Family members of inmates at Tennessee’s largest prison are seeking a meeting with leaders of the facility to address “grievous issues that seem to only be getting worse as time passes.”
In a letter written on behalf of “a coalition of over 50 family members, concerned clergy, lawmakers, and citizens,” Casey Wilson asks Russell Washburn, the warden of Trousdale Turner Correctional Center in Hartsville, for a meeting to discuss a long list of issues at the CoreCivic-run facility that has been troubled since it opened in January 2016.
Just four months after the facility began accepting new inmates, it was forced to stop because it was understaffed. A memo obtained by the Associated Press at the time described a situation in which, as the AP reported, "the guards were not in control of the housing units, were not counting inmates correctly and were putting inmates in solitary confinement for no documented reason." That news also followed a growing outcry from family members and activists about conditions at the facility.
Earlier this year, those concerns surfaced again in a federal lawsuit claiming that understaffing at the facility had led to insufficient care for diabetic inmates. A series of reports by WSMV last month showed conditions have not improved:
The stories the I-Team has heard consistently describe a prison severely understaffed and overrun with gangs, violence, drugs and inefficiency.Families say medium security inmates, men who theoretically pose a moderate risk, have been locked down in cells for weeks without showers and sometimes food.
Wilson, whose husband has been an inmate at the Trousdale facility since December 2016, says the facility was on lockdown for three weeks starting April 1 of this year. Washburn took over as the warden of the facility two months later and Wilson says inmates families wanted him to “be on notice” about the concerns they have for their loved ones on the inside. She runs a private Facebook group for inmates’ family members where they can feel safe discussing their experience, and their concerns.
“They have not been on lockdown as much the last couple of weeks, but I don’t know if that’s because they were on the news and they’re kind of trying to just keep their head above water right now,” she says.
After the WSMV stories aired, she says her family was taken to protective custody for reasons that weren’t clear. Wilson says she feels like it was the prison’s way of making sure he couldn’t talk to her or the media. Speaking out about conditions inside a prison, when one has a family member inside that prison, is always risk, Wilson says.
“At the end of the day, they can basically move him or put him in protective custody or segregate him or whatever because he is in their custody,” she says. “So it’s always something you worry about.”
You can read the letter Wilson sent to Washburn below. As of this writing, she has not received a response.
Dear Warden Washburn:We are family members and friends of loved ones locked up inside the walls of Trousdale Turner Correctional Center. We are deeply concerned for their wellbeing and we've come together for the purpose of addressing grievous issues that seem to only be getting worse as time passes. There are numerous issues we would like to address and would like the opportunity to meet with you in person to address our concerns. As the warden of the facility, you set the tone for how the facility operates on a daily basis. You determine how officers and insiders, i.e., prisoners, interact and you determine what incentives and programs are offered to the insiders and what incentives the officers have to be professional and properly trained to do their job. We would like to know your goals and priorities for the facility and what changes will be made in order to achieve your goals. Some of our concerns are as follows:
● Lack of medical treatment
● Properly trained staff-lack of professionalism, abusive language, overly aggressive staff/insider interactions
● Amount of time spent on lockdown
● Quality and quantity of food given to insiders
● Safety of insiders and staff- unacceptable high rates of violence in every combination
● Education, work opportunities, lack of programming and how this impacts good time
● Consistent procedures and policies
● Visitation-processing, cleanliness of visitation gallery, size of visitation gallery
We understand you have been at the facility a short amount of time but we are certain you understand our concerns. We want to work with you, staff and our loved ones to make sure the facility is operated humanely with concern and respect for everyone who is involved. We would like a meeting scheduled by July 14, 2017. We anticipate that there will be 5 family members of prisoners housed at your facility present at this meeting representing a coalition of over 50 family members, concerned clergy, lawmakers, and citizens with serious concerns about TTCC. I can be contacted by phone at [redacted] or via email: [redacted]. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.
We've reached out to CoreCivic for comment.Update (11:30 a.m.):
Nashville Democratic state Rep. John Ray Clemmons emails to note that he has repeatedly tried to visit the prison and been turned down.
I have repeatedly requested a site visit to CCA Trousdale with me, Sen. Harris, a member of media, family members of inmates, and an advocate. Intended purpose was to discuss all concerns with facility management and have a productive conversation about how best to resolve all concerns and reported issues. Request has repeatedly been denied by TDOC and CCA.
