CLASS ACTION ALLEGES FIFTH, EIGHTH AND FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT VIOLATIONS by Sharon Rondeau (May 20, 2019) — In February, a 58-page lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee by 14 inmates at the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex (BCCX) alleging that the Tennessee Board of Parole is not adhering to […]
IS THE TDOC VIOLATING THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT? by Sharon Rondeau (Apr. 23, 2019) — A letter received last week from an inmate at the Northwest Correctional Complex (NWCX) in Tiptonville, TN reported, as he did last year, that with the arrival of spring, inmates with disabilities were hoping to be able to recreate […]
AND SAYS NOTHING WAS DONE TO PROTECT HIM by Sharon Rondeau (Apr. 10, 2019) — A letter received late last week from a Tennessee state inmate indicated fear for his life following what he said were “assaults, robberies and sexual assaults” at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center (TTCC) in Hartsville. According to scores, if not […]
“THIS COULD HAVE TURNED TRAGIC” by Sharon Rondeau (Mar. 31, 2019) — On Friday The Post & Email received a six-page mailing from Tennessee state inmate Dennis W. Martin, #157498, who is housed at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center (TTCC) in Hartsville. The letter, dated March 6, 2019, was addressed to the American Correctional Association […]
LEGITIMATE, OR A COZY ARRANGEMENT? by Sharon Rondeau (Mar. 30, 2019) — A copy of a letter received Friday from Tennessee inmate Grenda Ray Harmer, #88710, cites a state law which suggests that Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) Commissioner Tony Parker is prohibited from assuming responsibilities adjunct to his leadership at the agency. Harmer is […]
“VIOLENCE AS A WAY OF LIFE” by Sharon Rondeau (Mar. 29, 2019) — On Wednesday, The Post & Email received a four-page letter from TDOC inmate Omowale A. Shabazz, who in February filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against the agency and a number of its employees on which we reported last week. In the letter, […]
“BEATEN TO DEATH IN HIS CELL” by Sharon Rondeau, h/t MV (Mar. 24, 2019) — An inmate housed at the Northwest Correctional Complex (NWCX) in TiptonVille, TN was found deceased in his cell sometime before March 7, a Pennsylvania newspaper reported on Saturday. The article was published the same day on which The Post & […]
“STRIKING ME REPEATEDLY IN THE FACE WITH CLOSED FISTS” by Sharon Rondeau (Mar. 23, 2019) — An inmate at the Northwest Correctional Complex (NWCX) with whom The Post & Email has corresponded intermittently over the last two years has filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) and a number of […]
“I’VE BEEN INCARCERATED FOR OVER 47 YEARS” by Sharon Rondeau (Feb. 28, 2019) — As was reported last week by this writer on “Nooganomics” hosted by David Tulis, longtime TDOC inmate Grenda Ray Harmer continues to request “transition,” or “reentry,” services based on the anticipated conclusion of his most recent 25-year sentence approximately one year […]
ALONG WITH REPORTED PERSONAL THREAT by Sharon Rondeau (Feb. 22, 2019) — A copy of a memo received on Friday from TDOC inmate Grenda Ray Harmer reports that “a large number of gang members are now in Unit #1,” the Protective Custody (PC) unit of the Morgan County Correctional Complex (MCCX) in Wartburg, TN. The […]
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST IGNORED IN CASE OF MAN SENTENCED TWICE TO PRISON by Sharon Rondeau (Jan. 26, 2019) — On Monday The Post & Email interviewed Lee Baxter, father of Timothy Aaron Baxter, who has been imprisoned by the State of Tennessee’s Department of Correction (TDOC) since 2011 on a Madison County jury conviction on […]
IS THIS “HUMANITY AND KINDNESS”? by Sharon Rondeau (Jan. 25, 2019) — A January 15, 2019 letter from TDOC inmate Omowale A. Shabazz, #244104, aka Fred Dean, who is housed at the Northwest Correctional Complex (NWCX) in Tiptonville, states that not only have conditions “been chaotic” of late, but also that on January 4, he […]
AMID RE-ACCREDITATION OF THREE FACILITIES BY NATIONAL CORRECTIONAL ORGANIZATION by Sharon Rondeau (Jan. 22, 2019) — In two letters received last week and on Tuesday, respectively, MCCX inmate Grenda Ray Harmer, #88710, reported that on January 8, a gang member was stabbed dozens of times and all Tennessee prisons subsequently placed in “lockdown” mode, meaning […]
“HE DOES NOT HAVE LONG TO LIVE” by Sharon Rondeau (Jan. 8, 2019) — The Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) record of an inmate whose wife says he is dying of Stage IV cirrhosis of the liver at the Morgan County Correctional Complex (MCCX) in Wartburg indicates that he was granted parole after a November […]
SAYS STAFF EXERTING “REVENGE” FOR “EXPOSING CORRUPTION” by Sharon Rondeau (Jan. 7, 2019) — A letter received Monday from TDOC inmate Johnny Royston Sr., #319940, reports that Royston’s two medications withheld for “more than two months,” as he reported previously, have been restored to his daily regimen but that four staff members have made specific […]
“MURDER” OR “INJURY” by Sharon Rondeau (Jan. 4, 2019) — A letter received Friday from Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) inmate Johnny Royston Sr., who is housed at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center (TTCC) in Hartsville, states that he is experiencing retaliation after informing this reporter last month that he had not received his prescription […]
FAULTS MEDICAL STAFF’S RECORD-KEEPING by Sharon Rondeau (Dec. 27, 2018) — On Monday The Post & Email received two letters from TDOC inmate Grenda Ray Harmer, #88710, in a single envelope. The first is a handwritten copy of a letter to Dr. Edmund Lane, MD, from Harmer stating that rather than being deprived of one […]
“I AM IN A LOT OF PAIN” by Sharon Rondeau (Dec. 24, 2018) — A letter received Monday from TDOC inmate Johnny F. Royston, who is housed at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Complex (TTCC) in Hartsville, reports that medications he was taking for a heart condition and pain were discontinued “over two months” ago. “I […]
“SLAMMED TO THE PAVEMENT” by Sharon Rondeau (Dec. 22, 2018) — The following letter and enclosures were received on Wednesday from TDOC inmate Christopher Robertson, #322628, from whom we have heard previously regarding conditions in his former prison, the Turney Center Industrial Complex (TCIX) in Only, TN. Last year, Robertson had been outspoken in calling […]
“MY CELL IS NO LONGER COLD” by Sharon Rondeau (Dec. 21, 2018) — A letter arriving on Wednesday dated December 12, 2018 from TDOC inmate Grenda Ray Harmer, #88710, reports that the frigid temperature of his cell necessitating his wearing several layers of clothing at all times has been corrected. Under the heading, “UPDATES,” Harmer […]