CoreCivic, the leading private prison company in the U.S., has spent more than $4.4 million to settle dozens of complaints alleging mistreatment — including at least 22 inmate deaths — at its Tennessee prisons and jails since 2016 (article available here).
More than $1.1 million of those payouts involved Tennessee’s largest prison, the long-scrutinized Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, which is now under federal investigation. Details of nearly 80 settlements allege brutal beatings, medical neglect, and cruelty at CoreCivic’s four prisons and two jails in Tennessee.
The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced an investigation of Trousdale, noting that reports of violence have been endemic since its 2016 opening. The investigation comes after years of well-documented “reports of physical assaults, sexual assaults, murders and unchecked flow of contraband and severe staffing shortages.”
CoreCivic, headquartered in Brentwood, Tenn., has a value of $1.44 billion as measured by market capitalization.