LANSING, Mich. (AP) — In a story Oct. 9 about the settlement of a lawsuit brought by the family of a former Michigan prison inmate, The Associated Press, based on information from the Detroit Free Press, reported erroneously that Corizon Health will pay $700,000 to settle the case. That amount will be paid by a combination of Corizon Health and other private medical providers.
A corrected version of the story is below:
State, contractors to pay $1.25M to settle prisoner lawsuit
The state of Michigan and health care contractors have agreed to pay $1.25 million to settle a lawsuit over the care of a mentally ill prison inmate
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A judge has approved a $1.25 million settlement in a lawsuit over the care of a mentally ill Michigan prison inmate.
Lawyers for Darlene Martin's family said she was denied food and water at times and forced to sit in her own excrement while in segregation for 10 days in 2014. Water to her cell was cut off.
Martin, 70, died in 2017, more than a year after she was released from the Huron Valley women's prison where she served a sentence for retail fraud.
The Detroit Free Press reports that the state of Michigan will pay $550,000 while Corizon Health and other private contractors together will pay $700,000. A federal judge approved the settlement two weeks ago.
"There were multiple defendants in the case, and Corizon was not a primary one," said Eve Hutcherson, a spokeswoman at Corizon, which is based in Brentwood, Tennessee.
The state Corrections Department referred requests for comment to the attorney general's office, which represented the agency in the litigation. There was no comment.
Corizon tried to have the case dismissed, but U.S. District Judge David Lawson ruled against the company in September 2018.
The Martin family's lawyers will get $475,000 in fees and expenses from the $1.25 million.
