A St. Clair County judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the county that alleged the sheriff’s department conspired with a telecommunications company to force jail inmates to use costly video conference and phone calls to visit with family by banning in-person contact visits.
In dismissing the lawsuit against the county, Sheriff Mat King, the county jail’s telecommunications company and other parties, Circuit Judge Michael West ruled “no constitutional rights are implicated in this case, fundamental or otherwise.”
Meanwhile, a Genesee County circuit judge has yet to decide on a similar lawsuit in that county, where in June Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson announced the reinstatement of in-person contact visits at the county lockup.
“The judge in St. Clair County decided that children and parents have no constitutional right to visit each other. We plan to appeal this cruel decision because we think it is plainly wrong,” Cody Cutting, an attorney with Civil Rights Corps in Washington, D.C., one of the law firms representing the plaintiffs in the cases, wrote in an email to the Free Press.
Cutting said the plaintiffs intend to appeal the St. Clair County decision, but had not done so as of Friday.
The crux of the lawsuits, reported by the Free Press in March, is the plaintiffs alleged the defendants conspired to prohibit in-person family contact as part of a scheme for the counties and the companies to make money, which the plaintiffs claimed violates Michigan law. They alleged St. Clair County allowed in-person visits until 2017 and Genesee County allowed them until 2014.
The lawsuits requested class-action status for all individuals with a parent or child detained in jails in St. Clair and Genesee counties at any point since March 15, 2021.
The St. Clair County lawsuit named the county; Sheriff King; Securus Technologies LLC and Platinum Equity LLC, a private equity firm that purchased Securus, of which Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores is chairman and CEO. The complaint also named Gores as well as Mark Barnhill, a partner at Platinum Equity, and David Abel, president and CEO of Securus and Aventiv Technologies, Securus’ parent company.
It alleged Securus pays St. Clair County 50% of the $12.99 price tag for every 20-minute video call and 78% of the 21 cents per minute cost of every phone call. The lawsuit stated the contract promised the county a revenue stream as well as a minimum guaranteed annual payment of $190,000 paid up front. The 21 cents per phone call is the maximum allowed under law, according to the lawsuit.
It alleged Securus paid the county $154,130 in 2017 in phone call commissions and the next year, with the addition of the new guaranteed payment, video call revenue, and the elimination of in-person visitation, “that number almost tripled as it climbed to $404,752. Those gains have steadily continued, reaching nearly $500,000 in 2022.”
Attorney Richmond Moore released a statement Saturday on behalf of Platinum Equity LLC.
“Although the litigation in this case is without merit, Platinum wholeheartedly supports efforts to reform business practices in the corrections services industry and has invested heavily in making connections more affordable and accessible through its investment in Securus and its parent company Aventiv,” it read. “Platinum believes that the company’s telephone and video products provide an important connection between the incarcerated and their friends and families, but those products are not intended as a replacement for in-person visitation.”
Securus Technologies responded in a statement that it “creates connections and is committed to bridging the digital divide in correctional facilities, ensuring incarcerated individuals stay in touch with loved ones while providing law enforcement with the tools to uphold their commitment to public safety.”
“The court’s dismissal of the case against us in Michigan affirms it was without merit. Our focus remains — creating meaningful and positive outcomes for the consumers we serve,” the Securus response said. “We will continue to tailor our services to the requirements of each correctional facility, offering phone and video calling services, text connections, and access to education, training, and reentry support, to encourage better outcomes for families and communities when incarcerated individuals come home.”
Todd Shoudy, an attorney representing St. Clair County and King, wrote in an email Friday: “The claim that inmates or their families have a Constitutional right to contact visits has been rejected by the United States Supreme Court and Michigan Courts for the past 30 to 40 years, and the Circuit Court Judge’s ruling was an obvious one given this legal precedent. The arguments of Plaintiffs in this case are really seeking changes in the law that are better directed to the legislative branch of government.”
Shoudy stated it was “ironic” the plaintiffs brought the lawsuit this year “at a time where the St. Clair County Jail offers, through the use of modern technology more means of communication for inmates and friends and family outside of the jail than ever before.
“Today, not only can inmates communicate with individuals outside of the jail by traditional means such as written letters and telephone calls, but inmates of the St. Clair County Jail are also given an electronic tablet upon entry into the jail,” Shoudy wrote. “Inmates can use that tablet to communicate with jail correctional officers and jail medical staff, as well as access jail policies and the law library, and rent movies and music. Those same tablets also permit inmates and those outside of the jail to communicate by text message and emails. Inmates can also receive photographs and videos of their family members to store on their tablet.”
Shoudy wrote video visitation “actually offers an easier and more reliable means of conducting free onsite visits than the old system of visits previously conducted through a glass partition.”
Under the old system, he stated, visits were limited to one visit per week supervised by a jail visitation officer, and many were cancelled because a visitor was a no-show or arrived too late. Under the new system, Shoudy wrote, the number of missed visitations has dropped dramatically.
The technology allows “an unlimited number of remote visits, for a fee, where visitors can conduct the visits literally from anywhere,” he wrote, adding inmates can remotely attend birthday parties or visit loved ones in the hospital.
Shoudy wrote the new technology also “increases the safety of inmates by restricting the flow of contraband into the jail at a time where the threat of deadly fentanyl is higher than ever before.”
The lawsuits alleged the in-person contact prohibition ensured parents and children couldn’t hug each other or look each other in the eyes and the phone and video calls cost high rates and were low quality.
Judges in the circuit courts in St. Clair and Genesee counties previously heard arguments by the plaintiffs for preliminary injunctions and motions by defendants to dismiss the lawsuits.
“In this Court’s view, no constitutional rights are implicated in this case, fundamental or otherwise. There is no liberty interest or family integrity right to association in a penal institution under the Michigan Constitution,” Judge West wrote in a July 19 opinion, adding “even if such a right were to exist and because Plaintiffs have claimed it exits, this court finds there is still no violation of Plaintiffs’ alleged constitutional rights because the jail’s policy is reasonably related to legitimate penological interests.”
The Genesee County circuit judge had not issued an opinion in that case as of Friday. A motion hearing is set for Oct. 7 in that case.
In Genesee County, Swanson announced the jail would resume in-person contact visits in July, starting with inmates and their children who were age 12 and younger, then expand to older children and adults. He also announced that he was going to look to reduce the cost of telephone calls and video visitation.
Swanson, in June, said the telephone revenue was $15,000 a month, or $180,000 a year, and was a flat revenue. For video visitation, he had said, it was around $400,000, including a tech grant.
Swanson previously said the jail had been doing in-person visits through various programs, but years ago “the in-person visits were ended and video visitations were the new norm.” He said “the family connection and the family unification is vital” and the lawsuit got his attention to move quicker.
Swanson said video visitation would continue as it is a good supplement for people who are homebound, out of state or have transportation concerns to be able to visit with their loves ones in the jail.
Contact Christina Hall: [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Judge dismisses lawsuit over lack of contact visits in jail
Amanda Smith is a dedicated U.S. correspondent with a passion for uncovering the stories that shape the nation. With a background in political science, she provides in-depth analysis and insightful commentary on domestic affairs, ensuring readers are well-informed about the latest developments across the United States.
