Brown, Goldstein & Levy attorney Monica Basche was quoted in a recent Baltimore Sun article that reported on the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (“DPSCS”) pilot program for body-worm cameras for correctional officers. The pilot program will start with a staggered roll-out at five Maryland prisons, with an agency-wide roll-out later this year.
DPSCS’s implementation of the body camera pilot program comes after several high-profile instances of violence at Maryland correctional facilities. This includes the brutal beating of Shawn Addison by three prison guards following a routine cell search that yielded no results. Monica and her co-counsel, Allen Honick of Furman Honick, represent Mr. Addison in his lawsuit against DPSCS, Jessup Correctional Institution (“JCI”) Warden Robert Dean, and three correctional officers who work at JCI.
While DPSCS claims that the pilot program aims to reduce excessive force complaints and assaults on staff and inmates, Monica stressed that the use of body cameras are not a replacement for DPSCS properly training and overseeing its staff.
“Any additional oversight is better than the status quo, but body-worn cameras are not a substitute for hiring qualified individuals and training them to respect the constitutional rights of prisoners,” Monica and Allen said in a joint statement to the Sun.
Read the full story from The Baltimore Sun.
LEARN MORE ABOUT MONICA BASCHE
Monica represents clients in a diverse range of cases. In addition to protecting prisoners’ rights, Monica’s practice also includes disability rights, housing discrimination, and employment discrimination. She also handles commercial litigation and business disputes, including breach of contract and business torts cases. Additionally, Monica represents blind vendors and state licensing agencies in cases involving the Randolph-Sheppard Act, a federal statute that gives blind licensed vendors priority in operating vending facilities on federal properties. Learn more about Monica here.
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Founded in 1982, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a law firm based in Baltimore, Maryland, with an office in Washington, D.C. The firm is nationally recognized in a wide variety of practice areas, including complex civil and commercial litigation, civil rights, health care, family law, and criminal defense. Above all else, Brown, Goldstein & Levy is a client-centered law firm that brings decades of experience and passionate, effective advocacy to your fight for justice.