Latest news with #inmateabuse
New York Times
10-07-2025
- New York Times
Four Ex-Jail Officers Are Sentenced in Death of West Virginia Inmate
Four former corrections officers at a West Virginia jail were sentenced this week to prison terms ranging from three years to more than two decades for their roles in the fatal beating of an inmate there three years ago, prosecutors said. The former officers were among eight who have been convicted in connection with the death of the inmate, Quantez Burks, 37, and an attempt to cover up the assault at the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver, on March 1, 2022. Seven have now been sentenced. Mr. Burks had been at the jail for less than 24 hours when officers took him to 'blind spots' — areas without surveillance video — to punish him for having tried to push past a corrections officer and leave his assigned pod, prosecutors said. Officers kicked and punched Mr. Burks, slammed his head into a metal table, pulled and twisted his fingers and pepper-sprayed him while he was in handcuffs, prosecutors said. They continued to beat him, prosecutors said, even after he lay motionless on a cell floor. When emergency medical workers arrived, they pronounced Mr. Burks dead. An initial autopsy, performed by the state, concluded that he had died of a heart attack, but members of his family later questioned that finding when they saw his bruised and beaten body, his family's lawyers said. They paid for their own autopsy, which found that the cause of death had been blunt force trauma to the head, neck, torso and extremities, as well as cardiovascular disease, the lawyers said. After Mr. Burks died, officers at the jail tried to cover up the assault by writing false reports, giving a false story to investigators and threatening other officers with violence and retaliation if they confessed the truth to the authorities, prosecutors said. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Free Malaysia Today
09-07-2025
- Free Malaysia Today
Use of force against inmates ‘unplanned', says Taiping prison official
Suhakam is investigating allegations that more than 60 officers assaulted over 100 inmates at Taiping prison, resulting in one death and many others being injured. KUALA LUMPUR : A senior Taiping prison official said prison authorities did not plan to use force in an incident which led to claims of alleged abuse of inmates on Jan 17. Chief inspector Shafril Azmir Shafie told a Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) public inquiry into the alleged abuse that he 'regretted' how the situation unfolded. He said there was no clear strategy in place to manage the confrontation involving more than 100 inmates transferred from Batu Gajah correctional facility a day earlier. 'I don't know how the altercation broke out, but there was never a plan to use force,' he said during today's hearing. 'Even when we were ordered to prepare riot gear for crowd control, there was no plan on how to control the chaos.' The conflict occurred when a number of inmates were set to be transferred from Hall B to Block E of the prison. The inmates refused to move, claiming that the block was squalid. Prior to the episode, Shafril was tasked with searching Block E for contraband. Shortly after, he was called for a briefing by the control and prevention unit of the prisons department, and ordered to 'get ready' for the upcoming transfer. The unit's personnel were armed with riot shields and body armour while other officers were asked to prepare equipment such as pepper spray and batons. During the inquiry, the inquiry panel questioned the necessity of these preparations, citing Taiping prison SOPs that demanded the use of such equipment only in high-tension situations. In CCTV footage shown to the inquiry panel, officers were seen kicking and striking inmates with batons inside the prison's mess hall. Lapses in memory When inquired about his own actions, Shafril said he does not remember inciting any violence, though he did raise his leg to push away an inmate during the scuffle. Shafril said he was not sure whether the inmates actually fought back, as the footage showed inmates displaying no resistance against the officers. He also said his recollection of events during the incident was unclear, as he had developed trauma following the incident. 'I've had phobia since that day,' he told the inquiry, adding that personal stress and emotional pressure from work at the prison had shaped how he processed the incident. Following the incident, Shafril said he was reassigned from the prison's special operations unit to general duties and that several officers were reshuffled. Shafril's testimony comes right after fellow chief inspector Ahmad Saiful Rafie testified that the violence was triggered by provocation from the inmates. Suhakam is investigating claims that over 60 officers assaulted more than 100 inmates, resulting in one death and many others being injured. The inquiry continues until July 10, and from July 23 to July 25.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Yahoo
A Federal Inmate Had a Limb Partially Amputated After Being Kept in Restraints for Two Days
A federal inmate had to have one of his or her limbs partially amputated after being kept in restraints for two days. Another incarcerated person died after being pepper sprayed and left shackled in a restraint chair for five hours. The Department of Justice Office of Inspector General (OIG), an independent watchdog agency, published those details in a memorandum released Monday that found inadequate policies and limited oversight of the use of physical restraints on inmates in the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). The inspector general launched the investigation after receiving dozens of complaints a year from inmates alleging they were strapped to beds or chairs for long periods of time and assaulted or otherwise mistreated while restrained. A 2022 investigation by The Marshall Project and NPR uncovered rampant abuse and deaths at U.S. Penitentiary Thomson, a federal prison in Illinois. "Specifically, many men reported being shackled in cuffs so tight they left scars, or being 'four-pointed' and chained by each limb to a bed for hours, far beyond what happens at other prisons and in violation of bureau policy and federal regulations," the report found. A follow-up investigation by the outlets published last December found dozens of similar allegations of prolonged shackling and abuse at another federal prison in Western Virginia. BOP policy allows corrections staff to use restraints to gain control of disruptive inmates—ranging from ambulatory restraints that allow limited freedom of movement to four-point restraints and waist chains that render one immobile from the neck down. However, restraints are only supposed to be used as a last resort, and never as a method of punishment. When the inspector general tried to investigate whether allegations of abuse were true, it was stymied by poor documentation and lack of video or audio evidence to verify whether staff were even performing required medical checks of inmates in restraints. Additionally, there were no limits on how long inmates could be kept in restraints and limited review of the use of restraints by regional headquarters. "We found that shortcomings in BOP's policies and practices contributed to the concerns we identified and limited the availability of evidence that could either corroborate or refute inmates' accounts of what happened while they were in restraints, thereby impairing the OIG's ability to investigate allegations of misconduct by BOP employees," the memo says. The danger of those shortcomings was underscored by one case uncovered by investigators, where an inmate was held in a combination of ambulatory restraints and a restraint chair for more than two days. "The inmate's injury worsened to the point of needing hospitalization and amputation despite medical checks occurring at time intervals that complied with policy," the memo stated. "The medical checks were completed by different medical staff who did not discuss the progression of the inmate's injuries between shifts, and there were no photographs or video recordings to document that a medical check was actually performed and to show the progression of the inmate's injuries." In another case, the inspector general found that an incarcerated person was "placed in a restraint chair with restraints on both wrists and both ankles for more than 2 days and then, less than 2 hours after being released from restraints, sprayed by BOP staff with Oleoresin Capsicum following an alleged altercation with a cellmate and placed back in the restraint chair for another approximately 5 hours until being discovered unresponsive." The autopsy report listed the cause of death as "Vaso-Occlusive Crisis due to Sickle Cell Disease Complicating Oleoresin Capsicum Use and Prolonged Restraint Following Altercation." The memo recommended improving guidelines and training for staff on when and how long inmates can be placed in restraints, strengthening the reporting requirements, and requiring audio and video recording of health checks of inmates in restraints. The BOP concurred with all of the inspector general's recommendations and said in an official response letter that it is working to implement them. "The BOP is committed to addressing these issues and implementing meaningful improvements and views OIG's recommendations as a crucial opportunity to enhance agency practices and ensure the humane treatment of all inmates," BOP Director William Marshall III wrote. The post A Federal Inmate Had a Limb Partially Amputated After Being Kept in Restraints for Two Days appeared first on
CTV News
10-06-2025
- CTV News
Baltimore jail staff failed to protect a deaf man killed by his cellmate, lawsuit says
BALTIMORE — In the days before Javarick Gantt was strangled to death in jail, he was forced to share a cell with a first-degree murder suspect whose violent behaviour had already alarmed his previous cellmate, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday. Gantt, who used sign language because he was deaf, struggled to communicate with corrections officers and other detainees, making him especially vulnerable to violence, his family alleges. Their lawsuit sheds new light on the circumstances surrounding the 2022 jailhouse killing, which raised significant concerns about operations in the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center. Gordon Staron, 36, was awaiting trial in an apparently random stabbing attack that prosecutors called an 'axe murder.' Gantt, by comparison, was facing minor charges. Attorneys for Gantt's family argue the two men never should have been assigned to the same cell, saying in court papers that his death was 'entirely predictable and preventable.' The family wants to know how the state-run detention facility let this happen, but they've been stonewalled from the beginning in their attempts to get information, said Gantt's father, Rick Barry Sr. 'Nothing, zero, no answers,' Barry said in a phone interview. A spokesperson for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, which runs the jail, said the agency doesn't comment on pending litigation. Staron ultimately pleaded guilty to strangling Gantt after a jury convicted him in the axe attack. He was sentenced last year to life without parole. Gantt, 34, weighed little over 100 pounds (45 kilograms), records show. Most significantly, he wasn't able to call for help because he communicated primarily by sign language, according to court papers. The lawsuit argues he stood little chance against a cellmate who was experiencing serious mental health issues, displaying paranoid and volatile behaviour, and being treated for alcohol and substance abuse. Staron was initially arrested after he drove into Baltimore from the suburbs and attacked a homeless man at a bus stop, according to prosecutors. Nonetheless, records show he and Gantt received similar security classifications, the scoring system jail administrators use to determine where detainees are housed. About two weeks before Gantt's death, Staron was involved in an altercation and punched two other men, according to police reports. Afterward, his frightened cellmate asked to be moved, leaving an empty bed that would soon be occupied by Gantt, the lawsuit says. Gantt was transferred into Staron's cell after reporting that his previous cellmate 'had been bullying him and attempting to assault him,' according to the lawsuit. He communicated the message in sign language after flagging someone down from his cell window. A corrections officer then asked administrators to move Gantt 'to a safer cell,' which landed him with Staron, according to jail records. 'With his disability, I feel he was overlooked,' Gantt's father said. That was nine days before Gantt was found unresponsive when he didn't get up for breakfast. Other inmates reported hearing him 'making noises and banging on his cell door' during the night, according to police, but several hours passed before corrections officers noticed something was wrong. Gantt's family says he should have received special accommodations and safety precautions. They also allege that corrections officers failed to properly monitor the dorm the night of his death. The lawsuit against the state corrections department and staff members seeks damages in excess of US$50 million. Gantt, who left behind a young daughter, was jailed for months amid a backlogged court system. His charges stemmed from a 2019 domestic dispute in which no one was seriously injured. But largely because he missed court dates and probation check-ins, he was ordered held without bail and remained behind bars awaiting trial. A judge decided to keep Gantt incarcerated even after he explained that he was struggling to navigate the bureaucracy of the courts. 'This was my first time on probation,' he said through a sign language interpreter during a bail hearing, according to the lawsuit. 'They didn't tell me what to expect, what to do.' Despite his hearing impairment, Gantt was gregarious and open-hearted, with many friends in the deaf community and beyond, loved ones said. He formed close bonds wherever he went — including in the Baltimore area, where he had moved somewhat recently after growing up in Florida. But his father said Gantt became helpless and confused when the legal system failed to properly accommodate his disability. 'The tragedy is that no one has told this family anything, at any time,' said Baltimore attorney Andrew Slutkin, who represents the family. 'There's been no communication of what happened, how it happened and what they're doing to prevent it from happening again.' Lea Skene, The Associated Press
Associated Press
10-06-2025
- Associated Press
Baltimore jail staff failed to protect a deaf man killed by cellmate, lawsuit alleges
BALTIMORE (AP) — In the days before Javarick Gantt was strangled to death in jail, he was forced to share a cell with a first-degree murder suspect whose violent behavior had already alarmed his previous cellmate, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday. Gantt, who used sign language because he was deaf, struggled to communicate with corrections officers and other detainees, making him especially vulnerable to violence, his family alleges. Their lawsuit sheds new light on the circumstances surrounding the 2022 jailhouse killing, which raised significant concerns about operations in the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center. Gordon Staron, 36, was awaiting trial in an apparently random stabbing attack that prosecutors called an 'axe murder.' Gantt, by comparison, was facing minor charges. Attorneys for Gantt's family argue the two men never should have been assigned to the same cell, saying in court papers that his death was 'entirely predictable and preventable.' The family wants to know how the state-run detention facility let this happen, but they've been stonewalled from the beginning in their attempts to get information, said Gantt's father, Rick Barry Sr. 'Nothing, zero, no answers,' Barry said in a phone interview. The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, which runs the jail, didn't immediately provide comment Tuesday. Staron ultimately pleaded guilty to strangling Gantt after a jury convicted him in the axe attack. He was sentenced last year to life without parole. Gantt, 34, weighed little over 100 pounds (45 kilograms), records show. Most significantly, he wasn't able to call for help because he communicated primarily by sign language, according to court papers. The lawsuit argues he stood little chance against a cellmate who was experiencing serious mental health issues, displaying paranoid and volatile behavior, and being treated for alcohol and substance abuse. Staron was initially arrested after he drove into Baltimore from the suburbs and attacked a homeless man at a bus stop, according to prosecutors. Nonetheless, records show he and Gantt received similar security classifications, the scoring system jail administrators use to determine where detainees are housed. About two weeks before Gantt's death, Staron was involved in an altercation and punched two other men, according to police reports. Afterward, his frightened cellmate asked to be moved, leaving an empty bed that would soon be occupied by Gantt, the lawsuit says. Gantt was transferred into Staron's cell after reporting that his previous cellmate 'had been bullying him and attempting to assault him,' according to the lawsuit. He communicated the message in sign language after flagging someone down from his cell window. A corrections officer then asked administrators to move Gantt 'to a safer cell,' which landed him with Staron, according to jail records. 'With his disability, I feel he was overlooked,' Gantt's father said. That was nine days before Gantt was found unresponsive when he didn't get up for breakfast. Other inmates reported hearing him 'making noises and banging on his cell door' during the night, according to police, but several hours passed before corrections officers noticed something was wrong. Gantt's family says he should have received special accommodations and safety precautions. They also allege that corrections officers failed to properly monitor the dorm the night of his death. The lawsuit against the state corrections department and staff members seeks damages in excess of $50 million. Gantt, who left behind a young daughter, was jailed for months amid a backlogged court system. His charges stemmed from a 2019 domestic dispute in which no one was seriously injured. But largely because he missed court dates and probation check-ins, he was ordered held without bail and remained behind bars awaiting trial. A judge decided to keep Gantt incarcerated even after he explained that he was struggling to navigate the bureaucracy of the courts. 'This was my first time on probation,' he said through a sign language interpreter during a bail hearing, according to the lawsuit. 'They didn't tell me what to expect, what to do.' Despite his hearing impairment, Gantt was gregarious and open-hearted, with many friends in the deaf community and beyond, loved ones said. He formed close bonds wherever he went — including in the Baltimore area, where he had moved somewhat recently after growing up in Florida. But his father said Gantt became helpless and confused when the legal system failed to properly accommodate his disability. 'The tragedy is that no one has told this family anything, at any time,' said Baltimore attorney Andrew Slutkin, who represents the family. 'There's been no communication of what happened, how it happened and what they're doing to prevent it from happening again.'
