Brooklyn Prison Isn't Fit For 'Civilized Country,' Attorney Says

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — Female inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, a federal prison in Sunset Park, are forced to live in a single room inside the jail with hardly any sunlight or medical care, even in extreme situations, according to attorney Steve Zissou, who has been working for months to keep one of his clients out of the prison.

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The attorney's client, Ana Espinal, pleaded guilty in 2011 to importing cocaine into the U.S., according to court documents. Following a parole violation, Espinal was on the verge of being sent to MDC Brooklyn last October.

However, at the time, Judge Cheryl L. Pollak reportedly put that to a halt, out of concern that conditions at MDC weren't up to standard. In so doing, the judge cited a June 2016 report, written by four other judges, describing conditions for women in the prison as "unconscionable."

Espinal subsequently spent several months in MDC following another violation, Zissou said, but was released on bail in December.

Zissou said Friday that while his access to MDC has been limited to the visiting room, he's represented multiple clients who have spent time at the prison, and that they've spoken to him about conditions inside.

The attorney said both male and female inmates lack access to regular medical care. MDC does not have an on-site doctor, he said. Rather, a doctor travels to the facility once a week from the Metropolitan Correctional Center, another federal detention facility in Lower Manhattan.

"When they are seen, the level of examination is well below what any civilized country should be providing," Zissou said — especially, he added, in extreme circumstances.

Zissou said a female inmate who recently broke her foot wasn't seen by a medical professional for days. During that period, other inmates had to carry her to the bathroom, he said.

All of MDC's female inmates are being held in a single room, according to Zissou. They have no outdoor recreation, sleep in bunk beds and have minimal access to sunlight, he said.

Kristie Breshears, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Prisons, which manages the facility, could not immediately be reached for comment Friday regarding medical care at the prison. However, Breshears did confirm earlier that a total of 52 female inmates currently "live together in a common area."

(MDC's female population rose to 161 in December 2013, according to last summer's report by the four judges, after a group of women was transferred there from a facility in Danbury, Conn. that closed. Breshears said more than 80 inmates were transferred back out of MDC in December 2016 and January 2017.)

The Sunset Park jail "is a high rise correctional facility that does not have outdoor recreation space typically found in a prison," the spokeswoman said. "Instead, outside recreation was always available by virtue of a deck affixed to the building. In an effort to be responsive to the needs of our female population, the recreation areas in the female unit have been renovated to allow more natural light and fresh air."

Breshears also said inmates "are afforded numerous programs including but not limited to: Criminal Thinking; Basic Cognitive Skills; the Real Care Baby Program; Anger Management; Square One; Essential for Females; Latch Hook; Origami; Rec Aids; and Yoga."

At a Friday hearing before Judge Pollak, Espinal, who is currently living in New Jersey, agreed to enter a support program run by Samaritan Village. Judge Pollak did not speak directly to conditions at MDC during the hearing, but she did encourage Espinal to accept the arrangement in lieu of heading back to Sunset Park's notorious federal prison.

"We really don't have any options other than Samaritan Village or the MDC, which I'm sure she doesn't want to go back to," Pollak said.

Pictured at top: MDC Brooklyn. Image via Google Maps