CCA prison in Tennessee scene of attacks, death

Correctional officer Charlotte James suffered multiple stab wounds when a prisoner tried to force her to perform oral sex.

The attack didn't happen at a state-run prison. It occurred in February at a private prison in Tennessee operated by Corrections Corporation of America — the same place where inmates were killed in 2013 and 2014.

The state sends thousands of inmates to prisons operated by CCA and several thousand more will end up in its custody once the Nashville-based company finishes construction on a new prison in Trousdale County. The state is set to pay out $277 million to house inmates at the 2,552-bed prison, according to terms of a contract running from 2016 through 2021.

The construction of the CCA prison occurs as state-run prisons deal with severe manpower shortages and safety concerns — a scenario set in motion when hundreds of correctional officers quit after the Tennessee Department of Correction switched them from a traditional 40-hour work week to a 28-day schedule to save $1.4 million in overtime costs. CCA has its own set of problems.

The company faces a class action lawsuit in federal court for allegedly failing to pay overtime — accusations the company challenges in court papers. CCA is also accused in other suits of failing to provide safety for inmates at the South Central Correctional Facility in Clifton.

CCA, the nation's largest operator of private prisons with $1.65 billion in revenues last year, has come under criticism nationally from critics ranging from justice reform organizations to college students. Trustees for Columbia University voted last month to divest holdings in the company following student protests. Idaho last year ended its contract with CCA after the company acknowledged it falsified staffing reports submitted to the state.

The American Civil Liberties Union In Tennessee has launched a petition asking Gov. Bill Haslam to stop doing business with CCA. It has garnered more than 26,000 signatures.

The company has come under criticism for the money it spends nationwide on lobbying. In response, CCA began posting a political activity report on its website. In 2013, it spent $835,3350, including $92,300 in Tennessee.

"Our company does not, under longstanding policy, lobby for or against policies or legislation that would determine the basis for or duration of an individual's incarceration or detention," the website states.

James, the correctional officer attacked at the prison, declined to comment. The Tennessean learned of the Feb. 22 attack after obtaining an incident report. A spokesman for CCA said staffing was not a factor in the attack on the officer or other incidents.

"We take seriously the safety and security of the inmates entrusted to our care, as well as the safety of our dedicated facility staff members and the communities they call home," said Jonathan Burns, a spokesman for CCA. "All of CCA's Tennessee Department of Correction-contracted facilities are required to maintain staffing of mandatory posts."

The facilities are staffed by full-time TDOC employees with unfettered access to the prisons who monitor them for contract compliance, he said, including safety protocols and staffing requirements.

Two inmates have died in homicides at the Clifton prison since Sept. 1, 2013. The Human Rights Defense Center issued an alert about the deaths after autopsy results were released on the second prisoner. Gerald Ewing was killed at the prison in 2013. Jeffery Sills was killed in 2014.

Sills' brother, Jerry Sills, has filed a lawsuit against CCA. The lawsuit alleges that the prison housed his brother in the same cell as Travis Bess, a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, where Bess "beat, tortured, stabbed, cut and strangled" him.

Another inmate at the prison asked a federal judge in July for help at the prison, alleging that it was allowing "security threat groups" to be housed with the general population, posing a risk of serious harm to staff and other inmates.

The Tennessee Private Prison Contracting Act limits the state to one private prison contract, but there is a way around that law. A county enters an agreement with CCA for a prison then the state pays the county to house the inmates. The state entered into a fee-for-service contract with Trousdale County for the new prison being built there.

CCA housed 5,211 state inmates as of June 30 at three prisons it runs in Tennessee.

Reach Tom Wilemon at 615-726-5961 and on Twitter @TomWilemon.