Many who want to see justice done hope that Ghislaine Maxwell will be just the first domino to fall in an international criminal sex trafficking scandal.
Even while going through the prosecution and trial of her partner in crime Jeffrey Epstein never got, Maxwell on some level did not accept she had fallen. She made that clear by the number of times she protested the conditions of her confinement.
In the almost two years Maxwell was held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, Maxwell made more than 100 complaints about her new prison lifestyle.
To be clear, no one deserves to be abused. Maxwell should be given humane treatment, even though she and her still-unnamed clients did not show that kind of mercy to the many girls they assaulted.
The nature of the treatment Maxwell alleged she received goes beyond any kind of ethical incarceration.
As reported in The Sunday Times, Maxwell spent 22 months in solitary confinement. That kind of isolation had to be hard already. However, Maxwell had much more to say about the harshness of prison life.
A 77-page document was filed with the court detailing the indignities Maxwell faced. Maxwell was already convicted on five out of six counts of sex trafficking.
Since it was said her co-conspirator Jeffery Epstein committed suicide, authorities were taking no chances with this high-profile prisoner. However, if Maxwell’s allegations are accurate, the monitoring was conducted like torture.
In the filing, Maxwell described being subjected to rough handling during daily strip and body-cavity searches. She was under constant surveillance and was even filmed in the shower.
Was 20 years a fair sentence for Ghislaine Maxwell?
Maxwell also claimed her basic needs for food, water and sleep were denied.
Maxwell is a vegan. She said the prison food provided to her was “meager, stale, often rancid and inedible.” The tap water in the cell was “foul-smelling and undrinkable.”
The lights in Maxwell’s cell were never switched off. In addition, a flashlight was pointed at her face every 15 minutes to check on her condition.
Without further investigation, it is unclear whether the complaints were truth, exaggerations, lies or a mixture of all three.
The document was submitted while Maxwell’s attorneys were seeking to generate sympathy in order to reduce her sentence. In the end, Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years.
Maxwell is most likely going to face the rest of her life in prison, wherever she ends up. Her alleged mistreatment does not change that.
However, Maxwell’s claims need to be taken seriously. If found to be accurate, the authorities that arranged the harsh conduct need to be held accountable. Sadistic abusers have no place in the prison system.
Prison reform is needed. The vile treatment of the prisoners from the Jan. 6 demonstrations is a reprehensible example. It’s even more unjust they are being persecuted for being political opposition, rather than committing real crimes. It’s galling evidence of corruption.
No matter the circumstances, we need to insist on equal protection and rights under the law. It’s the basis of our way of life, even as the powers that be try to subvert it.
Once a lawfully convicted criminal is under the control of the state, we all become responsible to make sure they are not mistreated. Americans should demand humane treatment for all prisoners.
From God’s perspective, we all are sinners, only redeemed by the sacrifice Jesus made for us. With that knowledge, we need to be mindful of how we treat the vulnerable, even those jailed as guilty under the law.
