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Shutdown Prompts Hunger Strike at Manhattan Jail as Family Visits Are Canceled
The government shutdown is causing turmoil at the high-security federal jail in Manhattan, where some prisoners went on a hunger strike on Monday after family visits were canceled for a second week because of staffing shortages, defense lawyers said.
The jail, known as the Metropolitan Correctional Center or M.C.C., is one of the most important detention centers in the federal prison system, housing about 800 detainees. At times the inmates have included accused terrorists, prominent white-collar criminals and organized crime figures like the Mexican drug lord known as El Chapo. Still, the majority are anonymous defendants awaiting trial in obscure cases.
“They have already refused a meal — I believe they refused breakfast and lunch,” said Sarah Baumgartel, a federal public defender, who said she learned of the hunger strike from a detained prisoner whom she represents. “My client is in the unit, he’s participating,” she added. She declined to identify the client, out of concern he would be singled out.
The shutdown has also affected the dispensing of medication to some prisoners in the jail. Last week, a prosecutor said at a federal court hearing in Manhattan that his office had been “informed — we don’t have any reason to dispute this — that because of the shutdown, there are issues with prescribing medication.”
The federal Bureau of Prisons did not respond to an email seeking comment about the conditions at the M.C.C.
Beyond prisoners’ social visits, the shutdown is affecting how criminal justice is administered in the federal courts in New York. For instance, lawyers have been prevented from visiting their clients at a federal jail in Brooklyn.
On Monday, a Bureau of Prisons lawyer, Adam Johnson, emailed defense lawyers to say that “due to staff shortages,” lawyers would not be able to visit their clients at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, which holds about 1,600 detainees. “We regret the inconvenience and will notify you immediately once visiting resumes,” Mr. Johnson wrote.
Indeed, on seven days this month, attorney visits at the Brooklyn jail either have been canceled entirely or for several hours, according to emails sent by the Federal Defenders of New York to the chief judges of the federal district courts in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
David E. Patton, head of the federal defender office, writing to Colleen McMahon, the chief judge of the federal court in Manhattan, said that as a result of the restrictions, his office was looking into potential legal remedies, including the possibility of making new bail requests for inmates. The office represents thousands of indigent defendants.
“We’re not talking about fancy luxury items here,” Mr. Patton said in a telephone interview.
“We’re talking about being able to converse with your attorney when you haven’t yet been convicted of a crime. We’re talking about being able to see your children or your spouse or your parents.”
“This is the absolute lowest baseline we should expect of a government when it detains people and assumes responsibility for their well-being,” he added.
Edward Friedland, a spokesman for the Manhattan federal court, said, “The court is obviously concerned with the impact that the shutdown is having on defense counsels’ ability to see their clients.” He added that the court intends to follow up with the wardens in both institutions.
Details about the hunger strike at the M.C.C. were scarce. Ms. Baumgartel said the protest may have been limited to one unit in the jail. She said that her client told her he wanted to participate in the strike “because of the importance of everyone having their visits.”
Serene Gregg, the president of a local of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents about 200 correctional workers and other staffers at the M.C.C., said that the shutdown had inflamed problems at an already severely short-staffed jail. Recreation time has been curbed or canceled, and the inmates’ access to doctors and other medical care has curtailed, she said.
Some inmates who request care, she said, are being taken out of their cells to see a physician, but then “nobody is there to see them, so they’re being sent back.”
“We are providing inadequate medical care at this point,” Ms. Gregg said. “We don’t have the medical providers to see them.”
Asked about prisoners refusing to eat, Ms. Gregg said, “There has been some pushback from inmates in terms of eating the meals provided.”
“The tensions in the building are very, very high,” she added.
The government shutdown is causing turmoil at the high-security federal jail in Manhattan, where some prisoners went on a hunger strike on Monday after family visits were canceled for a second week because of staffing shortages, defense lawyers said.
The jail, known as the Metropolitan Correctional Center or M.C.C., is one of the most important detention centers in the federal prison system, housing about 800 detainees. At times the inmates have included accused terrorists, prominent white-collar criminals and organized crime figures like the Mexican drug lord known as El Chapo. Still, the majority are anonymous defendants awaiting trial in obscure cases.
“They have already refused a meal — I believe they refused breakfast and lunch,” said Sarah Baumgartel, a federal public defender, who said she learned of the hunger strike from a detained prisoner whom she represents. “My client is in the unit, he’s participating,” she added. She declined to identify the client, out of concern he would be singled out.
The shutdown has also affected the dispensing of medication to some prisoners in the jail. Last week, a prosecutor said at a federal court hearing in Manhattan that his office had been “informed — we don’t have any reason to dispute this — that because of the shutdown, there are issues with prescribing medication.”
The federal Bureau of Prisons did not respond to an email seeking comment about the conditions at the M.C.C.
Beyond prisoners’ social visits, the shutdown is affecting how criminal justice is administered in the federal courts in New York. For instance, lawyers have been prevented from visiting their clients at a federal jail in Brooklyn.
On Monday, a Bureau of Prisons lawyer, Adam Johnson, emailed defense lawyers to say that “due to staff shortages,” lawyers would not be able to visit their clients at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, which holds about 1,600 detainees. “We regret the inconvenience and will notify you immediately once visiting resumes,” Mr. Johnson wrote.
Indeed, on seven days this month, attorney visits at the Brooklyn jail either have been canceled entirely or for several hours, according to emails sent by the Federal Defenders of New York to the chief judges of the federal district courts in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
David E. Patton, head of the federal defender office, writing to Colleen McMahon, the chief judge of the federal court in Manhattan, said that as a result of the restrictions, his office was looking into potential legal remedies, including the possibility of making new bail requests for inmates. The office represents thousands of indigent defendants.
“We’re not talking about fancy luxury items here,” Mr. Patton said in a telephone interview.
“We’re talking about being able to converse with your attorney when you haven’t yet been convicted of a crime. We’re talking about being able to see your children or your spouse or your parents.”
“This is the absolute lowest baseline we should expect of a government when it detains people and assumes responsibility for their well-being,” he added.
Edward Friedland, a spokesman for the Manhattan federal court, said, “The court is obviously concerned with the impact that the shutdown is having on defense counsels’ ability to see their clients.” He added that the court intends to follow up with the wardens in both institutions.
Details about the hunger strike at the M.C.C. were scarce. Ms. Baumgartel said the protest may have been limited to one unit in the jail. She said that her client told her he wanted to participate in the strike “because of the importance of everyone having their visits.”
Serene Gregg, the president of a local of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents about 200 correctional workers and other staffers at the M.C.C., said that the shutdown had inflamed problems at an already severely short-staffed jail. Recreation time has been curbed or canceled, and the inmates’ access to doctors and other medical care has curtailed, she said.
Some inmates who request care, she said, are being taken out of their cells to see a physician, but then “nobody is there to see them, so they’re being sent back.”
“We are providing inadequate medical care at this point,” Ms. Gregg said. “We don’t have the medical providers to see them.”
Asked about prisoners refusing to eat, Ms. Gregg said, “There has been some pushback from inmates in terms of eating the meals provided.”
“The tensions in the building are very, very high,” she added.
