A $500 million lawsuit filed Monday in Washtenaw County Circuit Court is taking aim at the Michigan Department of Corrections, alleging that prison officials subjected hundreds of incarcerated women to illegal surveillance by recording them during strip searches, while showering, and even as they used the toilet.

The suit describes the violations as a profound breach of privacy and basic human rights.

At the heart of the case is a deeply controversial and, according to experts, unprecedented policy implemented at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility, the only women’s prison in Michigan.

Under the Michigan Department of Corrections policy directive, prison guards were instructed to wear activated body cameras while conducting routine strip searches, capturing video of women in states of complete undress.

The suit, brought by the firm Flood Law, alleges a range of abuses, including lewd comments from prison guards during recorded searches, and long-term psychological trauma inflicted on women, many of whom are survivors of sexual violence.

“What these women continue to endure is nothing short of horrific. This case........

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