Tag: TDOC Commissioner Derrick Schofield
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Whistleblower Inmate “Quickly” Dropped from Pro-Social Life Skills Class
AFTER FILING COMPLAINT, THREATENING TO EXPOSE ALLEGED SCHEME BY PRISON TO GARNER FEDERAL DOLLARS by Sharon Rondeau (Feb. 18, 2017) — An inmate at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Complex (TTCC) in Hartsville, TN who recently blew the whistle on his placement in and ineligibility for the Pro-Social Life Skills class reports that his enrollment was…
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New Prison in Hartsville Deemed an “Economic Development Opportunity”
IS IT ABOUT THE MONEY AFTER ALL? by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 22, 2016) — The Post & Email is in possession of a contractual agreement between Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and Trousdale County, TN for the construction and operation of the prison now known as the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center (TTCC) in Hartsville. Beginning…
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Reflections on Outgoing TDOC Commissioner Derrick Schofield
“IT’S ABOUT MONEY” by Anonymous Inmate, TTCC, Hartsville, Trousdale County, TN (Jun. 17, 2016) — [Editor’s Note: The following letter shares an inmate’s thoughts about Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) Commissioner Derrick Schofield, who resigned his post earlier this month and will work his last day on Monday. Schofield was appointed by Gov. Bill Haslam…
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Tennessee Inmate Describes Rigged Prison, Parole Systems, Citing Constitutional, State, Federal Violations
“NEVER GETTING OUT” by Anonymous Inmate (Jun. 16, 2016) — Editor’s Note: The following report was received on June 4 from an inmate at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center (TTCC) along with a letter corroborating the numerous reports The Post & Email has received over the last six weeks of short-staffing, substandard, cold food, nearly-continuous solitary…
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Why Has the AP Pulled its Article on Private Prison Problems?
REPORT PUBLICIZED TDOC INTERNAL MEMO CITING EXCESSIVE FORCE, UNDERSTAFFING, UNEXPLAINED SOLITARY CONFINEMENT by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 10, 2016) — On May 24, The New York Times published an Associated Press article reporting understaffing with resulting consequences for prisoners at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center (TTCC) in Hartsville, Trousdale County, TN. While assembling research for a…
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Tennessee Prison System Reaches National Spotlight
WILL PRISON CONDITIONS IMPROVE OR WORSEN WITH SCHOFIELD’S IMMINENT DEPARTURE? by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 9, 2016) — In a lengthy and detailed report published on Thursday by NBC News in its “U.S. News” section, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam was quoted in his praise of Department of Correction head Derrick Schofield, who tendered his resignation last…
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Will James Thweatt Receive Medical Care?
SPOUSE INFORMED NEUROLOGICAL EVALUATION WILL TAKE PLACE by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 7, 2016) — As an update to an interview conducted on Friday evening with Bridget Thweatt, whose husband James was a prisoner at Trousdale Turner Correctional Center (TTCC) in Trousdale County, TN until several weeks ago when he was moved to a different facility…
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Report: Trousdale CCA Prison Taking “Most Dangerous Inmates”
“WHY CAN’T THEY OPEN A NEW FACILITY AND OPERATE IT SAFELY?” by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 4, 2016) — [Editor’s Note: A letter from a Tennessee inmate received on Saturday reports that a privately-run prison in Hartsville, Trousdale County, TN about which The Post & Email has written previously has taken in a significant number of…
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Tennessee Prison Confirms Walter Fitzpatrick “Still Here”
HEALTH AND WELFARE UNKNOWN by Sharon Rondeau (May 25, 2016) — Following approximately six weeks of silence from Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) inmate Walter Francis Fitzpatrick, III, The Post & Email contacted the West Tennessee State Penitentiary (WTSP) on Wednesday afternoon to inquire into his well-being. We were able to reach a female correction…
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Corporate-Run Prison Limits Movement, Restroom Access, Embracing During Visitation
INMATE RELATIVE: “THE PRIVATE PRISONS NEED TO GO” by Sharon Rondeau (May 23, 2016) — On Sunday, The Post & Email began to report first-hand accounts of living conditions, visitation, staffing, medical care and other issues shared with us by visitors to the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center (TTCC), a facility operated by Corrections Corporation of…
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Inmate Reports Assault by Female Correction Officer, Coercion, Retaliation by Relocation
“BALLING UP HER FIST AND PUNCHING ME IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD” by Sharon Rondeau (Apr. 22, 2016) — A five-page letter from a Tennessee state prison inmate received on Friday detailed an allegation of assault and unwarranted punishment in “the Hole,” meaning solitary confinement, despite video evidence alleged to show that the inmate…
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Report: NWCX Gang Member Stabbed After Property Theft
DANGEROUS TENNESSEE PRISON CLASSIFIES GANG MEMBERS AS “MEDIUM SECURITY“ by Sharon Rondeau (Feb. 23, 2016) — A letter received on Monday from an inmate at the Northwest Correctional Complex (NWCX) in Tiptonville, TN reports that the stabbing of an inmate on February 9 triggered a three-day “lockdown” of Site 1, which houses the most dangerous…
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Why Was Jerome Johnson Moved to Medium Security?
“NOTHING BUT RETALIATION” by Sharon Rondeau (Dec. 23, 2015) — In a letter received on Monday, NWCX inmate Jerome L. Johnson informed The Post & Email that he has been inexplicably relocated from the minimum-security building where he was housed to a medium-security area populated by a significant number of gang members. A letter from…
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Inmate Reports Intimidation, Harassment, and Retaliation
FOR REFUSING PLACEMENT IN COURSE by Sharon Rondeau (Dec. 14, 2015) — On Monday The Post & Email received an original and copies of a new grievance form from Tennessee prison inmate Jerome L. Johnson, on whose situation we have reported for a number of months. Under circumstances similar to those in which Walter Francis…
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More TDOC News…From the Inside
PRISON NUTRITION, ASSAULT CLASSIFICATIONS, PSLS COURSE by Sharon Rondeau (Nov. 11, 2015) — Enclosed with a November 2 letter from Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) inmate Bryant K. Lewis on Monday were four prison menus and two October 22 articles from The Tennessean concerning the state’s correctional system, which has come under increased scrutiny over…
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TDOC Commissioner Denies Inmate’s Appeal of Disciplinary Write-Up Stemming from Forced Class Participation
APPEALS TO TENNESSEE GOVERNOR BILL HASLAM by Sharon Rondeau (Oct. 2, 2015) — Beginning in late May, Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) inmate Walter Francis Fitzpatrick informed The Post & Email that he was pressured to participate in the Pro-Social Life Skills (PSLS) class taught by a Mr. Terry Hopper at the Northwest Correctional Complex…
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Tennessee Prison Inmate Sends Disciplinary Appeal to State Corrections Commissioner
WHY ARE INMATES FORCED TO TAKE CLASSES? by Sharon Rondeau (Sep. 12, 2015) — On September 3, The Post & Email received documentation from TDOC inmate Jerome L. Johnson indicating that he was appealing a grievance against NWCX Warden Mike Parris and several staff members for issuing him a disciplinary “write-up” for his refusal to…
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Update on Seriously Ill TDOC Inmate Timothy Aaron Baxter
“IT WAS LIKE TORTURE” by Sharon Rondeau (Aug. 11, 2015) — On August 3, The Post & Email published portions of a letter written by Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) inmate Timothy Aaron Baxter to his father describing his severe illness from a staph infection in his jaw which reportedly has gone untreated for at…
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Tennessee Prison Officials Concoct Cover-Up Story to Fitzpatrick Allegations
BUT ARE WE SURPRISED? by Sharon Rondeau (Jul. 6, 2015) — On Monday morning, a Tennessee citizen who last week contacted State Rep. John Forgety’s office regarding allegations made by Walter Francis Fitzpatrick, III that he was threatened with assault by a prison instructor at the Northwest Correctional Center (NWCX) has received a response. In…
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Report: Tennessee Inmate Could Be Deathly Ill
NO RESPONSE FROM COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 11, 2015) — On Wednesday, The Post & Email received a communication from a close relative of Tennessee inmate Timothy Aaron Baxter, prisoner #304285, which indicated that Baxter could have a life-threatening illness for which he has not received proper medical care. Last Friday, The Post…