| Inmates in
Federal MDC Jail Denied Access to Counsel
As At Least One Is Incommunicado
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC -
Honduras
- CIA
Trial Book - NY
Mag
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
July 17 – Conditions in
New York City's Federal jail,
the Metropolitan Detention
Center in Brooklyn, have
gotten so bad that defense
lawyers have written to
Brookly Federal judge Margo
Brodie on Sunday, July 17
about them.
Inner City Press has most
recently covered restrictions
in the MDC in connection with
inmate Joshua Schulte, who
while there has been barred
by a Department of Justice
order from communication with
any media, by any means.
(See new
book here
for more: "Brutal Kangaroo:
WikiLeaks Verdict Against Josh
Schulte, and Other
Whistleblowers: Convicted of
sending the CIA's Vault 7
cyber tools to Wikileaks,
Schulte remains in jail under
DOJ SAMs. And others?," here)
But for
all inmates, access to their
defense lawyers is getting
more and more restricted,
according to the July 17
letter which we'll quote at
length:
"Dear Chief Judge
Brodie: We write on behalf of
the Federal Defenders to
provide an urgent update
regarding the ongoing
deterioration of legal access
at MDC Brooklyn. As Plaintiff
has reported in recent status
letters, issues with legal
access at MDC persist; indeed,
they appear to be getting
worse. On May 18, 2022, the
Federal Defenders reported
that miscommunications between
MDC Legal and staff,
particularly officers in the
front lobby and visiting
rooms, were causing “the
cancellation of many legal
visits, VTCs, and phone
calls.” ECF No. 324. On June
1, 2022, the Federal Defenders
recounted an incident in which
a legal department paralegal
withheld a VTC because the
client was having an
“attitude.” ECF No. 328. On
June 15, 2022, Plaintiff
reported that the MDC had
experienced several lockdowns,
which often resulted in the
MDC fully cancelling legal
visits and remote legal
access. ECF No. 330. And on
July 6, 2022, the Federal
Defenders described how a
mitigation specialist had
attempted to visit a client in
SHU, waited for two hours in a
locked room with her calls for
help going unanswered, until
she eventually left without
seeing her client. ECF No.
334. In between each of these
status letters, Plaintiff has
reported to the mediation
team, the government, and MDC
Legal frequent additional
issues with legal access,
particularly in-person
visiting.
On Friday, July
15, 2022, MDC’s interference
with legal access reached new
heights. That day, several
attorneys found themselves
trapped in the visiting room
during an undefined emergency
lockdown—with no ability to
leave (despite staff moving
about freely), speak to MDC
Legal, speak to the Warden, or
call family regarding urgent
childcare obligations. This
incident not only raises
serious questions about
clients’ Sixth Amendment
rights," etc.
And as noted in Brutal Kangaroo, First
Amendment rights as well.
Watch this site
***
Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a
month helps keep us going and grants you
access to exclusive bonus material on our
Patreon page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2022 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
