Respected Judge Rosemary Pooler, who serves on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, just wrote that “[p]rolonged solitary confinement is one of the true horrors of the modern-day penal system.” Pooler was describing a prison in Italy designed for members of the Mafia convicted of murder or tampering with witnesses.
But those convicted inmates have more freedom than Ghislaine Maxwell, who has been imprisoned without bond on 25-year old allegations which she adamantly denies, and who under the American system is presumed innocent. Those Mafia members can watch TV, socialize with other inmates for an hour a day, and exercise outside for an hour a day. Even those conditions, Pooler explained, amount to torture over time. Yet they sound like a day spa compared to what Maxwell is experiencing in the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Italy treats its convicted murderous mobsters better than we treat a 59-year old woman who is a citizen of the United States and never before accused of a crime.
Although I speak on behalf of Maxwell’s family, no objective person could honestly defend the conditions of her confinement. For seven months, Maxwell has been detained by herself in a 6 foot by 9 foot room with a toilet and a mattress. The water from the sink is brown. She does not have the ability to interact with other detained individuals, exercise outside or even have any exposure to the outside world. Guards point a flashlight into her isolation cell every 15 minutes during the night, making sleep highly difficult. She is under 24-hour surveillance by guards and 18 cameras.
This is not because of any prison misbehavior by her, but because the prison was negligent with respect to Jeffrey Epstein and he died.
Others accused of more serious sexual crimes, but not saddled by the Epstein effect, have traditionally been released on bond. Not only has Maxwell been denied bond, she essentially has been placed in solitary confinement.
Maxwell shouldn’t be detained at all pretrial, let alone under these conditions. Some readers, following the skewed coverage, will say she must be guilty and therefore should sit in prison. For those of you thinking that, please keep in mind that Ghislaine Maxwell has never previously been charged or convicted of any crime. She is accused in this case of events that are alleged to have occurred more than two decades ago. Her three accusers have never been cross-examined under oath about what happened.
In fact, prosecutors have fought to keep their identities secret even from Maxwell’s legal team until shortly before trial, presumably so that no meaningful investigation can be conducted.
Although supposedly known to the anonymous accusers, Maxwell was never mentioned, accused or implicated during previous investigations of Epstein. She was only added years later, after he died.
Many of her accusers, both public and anonymous, have a financial motive to point the finger at her, particularly now that Epstein is gone. “Fictionalized” book deals abound. Even the lawyer for many of the accusers is making deals. While there has been a rush to report the uncorroborated accusations, the accusers have refused to answer questions, and frankly, reporters haven’t really been asking. Instead, the reporters are fighting over their share of the profits.
Unfortunately, in Maxwell’s case, the court of public opinion and a ravenous news media seem to be overwhelming the rule of law. The real theory of prosecution is that she must be guilty simply because she was associated with Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell will have the opportunity at trial to show why the prosecution’s abhorrent guilt-by-association-with-Jeffrey-Epstein-theory is wrong. But predicating her torturous conditions of confinement on the fact that some other inmate ended up dead in detention is not only preposterous, but shameful.
Our system of justice and fairness, both in the courtroom and in advance of any trial, is premised on the idea of giving the benefit of the doubt to the accused. But this case has turned that principle upside down.
Sadly, many have already convicted Maxwell and are fine with her being held in crushing conditions even though not one single accusation against her has been proven. These conditions also make it impossible to effectively prepare for her defense.
Just this week, Ghislaine Maxwell is filing her third application for bail. It is one of the most comprehensive bail packages ever offered in a U.S. court and includes renouncing her citizenship in other countries, having a court official monitor her finances, and home detention.
Any other person in her shoes would be released in a heartbeat. Her continued detention, especially in these conditions, is simply wrong.
Markus is the spokesman for members of Ghislaine Maxwell’s family and founding partner of Markus/Moss, PLLC in Miami.
