The embattled director of the Michigan Department of Corrections is defending conditions inside the state prisons.Heidi Washington, who is facing calls for removal over treatment of female prisoners, on Thursday wrote a letter to US Rep. Debbie Dingell claiming that her department “has established itself as a national leader” and “prisoner grievances” are common.“We recognize that prison remains a complicated and at times challenging environment, particularly as many in the population we serve have increasingly complex needs,” Washington wrote.Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, urged Whitmer to intervene after three women at the facility died within a month of one another.“No one should be subjected to conditions that threaten their health and well-being,” Dingell wrote. “But for years, there have been alarming reports of the condition of and treatment facing women in custody at the facility.”
In her letter, Dingell requested nearly a dozen pieces of information, including the number of grievances filed by inmates over the past five years, how often the prison is tested for mold, the number of deaths at the facility over the last decade and how those deaths are investigated.
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In response, Washington said health care-related grievances filed by inmates have remained flat over the last five years, with 12 in 2021 and six so far this year, about halfway through the year. The number of grievances related to confinement has also remained relatively stable during that time.
