The company hired to provide health care to most of the state’s prison inmates stands to make millions of dollars in administrative fees and profits under a no-bid contract that ultimately could be worth more than a billion dollars. The Florida Department of Corrections last month contracted with Centurion of Florida to provide prison health […]
Lowell Correctional Institute shows long history of violence, abuse
Patrick Quercioli was big and burly, and with pumped muscles and an elaborate Indian tattoo on his arm, he looked more like a bodybuilder than a corrections officer. Though he was arrested twice — once for allegedly dealing steroids and again, on charges of beating a motorist in a fit of road rage — Quercioli […]
Legislators call for review of Florida Department of Corrections policies as Secretary Julie Jones defends her record
SARASOTA — The Florida Department of Corrections pledged on Monday to “thoroughly review” allegations of systemic corruption and sexual abuse at Lowell Correctional Institution, the nation’s largest women’s prison. Attorney General Pam Bondi, meanwhile, said she has no standing to pursue any sort of an investigation because the series focused on one prison in a […]
Beyond Punishment: Bartered sex, corruption and cover-ups behind bars in nation’s largest women’s prison – Part 1
Hodge once dreamed of growing up to be a photographer. Now she was inmate No. 155778, sentenced to three years to be served at Lowell Correctional Institution, a state prison that houses the five women on Florida’s Death Row — and has the distinction of being the largest women’s prison in the United States.
Audit warns that safety at Florida prisons is compromised by staffing concerns
TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s prisons are infiltrated by drugs, tobacco and cell phones, dependent on outdated security systems, run by inexperienced and overstretched staff, and are housing inmates who are staying longer — and returning just as frequently. In short, the nation’s third largest prison system runs a daily risk of becoming another headline, according to […]
Audit warns that safety at Florida prisons is compromised by staffing concerns
TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s prisons are infiltrated by drugs, tobacco and cell phones, dependent on outdated security systems, run by inexperienced and overstretched staff, and are housing inmates who are staying longer — and returning just as frequently. In short, the nation’s third largest prison system runs a daily risk of becoming another headline, according to […]
Corizon’s prison health care pullout follows withering report
Ten weeks before Corizon Health abruptly canceled its $1.2 billion contract to treat Florida prison inmates, yet another account of lethal care by the Tennessee-based company landed on Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Julie Jones’ desk. At Florida Women’s Reception Center in Ocala, inspectors found, a woman with diabetes went almost three months without insulin. […]
After 176 unexplained deaths, Florida is cutting ties with its private prison healthcare provider
Last year, 346 inmates died in Florida prisons, the highest number on record, even though the overall number of inmates in Florida has been declining—176 of them were listed with no immediate cause of death, according to the Miami Herald. These figures help explain why Tennessee-based prison healthcare provider Corizon Health is terminating its contract […]
Corizon pulls out of prison health care contract, leaving future of privatization in limbo
After two years of complaints about healthcare in Florida’s prisons, the private company that has been responsible for the largest share of inmate care — Corizon Health — decided not to renew its $1.1 billion contract with the state Monday, leaving the future of care for 74,000 inmates in limbo when the company pulls out […]
Another prison homicide, another investigation
SOUTH OF PUNTA GORDA – The state launched another investigation of the local prison, Charlotte Correctional Institution, after a second inmate death from 2014 was ruled a homicide. The Florida Department of Corrections verified its Office of the Inspector General actually is conducting two administrative investigations involving different policies and procedures at Charlotte , as questionable […]
Editorial: A safety crisis in Florida’s prisons
Florida’s cash-strapped prison system is hemorrhaging money and guards, and the state’s refusal to spend what it takes to maintain safety behind bars is endangering staff, inmates and the public. Those findings, by an outside auditor commissioned by the Florida Department of Corrections, should be a wakeup call for Gov. Rick Scott and the Legislature […]
Audit details ‘dangerous’ understaffing at Florida prisons
TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s prisons are so “chronically understaffed” for even the most basic daily routines that an emergency should be declared to keep corrections officers and inmates safe, an independent audit commissioned by the Florida Department of Corrections has concluded. The lack of staff costs the state millions in overtime costs, encourages vacancies, falls below […]
Florida prisons audit: Improvements made; more needed
TALLAHASSEE — The Florida prison system is making “impressive” improvements but still needs more corrections officers, staff training and video cameras, according to a use-of-force audit of the Department of Corrections released Thursday. The audit of the department, which saw a near doubling of use-of-force incidents over a recent five-year span, was conducted by the […]
Whistleblower prison guard paid the price for reporting abuse
Kelly Bradley crouched in the corner of his cell, cowering under a blanket, as five officers clad in riot gear barreled inside and jumped on him, pinning him facedown. As they cuffed Bradley’s wrists and ankles, one of the officers, William Hamilton Wilson, reached toward Bradley’s face and dug his index finger into the inmate’s […]
Grand jury report rips Florida prison over deadly beatdown
Matthew Walker was unconscious, handcuffed, face-down on the sidewalk, in front of a dorm at Charlotte Correctional Institution. The inmate had been beaten and his larynx was crushed so badly that his throat was swollen shut. Lt. Tyler Triplett, blood on his white shirt, stood over him. “Do you know who I am? I’m going […]
Symposium: An endorsement of forty years of effective fair housing enforcement
Morgan Williams is General Counsel of the National Fair Housing Alliance. Today’s decision in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project broke no new ground. It simply reaffirmed the consistent finding of the federal courts over the past four decades that the Fair Housing Act bars not only intentional discrimination, but […]
Florida lags in complying with national standards on prison rape
Epidemic. That’s a good word to describe Florida when it comes to sexual crimes perpetrated on inmates behind bars. And although we’ve been concentrating on Jacksonville’s jail, the statewide prison system is perhaps more dangerous for inmates It has, for example, the dubious distinction of tying with Texas for having the most prisons with high […]
Human Rights Watch Releases Report on Treatment of Mentally Ill in U.S. Prisons and Jails
The report is called Callous and Cruel: Use of Force against Inmates with Mental Disabilities in US Jails and Prisons. Here is an excerpt from the Summary: Across the United States, staff working in jails and prisons have used unnecessary, excessive, and even malicious force on prisoners with mental disabilities such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. […]