January 24, 2020 | KYW Talk Radio | Cherri Gregg
"We are glad that this case was able to shine a spotlight on abuse in immigration detention" - Su Ming Yeh, Interim Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project
KYW Newsradio's Cherri Gregg spoke with Su Ming Yeh about our client E.D., the sexual abuse case, and the resulting settlement with Berks ICE Facility.
Listen below, or here on the KYW site
Berks County will pay tens of thousands of dollars to a woman who was detained in its ICE facility. The settlement came on the eve of a trial scheduled to begin today. As KYW Newsradio's Community Affairs reporter Cherri Gregg explains- the woman was sexually abused as a teenager by one of the staffers.
January 23, 2020 | Reading Eagle | David Mekeel
A woman who was sexually abused while being held at the Berks County Residential Center has reached a $75,000 settlement with Berks County.
The woman, identified in court documents only as E.D., had fled violence and sexual assaults in Honduras with her 3-year-old son and was seeking asylum in the U.S. She was 19 when she entered the country in 2014.
E.D. was sent by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to the Berks County Residential Center, which holds families while their asylum cases are decided. The facility is run by Berks County under a contract with ICE.
While at the facility, E.D. was sexually abused by Daniel Sharkey, a staff member at the facility. Sharkey, who was 40 at the time of the abuse, has been convicted of and imprisoned for institutional sexual assault.
E.D. had filed suit against Sharkey, Berks County and others involved with running the center, claiming a violation of her constitutional rights. The suit claimed that staff at the residential center failed to intervene and stop Sharkey's abuse of E.D., and retaliated against her when she reported him. Jury selection for a trial in that case was scheduled to begin Friday.
The settlement, which E.D.'s attorney's announced Thursday, means that the trial will not take place.
Su Ming Yeh, interim executive director of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project and lead attorney for E.D., said she was pleased with the settlement and with saving her client from having to go through the challenges and trauma of a trial. She also said she sees the case as an affirmation for fair treatment of asylum seekers.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 23, 2020
Press contact:
Rebecca Susman, Communications Manager, Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project Email: rsusman@pailp.org
Phone: 412-254-4771
PHILADELPHIA, PA – Berks County will pay a $75,000 settlement to E.D., a woman who was sexually abused by immigration detention center staff member Daniel Sharkey at the Berks County Residential Center, which Berks County operates under a contract with U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE). Sharkey was ultimately convicted of institutional sexual assault.
E.D. was detained at the Berks immigration facility while seeking asylum with her three-year-old son after fleeing violence and sexual assault in Honduras. The facility is one of only three family immigration detention centers in the nation that detain both children and adults.
Sharkey, who was 40 at the time, employed classic grooming techniques, including favors, threats, and an emphasis on secrecy, to gradually coerce 19 year-old E.D. into having sex with him. Staff failed to intervene and subsequently retaliated against E.D.
“All individuals should be treated with dignity, especially those who cross our borders seeking safety and protection. Detention centers and their staff have a duty to protect people in their custody from sexual abuse, but Berks County and its staff failed to protect E.D. We are pleased with the positive resolution of this case for E.D.,” said Su Ming Yeh, Interim Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project and lead attorney for E.D.
Importantly, in July 2019 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit issued a precedential landmark opinion in favor of E.D., ruling that individuals held in immigration detention are protected by the U.S. Constitution.
E.D. is satisfied with the outcome and is excited to move forward with her life. The settlement will allow her to resume her life without the emotional labor of reliving her traumas in court.
“This case helps shine a spotlight on sexual abuse in immigration detention and the situations endured by detainees, especially women and mothers,” said Matthew Archambeault, Esquire, who supported E.D. in initially coming forward to report the sexual abuse.
Su Ming Yeh and Matthew Feldman of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, Matthew Archambeault of the Law Office of Matthew Archambeault, and Sozi Tulante, Will Sachse, and Benjamin McAnaney from Dechert LLP represented E.D. in the case E.D. v. Sharkey, 16 Civ. 2750 (E.D. Pa) before U.S. District Court Judge Edward G. Smith.
Read and download the press release pdf here
Case rulings, press releases, and case documents here
January 15th, 2020
The Honorable Mark A. Kearney of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued a permanent injunction on Wednesday, January 15th, ordering Berks County to provide women with the lowest security classification the same rights and privileges as men with the same classification. Some of these include: the amount of out-of-cell time; access to phones, microwaves, and showers; and visitation conditions.
This ruling comes after Judge Kearney and a jury found that Berks County did, in fact, discriminate against the women in the jail.
However, the ruling did not remedy Berks County's actions on the eve of trial in November 2019 when, rather than provide the lowest security women with more freedoms, the county moved the lowest security men from their much lauded Community Reentry Center to the Berks County Jail. In doing this, Berks County chose to make the conditions of confinement and access to resources worse for the men rather than improving conditions for the women.
We are pleased with the Court’s ruling that Berks County must not discriminate against incarcerated women, but we remain disheartened by the County’s actions.
The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project and Dechert LLP represented the plaintiffs Theresa Bohning (née Victory), Alice Velazquez-Diaz, and a class consisting of all current and future female Trusty prisoners in the Berks County Jail in the class action Victory, et al. v. Berks County, 18 Civ. 5170 (E.D. Pa).
Read the Court Order granting permanent injunction
Read the full Court Opinion
January 10, 2020
The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project Board of Directors is proud to announce that Deputy Director Su Ming Yeh has been appointed as Interim Executive Director, following the departure of founding Executive Director Angus Love.
Since joining the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project in 2006, Ms. Yeh has proven a strong leader and integral member of the organization. She has served as PILP’s Deputy Director for several years and, prior to this role, as the Managing Attorney, both litigating and advising staff on the full breadth of prisoner’s rights cases arising out of Pennsylvania’s prisons, jails, and ICE facilities.
Su Ming brings extensive experience to the position. She has litigated dozens of prisoners’ rights cases, including a successful class action lawsuit, which resulted in over 5,000 incarcerated people in Pennsylvania state prisons receiving life-saving Hepatitis C treatment. She has also successfully argued before both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. She earned her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School cum laude, where she is currently an adjunct professor.
Ms. Yeh is looking forward to serving in this critical role. “I am excited for this opportunity to continue with PILP in providing integral legal representation, advocacy, and resources for incarcerated people in Pennsylvania. I look forward to working in collaboration with the board, staff, and community in our exciting new phase of organizational growth.”
The Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project Board of Directors is pleased that Su Ming Yeh has agreed to serve in this capacity as it continues implementing a transition plan to fill a permanent executive staff leader. PILP is committed to building upon our recent successes and continuing to provide excellent, free legal advocacy and resources to the over 14,000 people incarcerated in Pennsylvania who seek PILP’s assistance each year.
PILP thanks all of its partners, friends, and supporters, and looks forward to continuing its fight for justice together as it moves on to a great new chapter.
2019 was an exceptional year for the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project. We are on the frontlines every day working to ensure that people behind bars are afforded their constitutional rights and we challenge the system when these rights are violated. In 2019 year alone PILP won a groundbreaking ruling for immigrants’ rights at ICE facilities, secured settlements and policy change for women who were sexually abused, held an institution accountable for inhumane, punitive solitary confinement, and won a class action gender discrimination case.
Read more about our work safeguarding prisoners’ rights, our dedicated staff, and how you can get involved HERE
We are currently seeking a strong, far-sighted, full-time Executive Director, with a passion for representing those incarcerated or institutionalized individuals whose rights have been violated. PILP will accept applications on a rolling basis until the position has been filled. However, candidates are highly encouraged to submit their application by Wednesday, January 31, 2020 for consideration for first round interviews. More information about the position and application instructions can be found HERE.
November 20, 2019 | Reading Eagle | Karen Shuey
A federal jury last week found that Berks County violated the constitutional rights of women assigned trusty status incarcerated at the Berks County Prison by denying them the same access to furloughs as men who hold the same status.
The case centered around a lawsuit filed by former inmates Theresa Victory and Alice Velazquez-Diaz, alleging that women assigned trusty status are treated differently than men who hold the same status and are housed at the Berks County Reentry Center. The action aimed to provide female trusty inmates at the prison the same freedoms and opportunities given to their male counterparts.
At the conclusion of a weeklong trial in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, a jury of eight found that the two women were subjected to discrimination claims under the 14th Amendment. In addition, the jury awarded $2,800 in compensatory damages to Victory, who has since married and changed her name to Theresa Bohning, finding that the discriminatory treatment caused her harm.
Attorney Su Ming Yeh of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, which represented the women, applauded the outcome of the trial.
"We are pleased that the jury recognized that Berks County was refusing to provide equal opportunities to incarcerated women in connecting with their families and preparing for reentry back into society," Yeh said in a press release.
