On Christmas, Ghislaine Maxwell Turned 60 In A Hellish Jail

Time in the MDC is "Worse Than Attica" According To Some Prisoners

On December 25, 2021, Ghislaine Maxwell turned 60 while confined in the Metropolitan Detention Center (“MDC”), a federal jail in Brooklyn, New York. Maxwell has been held in the MDC for over 500 days since her arrest, while awaiting trial In my experience, the MDC is one of the hardest places for a prisoner to serve time. I explain below.

What Is the MDC?

According to the Bureau of Prisons, MDC is a 1,800 bed “administrative detention center” in Brooklyn, New York that houses both men and women. It opened in the early 1990s. The vast majority of MDC prisoners are awaiting trial in either the Southern District of New York (Manhattan) or the Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn). Most of those prisoners are pre-trial detainees, who are in prison because they were not granted bail. Some other prisoners housed there are convicted felons in federal or state prison, who are transferred to the MDC because they have to appear before a judge in the SDNY or EDNY in a civil matter, usually Section 1983 civil rights cases against state officials for alleged police or prison brutality.

According to prisoners that I have represented, the MDC is Hell on Earth. I have had pro bono clients who were serving time in Attica and Sing Sing that wanted to abandon their meritorious claims for police brutality because they could not handle spending any more time in MDC.

What Is So Bad About MDC?

1. The Physical Plant Is Decrepit, Dirty and Dysfunctional

For a relatively new building, the MDC is a physical wreck. During the summer, it is too hot. During the winter, there frequently is no heat. In fact, the federal judges of the Southern and Eastern Districts made on-site visits because the heating issues persisted for weeks. The pipes frequently leak and often burst, leaving a smell of sewage hanging in the air. Rats, bugs and other vermin abound. There are few opportunities or areas for physical recreation.

2. The Prisoner Mix Is A Powder Keg - No “Prison Etiquette”

As bad as the physical conditions are at MDC, that is not what makes it a particularly hard prison. Rather, it is the mix of prisoners that makes it so rough. Because the prison population is composed of everyone who is awaiting trial, there is a mixture of hardened violent criminals who have been in and out of prison their entire lives AND first-time defendants who have no idea how to act or survive in prison.

a. Prison Etiquette Is Lacking

First-time prisoners do not understand “prison etiquette.” You might think that “prison etiquette” is an oxymoron, like “jumbo shrimp,” but if you do, you’re wrong. American prisons have informal codes of conduct that put the Court of St. James to shame. I do not pretend to know them all, but here are a few:

• Never stand behind a prisoner (unless on a line)

Standing behind a prisoner while facing him (or her) is a taken as a mortal threat. A prisoner will wheel around and immediately attack anyone facing him from behind, out of fear that he is about to get stabbed in the back.

• A hidden hand is a dangerous hand

Keeping a hand out of view (in a pocket or behind a book, shirt, jacket sleeve) is also taken as a mortal threat. The fear is that there is a shiv in the hidden hand.

• Never look another prisoner directly in the eye

If two prisoners who are not close friends lock eyes, it is a challenge to a fight. Even momentary eye contact is highly inflammatory.

• Direct address is dangerous

When Dale Carnegie said “A person’s name is to that person, the sweetest, most important sound in any language,” he was not thinking of prison. Outside of close friends, addressing another prisoner by his/her first name is considered highly disrespectful. Addressing another prisoner by his/her full name is considered confrontational. Addressing another prisoner as “Mr./Ms. [Last Name]” is sometimes OK, but other times taken as mocking.

Simple rule, if you have to get the attention of another prisoner, don’t. The only safe way to approach is through an introduction by a mutual friend.

Why does all of this etiquette matter? Because new prisoners do not know how they should act, they frequently touch off fights.

b. No sorting into minimum, medium or maximum security prisoners

The general population at MDC are not sorted into groups based upon level of dangerousness. After sentencing, the BOP separates prisoners into minimum, medium and maximum security facilities, but not before trial.

• Minimum security prisoners are usually non-violent offenders who have less than five years left on their terms. They are subjected to the fewest restrictions and have the most freedom.

• Medium security prisoners are a mix of non-violent offenders who have more than five years left on their terms and some violent offenders who have little time left to serve.

• Maximum security prisoners are the most violent and have the longest time left to serve.

The threat to be recategorized from minimum to medium security (or from medium to maximum security) is one of the key disciplinary tools for the BOP. Prisoners do not want to be upcategorized, because they lose freedom and are surrounded by more dangerous individuals. Because any fight in a minimum security prison is often met with all participants sent to a higher-security facility, prisoners in minimum security prisons are less likely to resort to violence.

But, in MDC, there is no ability to control the population by sorting them by security risk. For all intents and purposes, there are only two groups: (a) general population and (b) special housing unit (aka the “SHU” (pronounced “shoe”)). The special housing unit is population consists of (1) protective custody and (2) disciplinary cases. Prisoners do not stay in the SHU for long because of disciplinary issues, based on the theory that prisoners will become accustomed to the SHU and no longer fear it. (I am not convinced this is a wise theory). Bottom line - the prison officials have less control over the prisoners in the MDC than in most other facilities.

Maxwell’s Complaints About MDC Did Not Result In Bail

Ghislaine Maxwell’s attorneys and family have constantly raised complaints about her treatment at MDC. Her attorneys contended that her treatment at MDC was so bad as to effectively deny her the ability to prepare for trial. Her initial bail motion was denied. So was her second motion. As was her third. In all, Maxwell’s lawyers made six unsuccessful pleas for bail. Her family have filed petitions with the United Nations and Attorney General Garland, also to no avail.

Maxwell was denied bail because Judge Nathan found that she was a flight risk, given her extreme wealth, multi-national citizenship and ties to foreign countries from which she likely could not be extradited. The complaints about her treatment at MDC did not move the needle, not because anyone seriously contested that MDC is a horrible place, but rather because Maxwell’s complaints that she was being singled out for mistreatment were rejected in favor of the conclusion that she was being treated equally with all of the other prisoners with the misfortune to be held in MDC.

Conclusion

As I write this, I do not know if Ghislaine Maxwell will be convicted, acquitted or face a new trial after a hung jury. I do know that her punishment started over a year ago, when she was locked in MDC. Literally thousands of others face similar punishment. Most of them are pre-trial detainees who are presumed innocent. The system (at least in the SDNY and EDNY) does not treat them as such.