Corrections Corporation of America is being sued for allowing a hazing tradition Bartlett State Jail that involves forcibly stripping an individual, turning him upside down and slamming his buttocks against the glass of a guard's station
Tsk, tsk, tsk, can’t this inmate take a joke? Seriously though, this may cost the Container Corporation – oops, I mean Corrections Corporation of America a substantial amount of money.
LAWSUIT: TEXAS PRISON OKAYS ODD SEX ASSAULT
By Kolten Parker
San Antonio Express-News
September 5, 2014
SAN ANTONIO -- A lawsuit filed against the Corrections Corporation of America in Austin alleges the private prison company violated a former prisoner's constitutional rights by allowing a hazing tradition called "ass on the glass" that led to a sexual assault.
The suit, filed in federal district court, claims a Bartlett State Jail guard knowingly allowed the man, referred to as John Doe in the court documents, and more than 50 other prisoners to be subjected to the hazing tradition that involves forcibly stripping an individual, turning him upside down and slamming his buttocks against the glass of a guard's station.
During a two-hour incident last October in which all 55 prisoners in the cell block were subjected to the hazing, a prisoner allegedly "inserted his finger into Mr. Doe's anus, and another grabbed his testicles, sexually assaulting him in violation of the Texas Penal Code," according to the documents.
The defendant claims that the one officer on duty, responsible for four cell blocks with 55 prisoners in each, "watched dozens of men get slammed up against the glass wall" and "did nothing."
The hazing tradition generally targets an individual prisoner who is nearing release. However, the October incident quickly escalated into a cellblock-wide "ass on the glass" after the victim of the initial hazing incident recruited other prisoners to help retaliate against his assailants, according to the documents.
The suit also claims that the prison's warden and officers have long known about "ass on the glass" but have done nothing to stop it. The company purposefully understaffs the prison to "maximize profits," the suit claims.
The Bartlett State Jail, a men's prison, is located in Williamson County and has 140 security employees and a capacity of 1,049 inmates, according to the TCDJ.
A spokesman for the CCA said the company could not comment on "the specifics of this case" but that the prison corporation has a "zero-tolerance policy for all forms of sexual abuse, and we take very seriously and investigate any reported allegations."
According to the lawsuit, the defendant reported the incident to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Inspector General and subsequently was placed in solitary confinement by CCA.
Scott Medlock, the defendant's attorney, said the man was sentenced to 180 days in state jail for possession of less than a gram of a controlled substance. He said the defendant "made a mistake, was punished for the mistake, but did not deserve to be sexually assaulted."
"The state is supposed to oversee what is going on in the private prisons but in reality there is not a terrible amount of oversight going on and the way these make profit is doing everything to the bare minimum," Medlock said, adding that proper staffing could have prevented the incident.
Medlock said the hazing was not an isolated incident.
"We have a lot of other (Bartlett) inmates who have told us about this event and confirmed its accuracy," he said. "They've also confirmed that this disturbing practice happens regularly at the prison."
The warden for the prison and the Nashville-based CCA have been issued summons and must respond within 21 days.
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