Adams v. Corrections Corporation of America

2005cv60 (Colo. Dist. Ct. Crowley County filed August 23, 2005) ; Clearinghouse Number: 55946

Description

Inmates in Privately Operated Facility Seek Damages Following Prison Riot

Abstract

Plaintiffs filed a complaint challenging defendant private company’s treatment of prisoners under its custody and control. Plaintiffs—inmates incarcerated at a prison operated by defendant—claim that they suffered physical and mental injuries as a result of a riot at the facility. They assert that defendant has a national policy and practice of cutting costs by building prisons in remote rural areas, understaffing them, and inadequately training its guards. Plaintiffs maintain that defendant increases its profits by accepting inmates from other states in order to keep its prisons filled. Before the riot, 314 inmates from other states were moved to the facility, increasing the total population to 1,130. Plaintiffs claim that defendant knew or should have known that this practice would result in resentment and anger over the inequities arising from the disparate treatment of each group. The rioters broke into two housing units and the prison management office, started fires in the units, and assaulted other inmates. Several plaintiffs were trapped in their housing units in danger from fire, smoke inhalation, and rioting inmates. After the prison guards took control of the prison, plaintiffs assert, defendant’s employees handcuffed them, denied water and restroom facilities, and physically abused them. Plaintiffs claim that defendant’s negligence was a substantial cause of the riot. They claim that defendant was negligent in failing to plan properly for disturbances, to train its employees and security personnel properly on control of an inmate disturbance, and to have an adequate number of trained staff on duty to quash the disturbance before it worsened into a riot. Plaintiffs claim that, in trying to quell the disturbance, defendants’ employees committed assault and battery on plaintiffs and used excessive and unlawful force to punish them. Plaintiffs seek compensatory and punitive damages.

Additional Information

Attorney Information
Plaintiffs represented by Adele Kimmel, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, 1717 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20036 (202.797.8600).
Docket Date
2005-08-23 00:00:00+00:00
Attorney Email
www.tlpj.org