MEDICAL CARE AND RECORDS, STAFFING SHORTAGES AMONG CHIEF CONCERNS by Sharon Rondeau (Jan. 11, 2020) — A 234-page “Performance Audit Report” released Friday by the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury found the Tennessee Department of Corrections (TDOC) to be deficient in carrying out the department’s mission “to operate safe and secure prisons and provide effective […]
“I’M STILL A HUMAN BEING” by Sharon Rondeau (Dec. 25, 2019) — A letter received Tuesday from an inmate at the Northwest Correctional Complex (NWCX) in Tiptonville, TN reports that following an appearance at the courthouse in Lynchburg, Moore County, last month, he fell down a 19-step staircase while in custody and received virtually no […]
INMATE CHOOSES TO CONVALESCE UNDER CARE OF TDOC by Sharon Rondeau (Nov. 26, 2019) — In a letter received Tuesday, 25-year TDOC inmate Grenda Ray Harmer, #88710, reported that he will likely remain in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) for another year because of medical conditions for which he just recently […]
“LOCKDOWN” IMPOSED FOLLOWING REPORTED INMATE ALTERCATION by Sharon Rondeau (Nov. 11, 2019) — Late Monday morning, The Post & Email received an email from an individual who stated that she received information from several inmates at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center (TTCC) in Hartsville, TN, the state’s newest prison with a track record of violence […]
SUGGESTS IMMEDIATE TREATMENT WOULD BE “LESS COSTLY” THAN EXTENDED STAY by Sharon Rondeau (Sep. 1, 2019) — On Saturday The Post & Email received a copy of a letter from Tennessee inmate Grenda Ray Harmer, #88170, to Gov. Bill Lee stating that he will not consent to release by the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) […]
“PRISONS ARE NOT EASY TO GOVERN AND CONTROL” by Sharon Rondeau (Aug. 15, 2019) — In a follow-up letter dated July 15, 2019, MCCX inmate Grenda Ray Harmer, #88710, wrote to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to convey his observation that Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) Commissioner Tony Parker is prohibited by state statute to serve […]
LONG-TERM INMATE FEARS OVERWORKED STAFF INCAPABLE OF HANDLING POTENTIAL EMERGENCY by Sharon Rondeau (Aug. 12, 2019) — On Friday The Post & Email received a copy of a letter dated August 5, 2019 to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee from MCCX inmate Grenda Ray Harmer reporting “a severe staff shortage of officers” creating what Harmer sees […]
“I STAY RESPECTFUL” by Sharon Rondeau (Jul. 5, 2019) — A letter received on Monday from TDOC inmate Omowale A. Shabazz, #244104, rescinded an earlier request that we not divulge his having been granted parole effective in April 2020. Shabazz, whose birth name was Fred Edmond Dean, wrote in his June 24, 2019 typewritten letter […]
“SEE IF BY THE TIME YOU GET THIS I AM IN THE HOSPITAL OR DEAD” by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 17, 2019) — A letter received Monday from an inmate at the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center (TTCC) in Hartsville warns that because of ongoing threats to his life by gang members and his cellmate, he fears […]
REQUEST TO TRANSFER TO ACCESSIBLE FACILITY REPORTEDLY “REPEATEDLY DENIED” by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 6, 2019) — Earlier this week The Post & Email received a copy of a letter from Raymond Wright, an inmate at the Northwest Correctional Complex (NWCX) in Tiptonville, TN, who has written to us previously about alleged deficiencies at the facility […]
DUE TO ALLEGED SHORT-STAFFING by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 5, 2019) — The Post & Email is in receipt of a letter from an inmate at Tennessee’s South Central Correction Facility (SCCF) reporting that short-staffing has caused the situation whereby “the Assistant warden is working the prison pods…and other various areas regularly assigned to corrections officers […]
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 […]