Halfway to Nowhere - Out of prison, not yet home.
By Eric Borsuk
I walk out the front doors of the prison at ten o’clock in the morning. For the first time, I am standing in the “sliver.” My mother and sister rush to me, beaming with tears in their eyes. We hug and kiss while my father snaps pictures on a digital camera. No more clanging steel gates, no more guards shouting orders over loud speakers. An oversize American flag sways above us; rust-colored leaves float down through the crisp fall air. Autumn, from the Etruscan root autu- and the Latin auctumnus, signifying the passing of the season. Six years in a box with only a dictionary for a friend: My mind works differently now.
It’s hard to remember myself before all this, as a 19-year-old college kid who thought it was a good idea to join some buddies in stealing a first edition of Charles Darwin’s "On the Origin of Species" and other rare books and manuscripts from a university library. In prison, you start to forget after a while even why you’re there. Who you were, what you wanted—the steady, quotidian punishment grinds it away. For years ...
CCA Pays $25,000 in Wrongful Death of Overweight Tennessee Prisoner
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) paid $25,000 to settle a lawsuit involving the death of a prisoner at the Silverdale Detention Center in Tennessee.
When received by CCA, prisoner Freddie Lindsey Lightner, Jr. weighed approximately 650 pounds and was able ...
$650,000 Settlement in Prisoner’s Preventable Death at CCA Prison
by David Reutter
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) paid $650,000 to settle a matter involving the death of a prisoner at the Metro-Davidson County Detention Center (MDCDC).
In a September 20, 2006 demand letter sent to CCA by the Sloss family ...
$120,000 Settlement in Suicide of CCA Prisoner
by David M. Reutter
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) paid $120,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging it failed to provide proper psychiatric care for a prisoner at the Whiteville Correctional Facility, resulting in his suicide.
Prisoner Ricky Ware was known to have suffered ...
$75,000 Settlement in CCA Prisoner’s Suicide
by David M. Reutter
Corrections Corporation of America paid $75,000 to settle a lawsuit seeking redress for its failure to provide care to prevent a prisoner’s suicide.
Whiteville Correctional Facility prisoner, Lawrence Ware, Jr., was known to suffer from mental problems. On March 5, ...
$60,000 for CCDA Prisoner Denied Cancer Treatment
by David M. Reutter
Corrections Corporation of America paid $60,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging that officials at the Whiteville Correctional Facility (WCF) failed to provide scheduled cancer surgeries for prisoner David E. Plunk.
Prior to his transfer to WCF, Plunk, a Vietnam ...
$50,000 Settlement in Murder of CCA Prisoner
by David M. Reutter
Corrections Corporation of America paid $50,000 to settle a lawsuit involving the murder of a prisoner at the Hardeman Correctional Facility in Tennessee.
Prisoner Ricky E. Gardner was manually strangled to death on April 19, 2010 by his cellmate, ...
$42,500 Settlement for CCA Prisoner Assaulted with Padlock
by David M. Reutter
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) paid $42,500 to settle a lawsuit alleging CCA was liable for the assault of a prisoner, Scott J. Rattan, with a padlock.
The August 3, 2002 assault was committed by Connell Sheppard, using ...
$30,000 Settlement in Death of CCA Prisoner
by David M. Reutter
Corrections Corporation of America paid $30,000 to settle a civil rights action in the death of a prisoner at the Metro-Davidson County Detention Center.
The suit stemmed from the January 19, 2008 death of prisoner Gerald R. Townsend, who ...
$25,000 Settlement for CCA Prisoner Assaulted After Guards Open Cell Door
by David M. Reutter
Corrections Corporation of America paid $25,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging guards at the Silverdale Detention Center opened a prisoner’s cell door allowing him to be assaulted.
Prisoner Jeremy Cross was celled with prisoner Eric ...
