BALTIMORE — A multi-million-dollar settlement for inmates faces a new legal challenge, as a victims' rights group argues that money should go to crime victims first.
Inmates who worked at a Baltimore County recycling center are expected to receive approximately $1.5 million over claims they were owed wages higher than what they were paid while in prison.
However, the Maryland Crime Victims Resource Center has filed a federal lawsuit to intervene, arguing that state law requires those earnings to pay off restitution before going to the inmates.
Victims' Rights Group Challenges $1.5M Inmate Wage Settlement
The head of the center says some victims listed in the lawsuit have been waiting years to receive compensation.
"Their restitution orders are 10 and 11 years old. They were never going to be paid, and this is the sort of scoffing that you get from criminal offenders once they're released from prison. They're not the least bit interested in making crime victims whole unless we drag them into it," said Kurt Wolfgang, Executive Director of the Maryland Crime Victims Resource Center.
A federal judge will consider the proposed settlement on June 11.
