Montana Prison Pays Settlement and Revises Mail Policy to Provide Translator
Montana Prison Pays Settlement and Revises Mail Policy to Provide Translator
On June 30, 2011, William Diaz-Wassmer, a native of Guatemala, filed suit against Montana prison officials for denying him his mail because it was written in Spanish. Much of his correspondence came from his family including his parents who spoke very little English and could not write English at all.
For the first two years of his incarceration in the Deer Lodge, Montana State Prison, Diaz-Wassmer was able to receive mail from his parents because a prison employee volunteered to translate. When that employee retired, the prison unit refused to give him his mail calling it “undeliverable” because no one in the mailroom could translate the letters.
In their original argument prison officials justified their actions stating that their inability to translate Diaz-Wassmer’s letters constituted a possible threat to the security of the institution. After exhausting his remedies through the prison grievance process, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, Diaz-Wassmer filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Montana, Helena Division. The suit alleged that his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were being violated by the prison mail policy.
When it became apparent that the prison’s defense would not hold up, prison officials entered into negotiations with Diaz-Wassmer and began to employ an outside agency to provide translation services. On December 12, 2011, the prison issued a revised policy which stated that foreign language correspondence could be delayed up to 20 working days before being delivered.
ACLU director Jon Ellingson said he considered the 20-day delay to be unreasonable. He also said that any final agreement would have to include translation of all foreign language correspondence not just Spanish to English. When the state sought more time to implement the translation policy the court gave them until March 9, 2012; the settlement was reached a day early, on March 8.
When the details were finally hammered out, the DOC agreed to a 10-day delay for “other than English correspondence” unless they could show that it threatens the security of the prison. They also agreed to pay the ACLU $7,500 in attorneys’ fees and court costs. See: Diaz-Wassmer v. Ferriter, U.S.D.C. (D. Mont.), Case No. 6:10-cv-00060-RKS.
Additional source: www.greatfallstribune.com
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Related legal case
Diaz-Wassmer v. Ferriter
| Year | 2012 |
|---|---|
| Cite | U.S.D.C. (D. Mont.), Case No. 6:10-cv-00060-RKS |
| Level | District Court |
| Conclusion | Settlement |
| Attorney Fees | 7,500 |