Will Ghislaine Maxwell make it to the end of 2020?

Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested on the second of July this year, 2020, for allegedly grooming & trafficking underaged girls for the pleasure of Jeffrey Epstein and possibly herself. Since then, Maxwell has pleaded not guilty and is being held in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) without bail because she has been deemed a flight risk.

The public, while not exactly fond of her, is concerned for Maxwell’s well being. Hours after Ghislaine Maxwell’s arrest one of the top trending topics on Twitter was #MaxwellDidntKillHerself. Many people believe her partner in crime, Jeffrey Epstein, was murdered when he died in prison a year ago under suspicious circumstances.

The belief is that one of Epstein’s rich & affluent associates, who may have taken part in some of his crimes, hired someone to kill him. Though, official reports deem Epstein’s death a suicide, the cameras malfunctioned at the time of his death and the guards supposedly keeping an eye on him were asleep. People have subsequently become worried something similar will happen to Maxwell in 2020.

Maxwell is being monitored

The people in charge of the prison seem to be treating Ghislaine Maxwell with extreme caution, but Maxwell’s lawyers don’t seem to believe she’s in any danger. This has her lawyers campaigning for change because they believe Maxwell is being treated unfairly.

Maxwell is being kept in isolation, away from the general population. She’s being monitored on suicide watch, despite not having a history of suicidal ideation or attempts of suicide, and is frequently being patted down & having her cell searched. At one point it was reported she was even being woken up every few hours at night to ensure she was still alive.

It seems the MDC is determined not to have whatever happened to Epstein to occur to Maxwell on their watch. Now, it’s also being reported that the Bureau of Prisons psychologists are also monitoring her for multiple hours a day. It’s believed Ghislaine Maxwell is unaware of this specific form of monitoring.

Lawyers are mad

Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers seem to think the treatment of their client is unfair & uncalled for. They’re petitioning to have her released into the prison’s general population, for her 30 minutes of monthly personal calls to be increased to the normal 500 minutes, and for the suicide watch to cease.

The reason for their demands is that the restrictions Maxwell is under are impeding her from preparing for her trial, which is set for July of 2021. They note she is unable to even take notes on her calls with lawyers.

The Bureau of Prisons has responded saying Maxwell will be “placed into the general population if and when BOP is assured that such placement would not pose a threat to the orderly operation of the institution”. Also citing their reasons for keeping Maxwell separate are due to concerns for “safety, security, and the orderly functioning of the facility”.

Is it fair?

Since Ghislaine Maxwell doesn’t have a history of suicidal thoughts or behavior, is it fair to keep her under intense suicide watch while she’s in prison? A lot of the public is very concerned she won’t make it to the end of 2020, let alone to her trial in the summer of next year.

However, public opinion probably shouldn’t be what dictates how the MDC treats one of their most famous inmates. It seems the prison is merely treating Maxwell so carefully because of how an inmate died in a completely different prison.

Then again, it would be pretty terrible if they let up the restrictions only to have everyone’s fears confirmed. There isn’t an “undo” button for something like that. Is it better to be safe than sorry? The MDC and the Bureau of Prisons certainly seem to think so – much to the annoyance of Maxwell’s lawyers.