Native American Ex-Inmate Sues Michigan Corrections Officers Over Digitally Altered Prison Photo

Key facts

• Dylan Leenheer, a Native American former inmate at Newberry Correctional Facility in Luce County, Michigan, filed a lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Corrections and three staff members.
• The defendants are corrections officers Jay Stevens and Robert Marsh and library technician JoLynn Cebula.
• Leenheer alleges Stevens digitally altered his prison ID photo to show him in stereotypical Native American clothing, including a feathered headdress and facial paint.
• On May 13, Leenheer requested a replacement temporary ID card from Stevens and Marsh.
• The altered image was allegedly displayed in the Unit 11 window, causing public humiliation.
• Leenheer is a member of the Gun Lake Tribe and was one of only three Native American prisoners in Unit 11.
• Cebula allegedly refused to photocopy the altered ID card, declined to sign the denial form, and told Leenheer she thought it was 'funny.'
• Attorney Maura Battersby of Flood Law says the firm has been contacted about two other incarcerated men—one Black and one from India—whose ID photos were allegedly digitally altered using racial stereotypes.
• The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages for Leenheer and exemplary damages against the defendants.
• The complaint claims Leenheer suffered emotional distress, humiliation, anxiety, depression, and other damages.