Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Good afternoon. My name is Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice. I am joined by U.S. Attorney Henry Leventis for the Middle District of Tennessee.

We are here today to announce that the U.S. Justice Department is launching a civil investigation into Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, located in Hartsville, Tennessee. CoreCivic, a private company, operates Trousdale Turner on behalf of the Tennessee Department of Correction. 

This investigation will examine whether the State protects people incarcerated at Trousdale Turner from harm, including violence and sexual abuse.

We are conducting this investigation under the Civil Rights for Institutionalized Persons Act, which authorizes the Justice Department to investigate state institutions to determine whether they subject people incarcerated there to a pattern or practice of constitutional violations.

Based on an extensive review of publicly available information and information gathered from stakeholders, we find strong grounds to open this investigation now. Violence at Trousdale Turner reportedly has been endemic since it opened in 2016. Recent reported incidents of violence include: stabbings of five individuals within a three-week span in early 2024; at least 196 assaults, two murders and 15 deaths that the facility classified as “accidental” between July 2022 and June 2023; at least 90 incidents of sexual misconduct in that same timeframe; and large amounts of contraband, including 97 knives found in June 2023 alone.

The facility houses about 2,500 people. Tennessee has known of the issues at Trousdale Turner for years. Audits in 2017, 2020 and 2023 flagged problems with understaffing and cited concerns by staff members for their own safety. One audit explicitly cautioned that the Tennessee Department of Correction’s inadequate monitoring of operations at Trousdale Turner “could result in harm” to people housed there.  The state’s auditors also observed that a single correctional officer was responsible for supervising over 300 people.

The Civil Rights Division has received almost 100 complaints regarding the conditions at Trousdale. These complaints come from incarcerated people, community groups and concerned family members.

In our country, people do not surrender their constitutional rights at the prison door.  Every person held in a jail or prison retains the fundamental right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. In our legal system, proper punishment does not, and cannot, include violence and sexual abuse. 

This investigation should send a clear message – when states choose to have private companies run their prisons, they remain liable for the conditions inside those facilities. Private prisons are not above the law. States and localities retain their constitutional duty to protect prisoners from violence and sexual abuse. CoreCivic operates Trousdale Turner on behalf of Tennessee. But Tennessee remains obligated to ensure that the people are housed in conditions that satisfy the Constitution. This investigation will determine whether the state is meeting that responsibility.

The investigation will be conducted by a team of career attorneys from the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee. The investigation will be independent, thorough, and fair. If we find reasonable cause to believe there is a systemic constitutional violation, we will provide written notice to Tennessee, setting forth the supporting facts and the minimum remedial measures. If not, we will close the investigation. We notified officials of the investigation earlier today and pledged that we will work cooperatively with them in conducting the investigation and identifying solutions to any problems we uncover.

This is but the latest investigation into conditions in correctional facilities around the country. We do this work because every American retains their basic constitutional rights, even when held in a jail or prison.

In Alabama, our ongoing litigation of conditions inside men’s prisons seeks to address the prevalence of violence and sexual abuse, and the staff’s use of excessive force. 

In Mississippi, we issued findings reports in April 2022 and February concerning conditions in four state prisons, including one privately operated prison. These reports outline how Mississippi fails to safeguard the constitutional rights of incarcerated people, including by failing to protect them from physical violence.

In Georgia, our investigation into the Fulton County Jail, in Atlanta continues. And we are assessing whether unconstitutional conditions exist, including violence against incarcerated people, across the Georgia Department of Corrections.

Let me close by reiterating this point: whatever their arrangements with private companies to operate prisons, states remain obligated to protect prisoners from violence and sexual abuse. If, in this investigation, we determine that the State has fallen short of that obligation, we will seek to work with them cooperatively to develop meaningful and durable reforms that ensure compliance with constitutional standards.

I now turn to U.S. Attorney Leventis who will offer remarks.