US Justice Department to investigate violence and sexual abuse at Tennessee’s largest prison

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into Tennessee’s largest prison where officials say violence and sexual abuse have gone unaddressed for years, federal prosecutors announced on Tuesday about the privately operated facility.

Between July 2022 and June 2023, the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center in Hartsville saw at least 196 assaults, 90 incidents of sexual misconduct, two murders and 15 other deaths that the facility characterized as “accidental,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke said in a videoconference. In just a single three-week period in early 2024, there were five stabbings, she said.

“In our country, people do not surrender their constitutional rights at the prison door,” Clarke said. “Every person held in a jail or prison retains the fundamental right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.”

She noted that although Brentwood, Tennessee-based CoreCivic owns and operates the Trousdale prison, it is the state of Tennessee that is ultimately responsible for ensuring that prisoners’ rights are not violated there.

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