In the days leading up to her sentencing in June 2022, Ghislaine Maxwell was placed on suicide watch at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Her attorneys said the move was sudden, imposed without psychological evaluation, and severely restricted her ability to prepare for sentencing. She was reportedly stripped of her clothes, denied access to her legal papers, and given only a heavy “suicide smock” to wear. The placement also meant she was isolated from other inmates and prevented from communicating freely with her lawyers, prompting her legal team to argue that the conditions violated her right to participate in her own defense. They requested a delay in her sentencing, calling the Bureau of Prisons’ actions “inhumane” and “retaliatory.”


Prosecutors and prison officials defended the decision, citing Maxwell’s complaints to the Inspector General about threats from staff and other inmates, and suggesting her notoriety as a convicted sex offender heightened her risk of self-harm. A prison psychologist later determined she was not suicidal, but the watch remained in place until administrators deemed her stable. Her defense motion to postpone sentencing was ultimately denied, and the hearing proceeded as scheduled. The episode added another layer of controversy to an already scrutinized case, highlighting lingering distrust toward the Bureau of Prisons in the aftermath of Jeffrey Epstein’s death under similar conditions.


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