Where is Ghislaine Maxwell’s prison and how do we know she’s there?

Ghislaine Maxwell, former British socialite, and current prison inmate, has a lot of accusations and questions swirling around her. Best known for her partnership with Jeffrey Epstein, Maxwell sits at the center of the case involving sex trafficking for underage girls. With Epstein dead, Maxwell is the main person about to get hit with the full force of the criminal justice system.

As of July 2020, Maxwell is being held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. If you’re curious to learn all the recent news, then here are some answers to the following questions. What is her stay like in prison? What’s going on behind the scenes? With COVID-19 spreading especially fast in prison, is she even there? Here’s everything you need to know about Maxwell’s stay in detention.

“Onerous Conditions”

On Aug. 10, 2020, Maxwell’s lawyers filed a petition with a federal judge asking for Maxwell to be released into the general population of the facility where she’s being incarcerated. According to the brief, the allegations that she’s been “held under uniquely onerous conditions”. They said that the conditions are as a result of the death of Maxwell’s former boyfriend and alleged accomplice, Jeffrey Epstein.

They added, “As a result of what occurred with Mr. Epstein, Ms. Maxwell is being treated worse than other similarly situated pretrial detainees, which significantly impacts her ability to prepare a defense and be ready for trial on the schedule set by the Court.”

Maxwell is held in isolation under surveillance 24 hours a day, according to her lawyers. Until before the brief was filed in Aug. Maxwell was on suicide watch along with being subject to numerous body scans and cell searches by prison officials. Her lawyers allege that Maxwell will not be able to prepare in her own defense while being held under such conditions in prison.

Monitored by psychologists

In an article from CNN dated Aug. 18, her lawyers filed another document with the court saying that Maxwell is being monitored by prison psychologists for several hours a day without her knowledge. Maxwell’s cell, in isolation, is surrounded by guards. Her lawyers say that some of these guards are Bureau of Prisons psychologists.

In a letter to US District Court Judge Alison Nathan, they said, “some of these prison guards were, in fact, BOP psychologists who were observing Ms. Maxwell and evaluating her for hours each day without her knowledge. We are aware of no other pretrial detainee receiving such treatment.”

They also say the following that Maxwell is given 30 min phone calls vs the 500 min of other inmates. She has no desk or surface in which she can work on her case or take notes. The Bureau of Prisons, however, said they cannot move Maxwell until they’re certain that “such placement would not pose a threat to the orderly operation of the institution.”

How long will this continue?

For a while, it looks like. On Aug 25, Judge Nathan made her ruling in regard to moving Maxwell to the general population. She denied it. She said, “Should facts on the ground change such that the Defendant is not being provided sufficient access to her legal materials, defense counsel may seek intervention by the Court.” Nathan added that Maxwell was being provided with the materials needed by the Bureau of Prisons.

As for the stories about Maxwell being watched by prison psychologists? Judge Nathan said that there is no evidence showing that. She said that the defense “has provided the Court with no evidence, and no reason to believe, that the surveillance measures are motivated by improper purposes.”

Prosecutors are required to provide written updates every 90 days about any significant changes to Maxwell’s confinement. Maxwell’s trial is to be held in 2021.