TROUSDALE COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — A federal investigation will now look into one of Tennessee's biggest private prisons in Trousdale County to understand the living conditions inside its walls.
Trousdale Turner Correctional Center is owned by CoreCivic, which is headquartered in Brentwood. Throughout the years, the Tennessee Office of the Comptroller has noted issues with the facility in its state audits. The U.S. Department of Justice will now conduct a civil investigation into the facility.
In an announcement Tuesday, representatives with the DOJ said the facility has faced many issues in eight years. Those include stabbings, 196 assaults, two murders, 15 deaths classified as accidental and 90 incidents of sexual misconduct.
Our reporting from 2019: Prisons for profit: Concerns mount about Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, operator CoreCivic
"In our country, people do not surrender their constitutional rights at the prison door," said U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke. "Every person held at a jail or prison retains the fundamental right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. In our legal system, proper punishment does not and cannot ever include violence and sexual abuse."
Investigators will look into the facility under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act. This statute gives the DOJ the authority to investigate systemic violations of the rights of individuals in institutional settings, including prisons.
The DOJ said it notified Tennessee officials of the investigation earlier Tuesday.
“Publicly available information suggests that Trousdale Turner has been plagued by serious problems since it first opened its doors,” said United States Attorney Henry C. Leventis. “This includes reports of staffing shortages, physical and sexual assaults, murders, and a 188% turnover rate among prison guards just last year. Although CoreCivic owns and operates Trousdale, the State of Tennessee is ultimately responsible for the safety of the people incarcerated there. This investigation seeks to determine whether Tennessee is meeting its constitutional obligations.”
From 2018: Emotions run raw at CoreCivic prison hearing
What CoreCivic has to say
"The safety and dignity of every person in our care is a top priority for our leadership and the staff at Trousdale Turner Correctional Center. That's why we've worked closely with the Tennessee Department of Corrections to identify and implement policies and processes that enhance safety and security while providing meaningful programs and services geared towards helping the individuals in our care prepare for successful reentry. We take this matter very seriously and are committed to working closely with both TDOC and USDOJ officials to address areas of concern."
What the Tennessee Department of Corrections has to say
"We are aware of the investigation and TDOC will cooperate fully."
Attorney speaks out who litigated against prison in the past
In 2022, Core Civic agreed to settle a federal lawsuit over an inmate's death.
Daniel Horwitz represented the family of the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center inmate who died. The plaintiff in the lawsuit was G. Marie Newby, the mother of Terry Childress, who died in February 2021 after his cellmate assaulted him
The terms of the settlement were confidential.
“I applaud the Department of Justice’s announcement that it is investigating Trousdale Turner Correctional Center for its chronic civil rights violations and investigating the Tennessee Department of Correction for knowingly permitting them," Horwitz said. "The heinous abuses that occur with regularity at the chronically understaffed facility are unhidden, and they have been documented year after year in the dozens of wrongful death and other lawsuits that our firm and others have filed against CoreCivic and its employees over, and over, and over again as CoreCivic allowed the prisoners in its care to be murdered, raped, and stabbed without intervention. It is long past time for this death factory to be shut down."
Have you been affected?
The Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section is conducting this investigation jointly with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee.
Individuals with relevant information are encouraged to contact the department via phone at 888-392-7031 or by email at community.trousdaleturner@usdoj.gov.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email Hannah at hannah.mcdonald@newschannel5.com.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
