The Court of Appeals
decided the case, John Does 1-7 v.
Department of Corrections. Wednesday, ruling against the juvenile inmates
who claimed the state did not do its duty to protect them from sexual assault. The
case, which could be incredibly costly for the state, has now been heard by
both state and federal courts; however, a federal case is still pending and the
plaintiffs in the case promised to appeal the decision handed down Wednesday.
While the state had
previously been on the losing end of the case in both the Washtenaw Circuit
Court and the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court ordered the case back to the
Court of Appeals, requiring them to consider the state’s appeal. During the
case’s second time before the Court of Appeals, Judge Michael Riordan, Judge
Pat Donofrio, and Judge Jane Beckering, ruled unanimously in favor of the
state’s motion for summary judgment. The ruling came based on the plaintiffs’
failure to comply with a requirement to disclose the number of previous
lawsuits that had been filed. This requirement, found in the Prison Litigation
Reform Act, was ignored as the plaintiffs only counted the filings immediately surrounding
the case.
The judges did not
remain unanimous on all issues though, as a 2-1 split was reached on the issue
of the juvenile prisoners suing the state under the Elliott-Larsen Act. While
the act was amended to exclude prisoners, a U.S. District Court ruled that move
to be unconstitutional; however, the state did not appeal the loss to the
Supreme Court and continues to enforce the act in such a manner that excludes
prisoners.
While the Department
of Corrections celebrated the Court of Appeals’ ruling, the case is not over
yet as the federal case is scheduled for a hearing on September 21 in the U.S.
District Court.