Law Offices of Patricia A. Streeter
  Attorney at Law

This page last revised January 4, 2011

For more information on prisoner rights litigation in general, see the website of the National Prison Project of the ACLU Fund.
For prisoner advocacy in Michigan, see the website of the American Friends Service Committee Criminal Justice Program: www.prisoner advocacy.org.

Jones v. Bock
Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies for Prisoner Cases
(The United States Supreme Court Overrules the Sixth Circuit’s Interpretation of the PLRA)

In 1995, Congress passed the Prison Litigation Reform Act, a law intended to make it harder for prisoners to file lawsuits challenging prison conditions as illegal or unconstitutional. On January 22, 2007 the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appeals court for Michigan federal courts (and several other states) overstepped its bounds. The Supreme Court found that that the obstacles created by the lower courts could not be fairly viewed as a correct interpretation of the Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Click here for the Jones v. Bock opinion.

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The following are updates on decisions in cases in which Ms. Streeter is an attorney of record, Hadix v. Caruso and Mason v. Granholm:

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Recent Activity in Hadix v. Caruso

Appellate Argument October 20, 2010, Decision Pending
Mental Health Issues - Trial Proceedings April 27-29 and June 11-12, 2008
Post-Trial Briefing Completed July 31, 2008
Closing Argument in the trial court held August 8, 2008
Judge Jonkers’ Decision Dismissing Mental Health Issues from the case, March 31, 2009
Ruling of the Sixth Circuit is Pending (as of January 3, 2011)

Five days of trial concluded on June 12, 2008 before the Honorable Robert J. Jonker, United States District Court Judge, sitting in the Western District Court in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The scope of the hearing was based on the November 13, 2006 order and opinion, reinstating the mental health issues in this case. In the month of July 2007, Plaintiffs’ mental health experts toured the Hadix facilities and filed their reports on August 24, 2007. Since that time, the Southern Michigan Prison (JMF) was compltetely closed, and the case has proceeded on mental health issues as they relate to the Egeler Facility, including the Reception Center, C-Unit, and the Duane Waters Health Center (which is no longer an unaccredited hospital, but an unaccredited skilled nursing center).

On March 31, 2009, Judge Jonker decided the issues against the plaintiffs,dismissing the mental health issues from the case. Plaintiffs appealed, and an appeal is pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Court. The main documents relating to these issues are linked on our Hadix v. Caruso page.

Mason v. Granholm
(U.S. District Court Judge Finds the 2000 Amendment to
Michigan’s Civil Rights Act Violates the U.S. Constitution)

The Plaintiffs in this case were a group of women prisoners who have suffered sexual assault and discrimination by male staff of the MDOC. This case was dismissed as part of a global settlement involving other cases, but the order of Judge O’Meara stands. In their pretrial motions, plaintiffs successfully challenged the March 10, 2000 amendment to the Michigan Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (“ELCRA”) that excludes prisoners from protection from discrimination.

The ELCRA provides, in part, that “the full and equal utilization of public accommodations, public service, and educational facilities without discrimination because of religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status, or marital status as prohibited by this act, is recognized and declared to be a civil right.” M.C.L. §37.2102(1). The statute also provides that a person shall not:

Deny an individual the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of a place of public accommodation or public service because of religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, or marital status.

M.C.L. § 37.2302(a).

In a January 23, 2007 decision, Judge John Corbett O’Meara found this amendment unconstitutional as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. The MDOC’s motion for a stay pending an appeal was denied on March 8, 2007. The order was never appealed, and the dismissed as part of the global settlement mentioned above.

Click here for the January 23, 2007 Mason opinion and order.