Women prisoners say officers’ body cameras recorded them naked
By Zach Gorchow
Gongwer News Service
A policy begun in January at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility where corrections officers wore body cameras triggered a class-action lawsuit representing 20 inmates seeking at least $500 million because the cameras allegedly recorded them naked in violation of state law.
The lawsuit, Jane Doe 1-20 v. Whitmer, was filed in the Washtenaw Circuit Court and named a large number of Department of Corrections staff and officials as defendants, including Director Heidi Washington.
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Todd Flood, said the case could eventually include as many as 500 women.
Body cameras have become a popular tool for police and law enforcement to wear to provide footage that can provide clear evidence to help prove or disprove misconduct allegations. But the lawsuit says the cameras recorded inmates at the Women’s Huron Valley while their buttocks, genitalia, or both, were exposed. It is a felony to record prisoners’ buttocks or genitalia without their permission.
The lawsuit asserts that advocates for the inmates advised the prison warden, Jeremy Howard, and Corrections Deputy Directory Jeremy Bush of the situation on February 17, 2025. The lawsuit contends Bush, after the plaintiffs’ law firm escalated concerns in the following days to Washington and legislators, defended the practice, arguing the footage could only be saved or reviewed in limited scenarios. Among the legislators who expressed concern were Sen. Sue Shink (D-Northfield Township) and Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia).
Shink is the chair of the Senate Appropriations Corrections and Judiciary Subcommittee .
Then on March 24, the department amended its policy to require body cameras be placed in sleep mode during routine strip searches. The lawsuit says the department’s male prisons did not use body cameras during strip searches.
The lawsuit says the department’s legislative liaison, Kyle Kaminski, wrote that the updated policy would now require body cameras to be placed in sleep mode during routine strip searches and some health care settings.
“This belated policy change represented a tacit admission that the prior practice had been improper,” the lawsuit says. “However, by that point, all plaintiffs had already been subjected to multiple recorded strip searches, causing psychological harm that continued even after the policy was amended. Furthermore, as detailed in plaintiffs’ individual allegations, even after the official policy change, corrections officers flagrantly continued to record women in states of undress, demonstrating the deeply entrenched culture of voyeurism and disregard for women’s dignity.”
The lawsuit accuses the department of violating the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.
It also notes the lengthy history of women facing sexual abuse in Michigan prisons.
A message left with the department seeking comment was not immediately returned.
The issue did surface during a Tuesday meeting of the House Appropriations Corrections and Judiciary Subcommittee . Pohutsky asked Kaminski about the use of body cameras during strip searches. Kaminski said the department changed the policy, and cameras are no longer passively recording.
—————
Elena Durnbaugh contributed to this story.
Gongwer News Service
A policy begun in January at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility where corrections officers wore body cameras triggered a class-action lawsuit representing 20 inmates seeking at least $500 million because the cameras allegedly recorded them naked in violation of state law.
The lawsuit, Jane Doe 1-20 v. Whitmer, was filed in the Washtenaw Circuit Court and named a large number of Department of Corrections staff and officials as defendants, including Director Heidi Washington.
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Todd Flood, said the case could eventually include as many as 500 women.
Body cameras have become a popular tool for police and law enforcement to wear to provide footage that can provide clear evidence to help prove or disprove misconduct allegations. But the lawsuit says the cameras recorded inmates at the Women’s Huron Valley while their buttocks, genitalia, or both, were exposed. It is a felony to record prisoners’ buttocks or genitalia without their permission.
The lawsuit asserts that advocates for the inmates advised the prison warden, Jeremy Howard, and Corrections Deputy Directory Jeremy Bush of the situation on February 17, 2025. The lawsuit contends Bush, after the plaintiffs’ law firm escalated concerns in the following days to Washington and legislators, defended the practice, arguing the footage could only be saved or reviewed in limited scenarios. Among the legislators who expressed concern were Sen. Sue Shink (D-Northfield Township) and Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia).
Shink is the chair of the Senate Appropriations Corrections and Judiciary Subcommittee .
Then on March 24, the department amended its policy to require body cameras be placed in sleep mode during routine strip searches. The lawsuit says the department’s male prisons did not use body cameras during strip searches.
The lawsuit says the department’s legislative liaison, Kyle Kaminski, wrote that the updated policy would now require body cameras to be placed in sleep mode during routine strip searches and some health care settings.
“This belated policy change represented a tacit admission that the prior practice had been improper,” the lawsuit says. “However, by that point, all plaintiffs had already been subjected to multiple recorded strip searches, causing psychological harm that continued even after the policy was amended. Furthermore, as detailed in plaintiffs’ individual allegations, even after the official policy change, corrections officers flagrantly continued to record women in states of undress, demonstrating the deeply entrenched culture of voyeurism and disregard for women’s dignity.”
The lawsuit accuses the department of violating the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.
It also notes the lengthy history of women facing sexual abuse in Michigan prisons.
A message left with the department seeking comment was not immediately returned.
The issue did surface during a Tuesday meeting of the House Appropriations Corrections and Judiciary Subcommittee . Pohutsky asked Kaminski about the use of body cameras during strip searches. Kaminski said the department changed the policy, and cameras are no longer passively recording.
—————
Elena Durnbaugh contributed to this story.
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
https://www.legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
