In what can only be described as a massive invasion of privacy, a lawsuit has been filed accusing the Michigan Department of Corrections of instructing guards to illegally record female inmates during strip searches at the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility. According to a CBS News Detroit report, the $500 million lawsuit states that from January to March 2025, about 500 women were recorded naked against state law.
The suit, filed in Washtenaw County Circuit Court, names Governor Gretchen Whitmer and multiple MDOC officials. As reported by WXYZ, allegations include Invasion of Privacy, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, and Sex-Based Discrimination under Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. From showers to toilets, the recordings spanned a variety of intimate settings. After advocacy groups and legislators warned about the policy's illegality, the MDOC allegedly allowed the recording of these strip searches to continue until late March.
Attorney Todd Flood, representing the plaintiffs, has expressed the depth of the violation incurred by these individuals. "What these women continue to endure is nothing short of horrific," Flood said in a statement reported by multiple publications, including CBS News Detroit. The majority of the women, who are rape survivors, were allegedly subjected to psychological damage and humiliation due to this practice. Flood described the guards' lewd remarks during the invasive searches, contributing to the emotional distress faced by the women.
