Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), a national criminal justice reform organization, has called for a federal investigation into Trousdale Turner Correctional Facility, a state prison in Hartsville operated privately by CoreCivic. In a letter addressed to U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke and U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Harry Leventis, the group calls on the Department of Justice to investigate civil rights abuses at the facility. A comparable DOJ investigation resulted in a 2019 lawsuit against the state of Alabama for unconstitutional conditions in its state prisons for men.
The letter by FAMM cites “disturbing letters and emails from individuals incarcerated there, their families, and even former staff,” alleging “sub-par medical care, neglect of medical and physical needs, sexual and physical assault by staff, and use of force, threats, and retaliation by staff.” Medical neglect, substandard conditions and staffing shortages at Trousdale have been on the state’s radar since CoreCivic opened the prison in 2016. It’s the state’s largest prison, housing more than 2,500 people.
Despite a string of state fines that total close to $20 million, CoreCivic continues to operate four Tennessee prisons. The company — founded in Nashville as the Corrections Corporation of America in 1983 — won a five-year contract extension at Trousdale in 2021 and a two-year extension at South Central Correctional Facility this year.
“Trousdale Turner Correctional Center’s problematic reputation has long been an open secret,” says FAMM Tennessee state policy director Matthew Charles in a press release. “Over the years, we have heard a number of stories alleging horrifying abuses — we are still stunned by what we learned.”
Earlier this summer, the Scene reported on recent deaths at Trousdale, which fit a pattern of medical neglect. Another inmate was found dead in his cell at Trousdale in June.
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