A national prisoner advocacy group is urging the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate alleged civil rights abuses at a troubled Tennessee prison operated by CoreCivic.
Families Against Mandatory Minimums, known as FAMM, penned a letter that was sent to two DOJ attorneys on Wednesday, asking the department to open an investigation into whether conditions at Trousdale Turner Correctional Center in Hartsville violated the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.
Private prison company CoreCivic in response said that the claims in the letter “don’t reflect the facts.”
FAMM Vice President of Policy Molly Gill wrote in the letter that the group has heard reports from incarcerated people, their families and former prison staff of sexual and physical assault, use of force, threats and retaliation by staff, as well as sub-par medical care and neglect of medical and physical needs.
“Families report to us that incarcerated loved ones often go hungry, have cell doors with broken locks, live in unsanitary conditions, and are denied essential medicine. Others report that gangs run various pods in the facility and that contraband drugs are rampant,” Gill wrote.
Gill also pointed to understaffing at Trousdale Turner, which she alleges has resulted in frequent lockdowns during which family visitation and even phone calls are not allowed.
The conditions in Trousdale Turner, Tennessee’s largest prison, “seem similar to if not worse than” those in Alabama prisons, which were declared unconstitutional in 2019, Gill wrote.
The letter was sent to Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, and Henry Leventis, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. FAMM said in a news release that the group called on the DOJ because “there are limitations to what an organization like ours can uncover and verify.”
“Those findings could lead to corrective actions that are long overdue at this troublesome prison,” Matthew Charles, FAMM Tennessee state policy director, said in the release.
CoreCivic public affairs manager Brian Todd in an email admitted there are staffing issues at the prison but denied allegations regarding the food and health care provided to those incarcerated at Trousdale Turner, adding that health care staff “contractually meet the highest standards of care.” He pointed to the results of a recent inspection by the American Correctional Association (ACA) as proof of compliance with “prescribed policies and procedures.”
“We’re proud to say TTCC has been recommended for reaccreditation by the ACA following a rigorous, on-site inspection in which independent inspectors gave the facility scores of 100% on mandatory standards and 98.4% on non-mandatory standards,” Todd wrote.
As for lockdowns, Todd said “it’s important to understand that a lockdown can be used for a variety of reasons to ensure safety, including regular precautionary facilitywide security searches,” which he says are not unique to Trousdale Turner.
Todd did not directly address FAMM’s allegations of assault and use of force by staff in his email, but he informed The Tennessean of CoreCivic’s Human Rights Policy “that clearly outlines our commitments regarding inmate rights and treatment.”
Since Trousdale Turner opened under the control of CoreCivic in 2016, the prison has been plagued by reports of a high level of deaths, drug overdoses and violence compared to other Tennessee prisons.
Shortly after opening, the prison abruptly stopped intake as it dealt with “serious issues” including inadequate staffing, problems with solitary confinement and allegations of excessive force at the hands of staff, The Tennessean previously reported. A year later, a scathing state audit detailed those issues and raised questions about the Tennessee Department of Correction’s ability to monitor operations at the facility.
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Court documents filed in 2022 showed that Trousdale Turner has never complied with the staffing levels set by its state contract. Todd said that CoreCivic is working to address staffing issues at the prison and has increased wages and bonuses in an effort to recruit more employees.
Over the years CoreCivic has been racked with lawsuits from prisoners and their families over assaults, neglect and deaths within Trousdale Turner, many of which, they say, were preventable.
Data shows that Tennessee’s four CoreCivic prisons have been much more violent and deadly than the 10 prisons run by TDOC in recent years. According to information provided by TDOC, in 2022 there were nine homicides in CoreCivic prisons — three of which were in Trousdale Turner — and just three in TDOC prisons, which hold about twice as many incarcerated people as the CoreCivic facilities.
A total of 182 people died in all Tennessee state prisons last year.
TDOC failed to respond to requests for comment in time for publication.
Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EvanMealins.
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