Families sue the MDOC? That’s a surprise!

Perhaps you saw the story in the news last week: Families of four dead inmates sue state over unsafe prison railings. 

Is it any wonder? 

Paul Egan, fine writer for the Detroit Free Press, has been doing an excellent job of following this story for years. It’s not a very nice one. 

This new lawsuit alleges that officials knew prison railings at two Jackson-area facilities were unsafe for years and did nothing. The Detroit Free Press has documented six fatal inmate falls from upper galleries and four falls causing injuries at these 2 prisons in Jackson, beginning in 2020. The MDOC ruled 4 of the deaths as suicide. The other 2 were said to be accidental falls. 

“The lawsuit notes that, as first reported by the Free Press, an MDOC employee in 2023 complained to the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration that the height of the railings was unsafe and that the MDOC's response to the complaint was that no hazard existed,” says Paul Egan.

Now there’s legal action, taken on behalf of: Rocky Hiemstra, who was 51 when he died from apparent suicide by going over the fourth-level railing at the Charles E. Egeler Reception and Guidance Center in 2022; Michael Muldermans, who was 72 when he died from apparent suicide at Egeler in 2023; Wesley Snyder, who was 37 when he died from apparent suicide by going over the fourth-level railing at Parnall Correctional Facility in 2044; and Devin Hurst, who was 26 when he died from an apparent accidental fall from a third-level gallery at Egeler in April of this year. 

Paul Egan quotes Ann Arbor attorney Ian Cross, one of two attorneys filing the lawsuit: "The state knew for years that the gallery railings at its Jackson prison facilities were not preventing prisoners from falling four stories onto a concrete floor. Each of the four families that we represent lost someone, and all of these tragedies could have been avoided if the state had taken action the first time a prisoner fell to his death from the upper gallery." 

No question about it: The state took a long time to do something about it. Again quoting the Freep: “Not until this year did the MDOC start to take significant action to improve the safety of the railings, after lawmakers last November appropriated $10 million to pay for the work at Egeler and Parnall.” 

The suit alleges cruel or unusual punishment and seeks unspecified damages for survivors of the four inmates. 

The other 2 fatal falls are not part of the lawsuit.

Both the MDOC and the government of the State of Michigan are at fault. 

The evils of government are directly proportional to the tolerance of the people---Frank Kent. 

Four families are tolerating it no more.

 

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