An inmate 監(jiān)犯 just one day away from freedom 離自由只有一天了 who was allegedly beaten to death in his cell 據(jù)稱是在牢房里被打死的 last month was one of 48 who have died in New Jersey state prisons this year.
The number represents a sharp increase from 2021, when 39 people died behind bars?在監(jiān)獄服刑, but it’s down from 100 in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to state Department of Corrections spokeswoman Amy Z. Quinn.
Since early 2017, 322 people have died in state prisons, Quinn added.
The deaths are largely due to a graying prison population and an increase in the number of incarcerated people with acute, complex medical needs, Quinn said. She did not provide a breakdown 細(xì)目列表?of causes of the deaths.
More people are dying while incarcerated nationally too.?在全國(guó)范圍內(nèi)，也有越來越多的人在監(jiān)禁期間死亡缎脾。
incarcerated? 被監(jiān)禁
The Prison Policy Institute?found?that deaths in state prisons rose 41% from 2001 to 2018, even though the state prison population only grew by 1% during the same period. The leading cause by far is illness and “natural causes,” followed by suicide, overdose, and homicide, the group’s analysis showed.
More than 3,850 people died nationwide in state prisons or private prison facilities under a state contract in 2019, according to the most recent numbers?reported?by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics.
The latest inmate to die in New Jersey was Martin Sanchez, 41, who was found unresponsive and injured in his cell at Bayside State Prison in Leesburg on Nov. 21. First responders 現(xiàn)場(chǎng)急救員?declared him dead, according to Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae.
Quinn referred questions about Sanchez’s death to Webb-McRae, who said the case remains under investigation. Criminal charges have not yet been filed.刑事指控尚未被提起。
Sanchez, who had been in custody 被拘留?for an Essex County theft case since July 2021, was scheduled to be released the day after he was killed.
He died just a few days after a former state correctional officer 獄警寄疏，監(jiān)管警員撵幽；懲教人員?at Bayside, John Makos,?pleaded guilty?to federal conspiracy charges for allegedly assaulting inmates — and allowing inmates to assault each other 對(duì)聯(lián)邦指控認(rèn)罪灯荧，罪名是涉嫌襲擊囚犯，并允許囚犯互相攻擊— for actual or perceived violations of prison rules and customs between April and December 2019.
Those assaults occurred in the prison’s kitchen in areas out of sight of surveillance cameras, 這些襲擊發(fā)生在監(jiān)獄的廚房里盐杂，在監(jiān)控?cái)z像頭看不到的地方 according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In one incident, Makos watched and didn’t intervene干預(yù)?when multiple inmates pinned ?按住; 使不能動(dòng)彈?another to the floor and punched him about 25 times — and didn’t report the attack to supervisors or medical staff as required, according to the office. Makos faces up to 10 years in prison when he’s sentenced in March.
Prison workers were not involved in Sanchez’s assault, and a correctional officer tried unsuccessfully to revive ?使蘇醒?him, said William Sullivan, president of New Jersey Policemen’s Benevolent Association Local 105, which represents correctional officers.
State data shows that assaults on incarcerated people committed by other inmates aren’t uncommon in the system. At least 155 have been reported so far this year, up from 108 last year and the most in at least five years, state data shows.
WASHINGTON – 3 survivors of sexual assault 性侵犯逗载；性暴行 in federal prison described years of horrific abuse by prison staffers who used their unfettered 不受限制的access to vulnerable inmates and threatened them with retaliation if they reported the attacks.
All three former inmates, their voices cracking with emotion?聲音因激動(dòng)而嘶啞,?told a Senate investigative panel Tuesday that the federal Bureau of Prisons had failed 辜負(fù)them and often shielded their attackers from accountability.?保護(hù)攻擊者不被追究責(zé)任哆窿。
One of the victims, Linda De La Rosa, told the committee, which has been investigating the sexual abuse of federal inmates for the past eight months, that her attacker had full access to her personal files and used the information to gain leverage over her.?攻擊她的人可以完全訪問她的個(gè)人文件并利用這些信息來控制她。
"My life was a living hell?我的生活就像人間地獄," De La Rosa told lawmakers, describing the abuse that started in 2019 and involved at least 3 other inmates at a federal prison in Lexington, Kentucky.
The attacker was later charged and is now serving a 135-month prison sentence, but De La Rosa said the officer had been previously accused of sexual offenses against other inmates when he was stalking 騷擾; 糾纏?and attacking her.
Senate committee Chairman Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., said the investigation?also concluded that the Bureau of Prisons system has so far proved incapable of detecting and preventing such attacks.?到目前為止撕贞，監(jiān)獄管理局系統(tǒng)已被證明無法發(fā)現(xiàn)和預(yù)防此類襲擊更耻。
"This situation is intolerable 這種情況是無法容忍的," Ossoff said. "It is cruel and unusual punishment."
The panel's inquiry?is yet another assessment of the agency's systemic failure to ensure the safety of inmates, especially women.
Last week, a former warden 看守人；典獄官?of a California federal prison, known as the "rape club," was convicted on 8 criminal counts for his abuse of 3 inmates.
Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters, in an interview this week with USA TODAY, said Justice Department officials are considering the early release 提早釋放 of inmates who were victims of the warden and other staffers at the prison.
"I am open to this consideration that is a very complex issue, which is why it’s under pretty significant review,” Peters told USA TODAY.?“I think we’re concerned about consistency, I think we’re concerned about fairness, and so I think that each case is unique.”
The testimony of the former inmates, however, represented a powerful condemnation of the agency's past response to such abuse, while the committee reported that the internal investigations unit is plagued by a backlog of 8,000 investigations including hundreds of sexual assault claims.
Peters was appointed as the agency's director in August following years of near-constant turmoil in which staffers' incompetence or misconduct also factored into the 2018 prison murder of mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger and the 2019 suicide of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
At Tuesday's hearing, Peters said she was "horrified" by the accounts of sexual abuse.
"We must train all bureau employees on their obligation to report misconduct 我們必須培訓(xùn)所有公務(wù)員捏膨，讓他們有義務(wù)舉報(bào)不當(dāng)行為," the director told lawmakers, adding that rogue staffers 流氓員工?would be "fettered out" and removed from their positions.
The emotional testimony of the former inmates, however, drew most of the committee's focus.
Briane Moore, a former inmate at a prison in Alderson, West Virginia, tearfully described how a captain raped her multiple times, while?threatening to deny her appeals to transfer to a facility closer to family.
"While he was raping me, he was raping other women," Moore said. "I'm still suffering. This has changed the course of my life我仍然很痛苦秧均。這改變了我的人生軌跡。."
Carolyn Richardson, a former inmate in New York, said an officer preyed on her as she suffered from deteriorating eye sight, often threatening to withhold food and medical care as he forced himself on her.
Richardson said the officer regularly visited her cell a night, shining a flashlight to indicate his arrival.
"I felt utterly powerless," Richardson said.??
Waterloo regional police say a correctional officer at a women’s prison in Kitchener has been arrested after allegedly sexually assaulting an inmate.?一名獄警因涉嫌性侵一名囚犯而被捕号涯。
Police say staff at Grand Valley Institution for Women called police in April 2022, to report “a sexual relationship involving a correctional officer and an inmate.”
An investigation was launched and on December 9, 2022, police made an arrest.
A 43-year-old man from Cambridge is facing charges of sexual assault and breach of trust.?正面臨性侵犯和背信指控目胡。
Police have not named the suspect. He will appear in court on January 9, 2023.
Police say the investigation is ongoing.
On its website, Correctional Service Canada says Grand Valley Institution, which opened in 1997, is one of six federal facilities for women across Canada.
It has a capacity for 215 minimum and medium-security inmates.
Widespread sexual abuse of female inmates continues to plague federal prisons and accountability measures for staff have not contained the scourge of such violence, according to a Senate investigative report released Tuesday.?聯(lián)邦監(jiān)獄繼續(xù)普遍存在對(duì)女犯人的性侵，對(duì)工作人員的問責(zé)措施未能遏制此類暴力事件的發(fā)生链快。
Women were abused by prison staff in at least 19 of the 29 federal facilities that held female inmates since 2012, the bipartisan report?from the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations?found. The Bureau of Prisons opened 5,415 cases alleging sexual abuse by federal employees from 2012 to 2022.
Former inmate and survivor Briane Moore testified before the subcommittee on Tuesday, recounting how she was raped by an officer while she was imprisoned at a federal facility in West Virginia. She said the officer, a captain at the prison, would take her to private areas of the facility to abuse her out of sight of surveillance cameras.
"I knew he had the power to prevent me from being transferred to a prison closer to my family closer to my daughter," Moore said. "He was a captain with total control over me. I had no choice but to obey."
She said that she feared getting placed in solitary confinement被單獨(dú)監(jiān)禁 if she tried to report the officer and was aware of other women who were punished for reporting abuse.
The slow pace of accountability for inmate sexual abuse, combined with limited resources for internal investigators, puts inmates at continued risk?對(duì)囚犯性侵的問責(zé)步伐緩慢誉己，加上內(nèi)部調(diào)查人員的資源有限，使囚犯面臨持續(xù)的風(fēng)險(xiǎn), the report found. The Bureau of Prisons' Office of Internal Affairs has a case backlog of about 8,000, some of which have been pending for more than 5 years.
The investigative panel, a part of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, is led by Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff, who has focused on prison abuse and misconduct.
"This situation is intolerable," Ossoff said at Tuesday's hearing "Sexual abuse of inmates is a gross abuse of human and constitutional rights and cannot be tolerated by the United States Congress. It is cruel and unusual punishment that violates the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and basic standards of human decency."
Briane Moore, formerly incarcerated in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, testifies during the hearing of Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations, on Sexual Abuse of Female Inmates in Federal Prisons, on Capitol...Show more
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters,?who was appointed in July, appeared at the hearing and was asked by Ossoff why the bureau hasn't made systemic changes to prevent abuse, given the volume of alleged and corroborated complaints.
"I wish I had a good answer to that question," Peters said. "What I can tell you is that when you look at the institutions that you're highlighting -- and you see an institution that has been riveted with cases it's it's hard to explain -- it's hard to understand how systemic changes were not implemented."
Peters said she has worked since her appointment to inspect prisons and transition from prior Bureau of Prisons leadership. Citing reports of abuse by prison leaders, she called it "absolutely egregious," nothing that extreme power differences while in custody make it impossible for inmates to consent to sex with law enforcement.
MORE: DOJ watchdog finds 'serious' problems in handling of 'Whitey' Bulger prison transfer
"I welcome accountability and oversight and I welcome this hearing," Peters said. "We must come to this work with our arms wide open."
Peters said she will aim to improve internal surveillance systems and introduce body cameras as long as there's sufficient funding in place from Congress.
Linda De La Rosa, formerly incarcerated in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, testifies during the hearing of Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations, on Sexual Abuse of Female Inmates in Federal Prisons, on Capitol...Show more
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Earlier this year, Ossoff led a Senate panel exposing corruption and misconduct at a federal penitentiary in Georgia. At the time, he said prison staff allowed massive amounts of contraband 走私品?to flow into the facilities.
"Contraband is the beginning of sexual assault," Peters said on Tuesday, adding that cell phones are often used to coordinate prison crimes between inmates and are a major threat to security.
Recent Stories from ABC News
During her initial testimony, Moore expressed regret for the drug offense that landed her in prison. She explained that after having a daughter at age 17, she was looking for extra money and began selling crack cocaine.
"I'm not an activist or someone who's normally -- who would normally use my voice like I am today," Moore told the panel. "Speaking about my experience in such a public setting is incredibly hard. I'm willing to do so because other women are still in prison and I am out. I hope that they will not have to go through what I went through."在這樣的公共場(chǎng)合講述我的經(jīng)歷是非常困難的域蜗。我愿意這么做巨双，因?yàn)槠渌诉€在監(jiān)獄里，而我出來了霉祸。我希望他們不會(huì)經(jīng)歷我所經(jīng)歷的一切
