Michigan Legislature Denies Inmates Have Rights

(12/8/99) --- In an unprecedented move, the Michigan Legislature today passed a law declaring people detained in its jails, prisons and juvenile detention centers are not "persons" entitled to basic human rights protection.

This effort by the state to shield itself from responsibility must be overturned immediately. Instead of denying prisoners their rights, Michigan needs to end the abuses in its prisons. Regan Ralph, executive director of the women's rights division of Human Rights Watch

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The Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) has been repeatedly criticized for failing to stop abuses in its prisons and recently settled a federal case concerning sexual abuse of women prisoners. In the face of several other lawsuits, the Michigan Department of Corrections successfully lobbied the Michigan Legislature to declare that all people incarcerated in the state, including juveniles and pre-trial detainees, cannot seek legal redress for violations of their human rights. The result was the bill passed today.  
 
"This effort by the state to shield itself from responsibility must be overturned immediately," said Regan E. Ralph, director of the women's rights division of Human Rights Watch. "Instead of denying prisoners their rights, Michigan needs to end the abuses in its prisons."  
 
Both the house and the senate rushed through the bill giving the public little time to react to the proposal. The legislation amends the state's two principal civil rights laws: the persons with disabilities act and the Elliot-Larsen act protecting people from discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion, ethnic origin, age, or marital status. The bill contravenes Michigan's constitution, which, consistent with international human rights principles, guarantees equal protection of the law and prohibits discrimination.  
 
Michigan's strategy of denying abuses and stifling criticism is consistent with past practices in which MDOC denied federal investigators access to its women's prison and attacked the credibility of those documenting abuses in prisons. Human Rights Watch has issued two major reports on sexual abuse in the women's prisons in recent years. Other activists, journalists, and international monitors have also documented sexual abuse, retaliation, and discrimination in Michigan's prisons. The retroactive effect of this bill means that current lawsuits against the corrections department will in all likelihood be thrown out.