of incarcerated women to illegal surveillance by recording them during strip searches, while showering, and even as they used the toilet.\u00a0<\/p>\n The suit describes the violations as a profound breach of privacy and basic human rights.<\/p>\n At the heart of the case is a deeply controversial and, according to experts, unprecedented policy implemented at Women\u2019s Huron Valley Correctional Facility, the only women\u2019s prison in Michigan.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat these women continue to endure is nothing short of horrific.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n Under the Michigan Department of Corrections policy directive, prison guards were instructed to wear activated body cameras while conducting routine strip searches, capturing video of women in states of complete undress.\u00a0<\/p>\n The suit, brought by the firm Flood Law, alleges a range of abuses, including lewd comments from prison guards during recorded searches, and long-term psychological trauma inflicted on women, many of whom are survivors of sexual violence.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat these women continue to endure is nothing short of horrific. This case exposes a grotesque abuse of power that directly retraumatizes survivors of sexual assault,\u201d Todd Flood said in a Tuesday press release ahead of announcing the suit. \u201cDespite multiple warnings about the policy\u2019s illegality from advocacy organizations and state legislatures, MDOC officials have failed to fully halt these privacy violations.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Attorneys for the 20 Jane Does listed on the suit and hundreds of others on retainer argued that this practice not only deprived women of their dignity, but also violated widely accepted detention standards. No other state in the country permits such recordings;\u00a0many have explicit prohibitions against filming individuals during unclothed searches, recognizing the inherent risk of abuse and the acute vulnerability of the people being searched. Michigan, the attorneys said, stands alone.<\/p>\n The plaintiffs are suing the Michigan Department of Corrections, Department of Corrections head Heidi Washington, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and more than a dozen other high-ranking officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n Neither the Department of Corrections nor Whitmer\u2019s office immediately responded to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
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