Amid Coronavirus in MCC Jail No Soap or Light Says Letter To Inner City Press

By Matthew Russell Lee, PatreonBBC - Decrypt - LightRead - Honduras - Source

SDNY COURTHOUSE, March 28 -- As Coronavirus COVID-19 has spread including in the prison system, Inner City Press has for two weeks reported in person from nearly every bail hearing and appeal in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York courthouse.

  Based on its articles it has received communications from many inmates and their family members. This is one of them: "Mr. Lee, the conditions inside the MCC due to coronavirus, are inhuman.  I have first hand information from an inmate, and would love to share it, so the world is aware of this situation that should be a shame to the authorities.  Since last Saturday March the 21st, and having few confirmed cases of COVID-19 inside the prison, inmates at MCC Manhattan have been practically on lockdown and isolated, only being allowed to call their family a few times for a couple of minutes.     This inmate described To his family the horrible situation for all the inmates.   

They have NO SOAP, no shampoo, no cleaning products, no clean uniforms for 3 weeks, no food or not enough food, they are locked in their cells almost all day and the guards won’t even bother to check on them for hours and hours; the guards close the doors and practically disappear; they can hear people screaming and crying all the time; people are being moved from one place to the other at all time. No sanitary conditions whatsoever, which increases the risk of the coronavirus spread among all the prison.  

 There are no doctors checking on the inmates to verify their health condition; the inmate told his family his eyes and throat were burning, and there was no one to tell, besides, there’s no medication available whatsoever, not even at commissary to buy. No toothpaste or toothbrushes available; no soap or hand sanitizer provided. No cleaning products for their cells.    This inmate reported to his family on Friday March the 20th that his cell had gone out of light; the light was not re established until couple days ago, so he was forced to be isolated in his cell with no light for several days."

 In fairness the U.S. Bureau of Prison tells a different tale, including in letters to SDNY Chief Judge Colleen McMahon, who on March 27 Inner City Press witnessed and conversed with as she experimented with technology to hear from inmates seeking release from the prisons.

  But BOP's letters and the US Attorney's Office arguments are in the PACER database, which unlike most media publication has not dropped its paywall for coverage of Coronavirus.

All of this hypocrisy takes place amid this global crisis as for example the United Nations while laying off UN Delegates Dining Room workers at his headquarters in New York City without any mitigation brags about giving old masks to the City amid a disease its boss Antonio Guterres helped mock and cover up, and bans the Press which asks. We'll have more on this. For now, a song, here.

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After Prisoner Beaten To Death In MCC Jail US Attorney Moves To Dismiss Citing Discretion and K2

By Matthew Russell Lee

SDNY COURTHOUSE, July 9 – Roberto Grant was killed in a Multi-Inmate Federal Jail Cell in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan by "blunt force trauma to the head, neck, torso and extremities." His estate and survivors sued and on July 9 the Office of U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman urged the dismissal of the case, citing the discretion of those who run prisons. There were no cameras. The case is Williams v. USA, et al., 17-cv-06779 (Pauley).

  U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York William H. Pauley III asked Assistant US Attorney Elizabeth C. Simon how she could claim there was no negligence given that Mr. Grant was in custody and was beaten to death. Ms. Simon sought to explain the lack of cameras as based on concerns for personal privacy. 

  Judge Pauley then asked plaintiff's counsel Andrew C. Laufer on what basis he was making a Bivens claim; the answer referred to the Eighth Amendment. Neither side mentioned whether there are cameras in place now. The government is implying that Grant died from smoking synthetic marijuana or K2, which one its its cooperating witnesses in US v. Tapia recently testified to smoking in the MCC with those on whome he would subsequently inform.

Inner City Press reported back in April that Johnny Morgan is suing the United States for a rectal search he endured in the Metropolitan Correctional Center at 150 Park Row, right next to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. On April 4 before SDNY Magistrate Judge Debra Freeman, the government presented an expert Roy Lubit who said that Morgan is a "malingerer" and blamed his pain on abuse suffered earlier at the hand of his own mother. But even government expert Lubit said that the rectal entry should not have happened. 

  It is, in fact, an outrage. While some might question taxpayer money going to pay damages for what happened to Mr. Morgan, what about public money for an expert witness to insult the torturee? We'll have more on this. 

  The Federal Defenders scored a big win in a misdemeanor proceeding that only Inner City Press attended and covered on April 2. They defeated the U.S. Attorney's Office which argued that the simple assault they agreed to on a dispute on a cruise ship required allocution to actual physical conflict. There was case law on the Federal Defenders' side, and a plea to making a threat on the cruise ship - in "international waters" -- was found sufficient. The case was United States v. Batista, 18 Cr. 730 (NRB). The Federal Defenders lawyer was Sabrina P. Shroff, whom Inner City Press has previously covered in the UN bribery cases of Patrick Ho (new Hong Kong documentaryhere), getting bail for Cheikh Gadio, and of Ng Lap Seng, representing hapless Jeff Yin. The issue in Batista was whether simple assault requires the defendant to "strike or choke." Ms. Shroff cited the US v Denis and US v Chestaro cases, and the matter was quickly disposed by Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in her relatively small courtroom on the 21st floor of 500 Pearl Street. The question is why the U.S. Attorney's Office in this case had not researched basic case law - and whether the defendant Carlos Batista, Junior, from the Dominican Republic, must now be deported. We hope to have more on this.

Earlier on April 2, in 40 Foley: "I was a street drug dealer in from of my building in the Bronx," a defendant told U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Paul A. Engelmayer on April 2. Defendant Gonzalez was pleading guilty to a lesser included charge, with a guideline sentence of between 120 and 150 months in jail. But he won't be sentenced until July 11 at 2:30 pm, after the Probation Department does its interview and issues a Pre Sentencing Report that will remain sealed until, somehow, Gonzalez appeals. We'll have more on this - there were no family members in the courtroom, no media other than Inner City Press. Back on March 28 an insider trading action by the SEC was under heavy fire in SDNY courtroom of Judge Richard M. Berman. The SEC had in 2017 grand alleged that "Ariel Darvasi and Amir Waldman were in possession of material nonpublic information about the impending acquisition when they purchased Mobileye securities" just prior to its acquisition by Intel. But on March 28 the defendants' lawyers, moving for summary judgment, mocked the arguments. They said Waldman was "not a direct insider;" they said suspicious trades are not enough, mere contact with an insider is not enough. The SEC lawyerresponded with tales of MobileEye's founders private jet flight to New York to nail down the Intel deal. Much of the argument came down to whether a response by Waldman during deposition, that he had been aware of the trip - "yes" - before the words, for the merger, were said, should go to a jury. The defendants insisted on their video. There was no other media in the court room but Inner City Press, still without its electronics. So what of general deterrence? What of transparency? In the SDNY there is no comprehensive calendar, and for now the Press that seeks to report on as much as possible is still restrained. We'll have more on this. 

Before Epstein Bail Hearing Two Pedophilia Defendants Freed on Bail in SDNY To Iowa and New Jersey

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon

SDNY COURTHOUSE, July 8 – That Jeffrey Epstein, now in the Metropolitan Correctional Center by Foley Square, will be denied bail later this week is widely reported. But as Inner City Press has reported from the Magistrates Court of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York this year, at least two accused pedofiles have been released on bond, with conditions. 

One, Donnie Fetters, was bailed by Magistrate Judge Ona T. Wang on May 10 and allowed to fly back to Iowa from whence he came to Laguardia to meet an underage girl, or what he thought was an underage girl. See the Inner City Press, the only media that day in the Magistrate Court, story here. Fetters remains free; most recently his appearance before SDNY Judge Victor Marrero was waived. This case is now US v. Fetters, 19-cr-387 (VM).

On May 30 SDNY Magistrate Judge James L. Cott granted bond to Bryan Pivnick, accused of grooming an 11 year old boy, see Inner City Press story here: now Pivnick is asking for greater access to the Internet in New Jersey, ostensibly to pay his student loans. This case is now US v. Pivnick, 19-cr-00464 (PKC). More on Patreon, here.

Certainly, conspiracy to commit sex trafficking charges are different. But these two recent bailings, and the SDNY's continuing usually ignored proceedings, merit reporting, which Inner City Press will continue to do, perched as for months over the PACER terminal in the 500 Pearl Street press room, if it is available, as it continues its "Murky Mag Court" series.  

Back on March 6 when the question of releasing or at least reviewing sealed Jeffrey Epstein documents was taken up by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Inner City Press story here, Alan Dershowitz was there. Afterward by the elevators in 40 Foley Square Inner City Press asked Dershowitz, what he'd thought of Judge Sweet's decision. He began to say, Judge Sweet made a mistake - when first his lawyer gestured that they should go, and then the clerk of court asked everyone to leave the floor. 

 Now it's reported not only that on July 8 Epstein will be presented and indicted on sex trafficking charges but also that a search warrant was executed on Epstein's Manhattan mansion at 8 East 71st Street on July 6. Epstein is in the Metropolitan Correctional Center, photo here, along with among others convicted UN briber, Antonio Guterres linked, Patrick Ho of CEFC.

  Cursory research revealed not only Epstein as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, but bragging about his financial support to CFR, through the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation. Photo here. What will CFR say? Will they belatedly be returning the money?

While some call it a pink hued building on a dead end street, his mansion is at 9 East 71st Street - one block, it turns out, from the Qatar royal family mansion which has hosted human trafficking covered up in the SDNY, see Inner City Press here, and below.

The July 8 presentment will presumably be in Courtroom 5A of 500 Pearl Street, or perhaps a larger room to accommodate the interest. In Courtroom 5A as the July 1-3 work week ended Inner City Press alone in the gallery observed Magistrate Judge Barbara Moses signed sealed indictments and warrants, even with what some called sleight of hand of saying there would be no action until 8 pm then, when Inner City Press ran to the PACER terminal in the press room, ending the day's business at 7:45 pm with no press present. Expect on July 7 another Geoffrey Berman press conference as well -- Inner City Press will be there.

  The rights or lack of rights of victims have been highlighted for some in this case - but the violation of rights of less prominent people has been happening every day, from before March until now in the SDNY including its murky Magistrates Court. Inner City Press was in the 2d Circuit in March and will be in the SDNY July 8, based from a PACER terminal, documenting the disparities. Watch this site.

Back in March all of the parties - the Miami Herald's Julie Brown, Mike Cernovich, Alan Dershowitz and even Virginia Giuffre -- were pushing for the unsealing of the documents, except Ghislaine Maxwell.  Her lawyer Ty Gee argued that people had relied on the commitment to seal the information. He ended by saying the U.S. judicial system is not about democracy. 

But by then the panel of Judges of Cabranes, Pooler and Droney had made it pretty clear they will be remanding the case and the 167 documents back to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The only question seems to be whether Judge Sweet, who initially agreed to seal them, will get the case on remand or if another judge will. 

. He challenged Giuffre to sue him, and of Judge Cassel was highly critical, a term of art. 

Another term of art: slut-shamer, a term applied during the argument to Mike Cernovich but one that the judges mocked, with Judge Pooler asking if there was a "slut-shaming cabal." The wider point was that there is in the United States no system for certifying journalists, that as the Ninth Circuit case Opsidium v Cox has it, journalist is something you do, not something you are. 

All citizens - and non citizens, as in the case of Argentines seeking information about their country's debt revealed in a U.S. case - have a right to information, a right that predated the Constitution.  The judges reserved judgement. Inner City Press will continue to cover this and other SDNY and 2nd Circuit cases - watch this site.

The Qatar ruling family's abuse of employees and laws was exposed in an off the record initial conference at in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on February 14; Inner City Press was the only media present. 

Inner City Press wrote an exclusive story that day, February 14, then more in the following few days as more sources contacted us. Now it has learned that the UK's Daily Mail days later on February 21 false claimed an exclusive on the story, here. 

On June 1 Inner City Press reported that the Qatari royals' lawyers were on the cusp of succeeding in burying the case in mediation by JAMS. A low-ball settlement - except for attorneys fees -- was submitted to SDNY Judge J. Paul Oetken on June 1. The total is $150,000, fully half being attorneys' fees; it is signed by the royals without any admission.

 And now on June 10, this: "ORDER: The proposed settlement at Docket Number 36-1 is approved, and the case is hereby DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. The Court shall retain jurisdiction solely to resolve any disputes arising from the settlement agreement and the settlement of this action. The Clerk of Court is directed to close the case. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge J. Paul Oetken on 6/10/2019) (jca)."  So the issue of human trafficking has been buried, for money, in the SDNY.

Tellingly, the cover letter stated that "Defendants – who are members of the royal family of Qatar – noted that if they received certification from the State Department, they would potentially be considered diplomats entitled to full immunity, resulting in immediate dismissal of the litigation for lack of subject matter jurisdiction." So the Qatar royalsused the threat of support from the U.S. State Department to cover up human trafficking. We'll have more on this - and there is more on Patreon, here.