Post by Logan on Jul 8, 2016 7:02:18 GMT -6
Private prison company CCA to face trial in Idaho violence lawsuit
BOISE, Idaho -- A federal judge says the Corrections Corporation of America will stand trial in December in a civil rights lawsuit over understaffing and violence at an Idaho prison.
U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge made the ruling Thursday, scheduling a four-day jury trial for Dec. 13 in Boise.
Eight inmates at the Idaho Correctional Center sued the Nashville, Tennessee-based private prison company in 2012, contending that poor management and chronic understaffing led to an attack in which they were jumped, stabbed and beaten by a prison gang. The inmates also contend that CCA covered up the understaffing in monthly reports to the state of Idaho, a practice they called a "ghost worker scheme" designed to boost profits despite putting inmates at risk. Two of the inmates were later dropped from the case, but six remain as plaintiffs.
CCA has vigorously disputed the claims.
"The safety and security of our facilities is our top priority," CCA spokesman Steven Owen wrote in an email to the AP on Thursday. "The Idaho Correctional Center was appropriately staffed at the time of this incident, and we are confident we will prevail on this claim at trial."
Read more here: www.idahostatesman.com/news/business/government-and-business/article88260777.html
BOISE, Idaho -- A federal judge says the Corrections Corporation of America will stand trial in December in a civil rights lawsuit over understaffing and violence at an Idaho prison.
U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge made the ruling Thursday, scheduling a four-day jury trial for Dec. 13 in Boise.
Eight inmates at the Idaho Correctional Center sued the Nashville, Tennessee-based private prison company in 2012, contending that poor management and chronic understaffing led to an attack in which they were jumped, stabbed and beaten by a prison gang. The inmates also contend that CCA covered up the understaffing in monthly reports to the state of Idaho, a practice they called a "ghost worker scheme" designed to boost profits despite putting inmates at risk. Two of the inmates were later dropped from the case, but six remain as plaintiffs.
CCA has vigorously disputed the claims.
"The safety and security of our facilities is our top priority," CCA spokesman Steven Owen wrote in an email to the AP on Thursday. "The Idaho Correctional Center was appropriately staffed at the time of this incident, and we are confident we will prevail on this claim at trial."
Read more here: www.idahostatesman.com/news/business/government-and-business/article88260777.html