Kansas prison operator, phone provider to pay $3.7 million to settle wiretap lawsuit
A year after agreeing to pay $1.6 million to detainees in a private Leavenworth prison who alleged their calls with attorneys were illegally recorded, the operator and phone provider for the prison have settled a lawsuit with attorneys making the same claim.
CoreCivic, operator of the federal, privately-run Leavenworth Detention Center, and phone provider Securus Technologies will pay $3.7 million into a fund that will cover legal fees and be distributed among attorneys who make a claim, according to court records.
A judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri approved the settlement Wednesday.
Mike Hodgson, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said 500 individuals have been identified who were subject to the alleged wiretapping. Those individuals, he said, will have to claim the funds after receiving notice.
“Our clients were adamant that the attorney client privilege be protected at all costs,” he said.
In an email to The Star, Amanda Gilchrist, Director of Public Affairs for CoreCivic, said the company maintains that “there was no wrongdoing on the part of our company or our professionals.”
“We’ve worked hard with all parties to resolve this issue in a professional and courteous manner,” Gilchrist said.
Securus Technologies spokeswoman Jade Trombetta said there is “no evidence that Securus engaged in any wrongdoing here.” Phone numbers for attorneys, Trombetta said, were not entered into the call system causing calls to be recorded.
“We are troubled by any misuse of our technology, even if unintentional, which is why we are making substantial investments in improvements to our call system that will provide incarcerated individuals and their attorneys even more clarity regarding the status of private or non-private calls,” she said.
According to the terms of the settlement, attorneys who had their in person or phone calls intercepted or recorded at the prison will be entitled to up to $10,000 in compensation. Those who had both in person and phone communication intercepted will be entitled to up to $20,000.
David Johnson and Adam Crane, the named litigants in the suit, will each be awarded $25,000 and just under $1.3 million will be set aside for attorneys fees.
Remaining funds will be donated to Legal Aid of Western Missouri and Kansas Legal Services.
Crane and Johnson filed the lawsuit in 2016 accusing CoreCivic and Securus Technologies of violating state wiretap laws by recording the calls.
Conversations between clients and their attorneys are confidential in nearly all aspects.
Last year, a federal judge held the U.S. Attorneys office in Kansas in contempt of court for misrepresentations and lack of cooperation during an investigation into whether prosecutors in the office obtained those calls and illegally used them in cases.
Judge Julie Robinson found that federal prosecutors in Kansas determined on their own that they could access recordings of these discussions, tainting several criminal cases along the way.
At least three criminal defendants in Kansas have had their sentences vacated or their indictments dismissed as a result of the scandal. More than 100 others have filed petitions for similar relief.
Litigation for those defendants was combined and is ongoing.
A lawsuit filed by current and former detainees was settled last year.
The scandal came to light in 2016 during the prosecution of inmates suspected of trafficking drugs within the prison’s walls.
The prison is operated under contract for the U.S. Marshals Service by CoreCivic Inc. — formerly known as Corrections Corp. of America. Many of the people held there are defendants awaiting trial and have not yet been convicted.
The Star’s Eric Adler contributed to this report.
This story was originally published August 6, 2020 at 12:08 PM.
