For the second time, a national public interest law firm is joining a major lawsuit against the nation’s largest private prison operator, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). Trial Lawyers for Public Justice is joining Boulder's Trine & Metcalf, PC, in a lawsuit charging CCA with negligence that sparked a July 2004 riot at the Crowley County Correctional Facility in Olney Springs, Colorado. The suit, filed in Crowley County District Court on March 7, 2006, on behalf of 150 inmates who did not participate in the riot, also charges CCA with inhumane treatment of inmates who were not involved in the riot -- including some who had formed bucket brigades to douse fires.

Last year, TLPJ joined the Boulder firm's first lawsuit on behalf of 84 former and current inmates seeking to hold CCA accountable for its misconduct in the 2004 riot. All of the 234 inmates represented in the two lawsuits were cleared of any involvement in the riot by Colorado's Department of Corrections (DOC). The latest lawsuit provides new details on CCA's negligence in causing the riot and its desire to punish all inmates -- including those who clearly did not participate in the riot.

"Both lawsuits seek to hold CCA accountable for its shameful misconduct in the riot at the Crowley Facility," said TLPJ Staff Attorney Adele P. Kimmel, co-counsel for the plaintiffs. "CCA bungled matters at every turn, prompting and mishandling a preventable riot, using unlawful and excessive force against inmates who obeyed orders and did not riot, and treating compliant inmates in an inhumane and indiscriminate manner for weeks after the riot ended."

In October 2004, the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) issued a blistering "After Action Report" faulting CCA for failing to foresee and prevent the riot. The Report indicated that CCA's incompetence provoked the riot – and then its skeleton crew of inadequately trained staff (including recent high school graduates and senior citizens) fueled the fire instead of quelling the riot. The Report documents a variety of blunders that led to the riot, such as ignoring repeated warnings about paying inmates vastly different wages based on the state they hailed from rather than their actual work assignments.

Just a few days before the riot, CCA permitted a mass transfer of 198 Washington State inmates to the Crowley Facility, which also housed 116 inmates from Wyoming and 807 Colorado inmates. The monthly wages paid by each state for similar work assignments ranged from as high as $60 per month paid to Washington and Wyoming inmates to as low as $18.60 per month paid to Colorado inmates. One result of this disparity was that many inmates did not earn enough money to purchase supplies needed to maintain their hygiene.

The Report also blames CCA for refusing to hear inmates’ grievances and feeding them skimpy portions of lousy food. For example, CCA failed to serve food that adhered to DOC mandated menu items, then ignored inmates' complaints about food quality and quantity. In addition, CCA ignored prior warnings of a potential riot. According to the Report, CCA staff submitted reports to supervisors detailing anticipated trouble before the riot, but CCA failed to respond.

The Report also documents CCA's failure to take adequate security measures, such as limiting the inmate population to those classified as medium custody or below. In addition, the Report details serious lapses in emergency preparedness that impaired CCA's ability to control the disturbance before it blew up into a conflagration.

When the riot ended, all the inmates – including inmates who had formed bucket brigades to douse fires and inmates who had been locked in the library and had protected the librarian from rioters – were treated brutally. The State Inspector General’s Office has released documents evidencing CCA’s intent to punish all inmates. The punishment of bystanders included forcing tightly bound inmates to urinate and defecate in their clothing; dragging handcuffed inmates from their cells face down through water filled with glass shards, blood, and raw sewage; shooting inmates who were lying down, or sitting or walking with their hands up; using tear gas on plaintiffs who were locked in their cells or were prone at gunpoint, waiting to be cuffed; withholding drinking water and medications; denying shower privileges and clean clothes for more than a week; feeding inmates an inadequate and unvaried diet of distasteful baloney sandwiches for a month; and forcing inmates to strip and parade naked in front of female guards who snapped pictures and videotaped inmates bathing without a shower curtain.

The After Action Report warned that the state has little power to enforce reforms in order to prevent future riots: "At present, there are few mechanisms in place for holding private operators or contractors accountable when deficiencies are delayed or never corrected." And while the DOC investigated what caused the riot at the Crowley Facility – and pointed the finger of blame at CCA – it did not investigate what happened to inmates who were victims of the riot.

"These lawsuits offer the only mechanism for holding a profit-driven prison operator like CCA accountable for its wrongdoing," said lead counsel William A. Trine of Trine & Metcalf, P.C. in Boulder. "CCA's desire to make a buck caused the riot at the Crowley Facility. It resulted in understaffing and inadequate training of staff on the proper use of force, and led to shocking mistreatment of obedient inmates. CCA still has not fixed the conditions that caused the riot. If anything, conditions at the Crowley Facility are getting worse."

Both lawsuits have been assigned to Judge Michael Schiferl. CCA filed a motion to dismiss the first lawsuit, Adams v. Corrections Corporation of America, in September 2005, but the court has not yet held a hearing or ruled on that motion.

The inmates’ legal team in the second suit, Abrahamson v. Corrections Corporation of America, also includes Deborah A. Taussig of Trine & Metcalf, P.C. The amended complaint in Abrahamson, filed on March 21, along with the amended complaint in Adams, are posted online at www.tlpj.org.