On March 21, 1994, the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) notified the state of Michigan that it intended to investigate the conditions of confinement the Wayne County Youth Home (later called Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility [WCJDF]), a juvenile detention facility in Detroit, Michigan, pursuant to the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA), 42 U.S.C. § 1997 et seq.
The investigation was to focus on allegations regarding physical and psychological abuse of residents; failure to properly investigate and curtail sexual abuse of residents by staff; improper disciplinary practices; inadequate staffing and supervision; inadequate medical care, mental health care, and suicide prevention measures; environmental health and safety deficiencies; lack of classification; overcrowding; inadequate access to telephones, mail, general reading material and legal books; and inadequate educational services.
On December 21, 1994, the DOJ issued its findings letter, wherein it described numerous conditions at the WCJDF that violated the constitutional and federal statutory rights of the juveniles detained there. Those conditions included the areas of (1) operational, management, staffing, and programming deficiencies; (2) inadequate medical care, mental health care, dental healthcare, and suicide prevention measures; (3) serious environmental and health deficiencies and (4) numerous fire safety deficiencies. The DOJ outlined minimal remedial measures that the WCJDF needed to immediately undertake to correct the problems.
On November 8, 1993, the County of Wayne, Michigan and the Wayne County Youth Home, filed a lawsuit against the Probate Court in the Circuit Court for the County of Wayne pursuant to Michigan state law. The plaintiffs, represented by corporate counsel for the county, operated and funded the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility and alleged that the manner in which the Probate Court operated the JDF created severe overcrowding. The complaint requested that the court issue a writ of superintending control/prohibition giving plaintiffs discretion to control the population of the JDF.
On June 16, 1995, Wayne County and the Wayne County Youth Home filed for a second writ of superintending control over the Probate Court. Plaintiffs filed for this second writ because the population limits set in the agreement were never followed, and the probate court consistently took longer than the agreed upon time to process paperwork for either releasing juveniles or for transferring them to state custody. Plaintiffs requested that the court declare that the director of the JDF had the exclusive power to establish and maintain the maximum capacity of the facility and that the Probate Court be required to involve the director in all decisions to admit juveniles.
On June 21, 1995 the parties entered into a preliminary agreement to cap the JDF's population at 175. The agreement specifically detailed the procedures that would be followed to ensure that the population stays under this number. The agreement also provided for fifty electronic monitors to be used for lower risk juveniles that were released to meet population limits. We do not have any further information about the case.
Emilee Baker - 05/16/2006
Dan Dalton - 02/25/2007
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