By Edvard Pettersson

Ghislaine Maxwell is still not satisfied with the conditions she finds herself in a federal lockup in Brooklyn although according to her lawyers she no longer has to choose between taking a shower or getting exercise and preparing for trial.

In a letter Monday to a federal judge in Manhattan, Maxwell’s lawyers said she is subjected to “uniquely onerous” conditions of confinement because of the death in custody of her former companion Jeffrey Epstein. She is monitored 24 hours a day by security cameras and under constant observation by prison guards, some of whom are Bureau of Prisons psychologists, her lawyers said.

“Ms. Maxwell’s conditions of confinement are unique to her and seem punitive rather than anything necessary to ensure that the MDC as a whole is running smoothly,” her attorneys said.

Maxwell has no access to email and has been given 30 minutes per month for personal phone calls, far fewer than the 500 minutes granted to other pretrial detainees since the Covid-19 crisis, the lawyers wrote. She doesn’t have a desk or a writing surface where she can take notes when reviewing documents and until recently, Maxwell was denied access to the prison commissary for no apparent reason, they said.

The Bureau of Prisons allowed Maxwell more time during the day to prepare for trial on her sex-trafficking charges, the lawyers said.

The case is US v. Maxwell, 20-CR-00330, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).     https://www.bloomberg.com