“IT SAT THERE 2 DAYS!!”
by Sharon Rondeau
(Apr. 8, 2017) — An inmate at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center (TTCC) informed The Post & Email in a recent mailing that our letter sent to him on March 27 was received at the facility on March 30, as evidenced by the date-stamp placed on the envelope, but that it “sat there 2 days” on the desk of a correction officer.
TTCC is owned and operated by CoreCivic, formerly CCA, and has been reported by many inmates and their relatives as being “the worst” facility they have ever encountered.
The troubled facility recently passed an inspection about which it reportedly received advance notice. Several inmates indicated to this publication that extraordinary measures were taken just prior to the inspection conducted by the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC), which oversees the four CoreCivic-owned prisons in the state as well as the ten others it operates.
TTCC is said to be dominated by gang members who engage in frequent “riots” or “gang wars,” although denied by TDOC spokeswoman Neysa Taylor. Assaults, frequent “lockdowns” and theft amid severe short-staffing have been consistently reported.
Corruption within the TDOC itself is said to include forced participation in federally-funded classes for which some inmates do not qualify; lack of medical care; physical and emotional abuse; and racial discrimination.
According to the inmate’s letter, our correspondence reached him, but not directly.
CoreCivic’s Executive Vice President Harley Lappin failed to respond to The Post & Email’s January 24, 2017 letter expressing concern over the reported lack of medical care for TTCC inmates as exemplified by an enclosure written by inmate Ricky Greene, who reported having suffered a heart attack and, once calling for medical help, told he was “faking it.”
Greene had a history of cardiac problems, including three previous heart attacks. According to TDOC records, he is 42 years old.
Greene later reported becoming the victim of sexual assault, after which he said TTCC staff “laughed at” him despite an existing law which “prohibits and seeks to eliminate sexual assaults and sexual misconduct in correctional institutions. Sexual abuse encompasses (1) inmate-on-inmate sexual abuse, (2) inmate-on-inmate sexual harassment, (3) staff-on-inmate sexual abuse, and (4) staff-on-inmate sexual harassment.”
Greene said he later attempted to commit suicide but was rescued by a conscientious correction officer.
Finally, Greene said he assaulted a prison guard in order to effect his own removal from TTCC out of desperation. The last we heard from him, he was awaiting transfer to a maximum-security facility in solitary confinement.
Inmates are constantly on lockdown in retaliation for speaking out about the abuses they suffer at these institutions. It is easy to see how prisons for profit have effected local judges to escalate minor charges to felonies. More prisoners equal more money for the state. The longer the sentence, the better for the state since they are assured of revenue flow for the length of the sentence. An effort is underway in Tennessee to call attention to the corruption of Tennessee Judges and Grand Juries that are manipulating convictions and sentences to make sure the prisons are at maximum capacity. This is deep seated political and judicial corruption which has gone on in many counties for 50 years or longer and will not be easy to overcome.
This letter could have been written by 33% if not half of the inmate population at TTCC. If you are NOT in a gang, you are not protected. There are worse things than dying and being an inmate at TTCC is one of them!