Michigan Department of Corrections
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2026 Events (4)
Michigan corrections officer altered Native American prisoner's ID with racist caricature, posted it publicly for humiliation, lawsuit alleges
A corrections officer at Newberry Correctional Facility in Michigan's Upper Peninsula digitally altered a Native American prisoner's ID to depict him wearing a feathered headdress and other stereotypical Indigenous imagery, then posted the altered image publicly, according to a state civil-rights lawsuit filed in early August 2026 by prisoner Dylan Leenheer (Gun Lake Tribe). The lawsuit, which names officers Jay Stevens and Robert Marsh and the Michigan Department of Corrections, alleges a broader pattern at the facility -- including two other prisoners, one Black and one of "Indian-national-origin," whose ID photos were similarly altered -- and that no corrections staff involved faced discipline.
Michigan corrections department declined to investigate fifth death this year at Women's Huron Valley prison
Family members and advocates rallied outside Michigan Department of Corrections headquarters on July 31, 2026 to demand an independent investigation and reform after five women died at Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility, Michigan's only women's prison, since mid-May 2026. MDOC declined to investigate the most recent death, of Dasie Forbes, by classifying it "expected," and the county medical examiner declined an autopsy. Separately, attorneys for incarcerated woman Krystal Clark alleged in an emergency court motion that she developed mold-related medical deterioration during months at the facility, which MDOC disputes.
Attorneys alleged mold exposure caused Michigan inmate Krystal Clark's medical deterioration at Women's Huron Valley prison; MDOC disputed claim
Attorneys for Krystal Clark, incarcerated at Michigan's Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility, filed an emergency federal court motion on July 6, 2026 alleging she developed severe mold-related medical deterioration -- including a fungal ear infection, hearing loss, and respiratory symptoms -- after months of exposure to mold at the facility. The Michigan Department of Corrections disputed the allegations, citing a private contractor's environmental test showing no dangerous mold levels, but temporarily transferred Clark to an outside health center on July 9, three days after the motion was filed. Clark's mold-related symptoms, including visible mold in her ears and facial swelling, had also been described independently at a February 2026 Michigan House Oversight Committee hearing.
Michigan prison staff dismissed inmate's blood-clot symptoms as lies days before her fatal pulmonary embolism
Khaira Howard, 28, died at Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti, Michigan on May 13, 2026, days before a scheduled parole release, after corrections staff dismissed her reports that she had lost feeling in her legs. An autopsy the Michigan Department of Corrections released July 9, 2026 found the cause of death was a pulmonary thromboembolism caused by a deep vein thrombosis in her lower leg -- the same symptom a prisoner-observation aide said staff had disbelieved.