Sussex Correctional Institution Cover-Up?
November 24th, 2007 by Joe CiccantiAn anonymous caller to WGMD said this week that he was abused as an inmate at The Sussex Correctional Institution and talked about his experiences on and off the air. He claims he is among several former SCI inmates who were brutally tortured by guards. There was actually a story about one of these cases in the News Journal earlier this year:
http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dgrfjsw8_144f2n9cb
The anonymous caller claims he had 18 smashed ribs, ruptured muscles and intestines, a punctured lung and threats of sexual torture made against him. He added that there is a recent case this fall, in which an 18-year old guy was arrested and taken in completely healthy, but he left crippled. One of them was said to have had as many as 400 stitches from dog bites. The caller says there is litigation right now that involves nearly a dozen others who say they were abused by guards. One guard was reportedly busted. This is Sussex Correctional Institution now, not Abu Ghraib. This man, who I believe is in his 50’s, stated that this stuff was and is going on in the pre-trial building and claimed that the abuse over there is worse than Abu Ghraib. I am not sure about the extent of all of this, but the reputation surrounding Delaware’s prison system in terms of health care isn’t particularly good. Here is the News Journal’s history of stories in the last few years about “Delaware’s deadly prisons.”
Here’s another report from Human Rights Watch from last year. Note that Delaware is included in the list of states:
http://www.safetyandjustice.org/info/nation/story/947
Is there a cover-up here? Is there more going on than we think? Are these allegations of abuse true? These are guards now, not just inmate attacking inmate. You may happen to know an inmate or may even have a friend of yours in prison. You probably can’t trust the other inmates, but can you trust these guards? I plan to follow up on all of this to try and find out what is really going on.
November 24th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
Who cares? These sub-human convicts should find a way to stop creating victims in the outside- then they wouldn’t be victimized in the prison world. Treat animals like animals.
November 24th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
Who cares, AE??? We ALL should…our judicial system needs changing and prisons less ‘comfortable’ but not sadistic, surely. I guess most are aware of prisoner on prisoner brutality within such walls but CO’s are supposed to better than that and, if not why not?
November 25th, 2007 at 8:38 am
Have to agree in part with AE here Nancy, were they thinking about the basic human right of their victims? but, on the other hand, lets make it uncomfortable to be a prisioner so crime is not a life choice, which can be done without guards on a power trip with abuse.
November 25th, 2007 at 11:45 am
I’m sick of the NEWS URINAL sticking up for the dregs of society- when a innocent man was killed by drunken illegals the NEWS URINAL did a story on how tough it would be for the scumbags to get on with their lives- hardly mentioning the effects of an innocent man’s family. I don’t give a damn about any convicts- Maybe if the prisons were properly staffed and the guards didn’t have to work 18 hour shift these shenanigans would stop. And if they don’t stop- oh well- stay out of jail- and while your in there don’t drop the soap. Maybe if the idiots in jail were decent hardworkers we wouldn’t need the illegals to work in the chicken factories and spread TB and bedbugs.
November 25th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
It’s usually the innocent or sober being killed by drunk drivers of every hue, AE…and the punishment is never severe enough. There have been enough warnings for many years about this and still there are those who ignore them so I’d happily go for a sentencing and stripping licences at first offence…no questions, no plea, nothing. That still doesn’t excuse those in a position of responsibility abusing it. Perhpas if we ran our prisons in a different manner that might not happen…curtail the freedoms they do have as inmates, including free association periods in or out of the yards. But when people take jobs as CO’s how do they plan to conduct themselves? Are they people who don’t believe in any sort of rehabilitation, believe that the justice system isn’t enough and want to wreak their own brand of punishment upon the incarcerated? Outright brutality solves and resolves so should anyone so inclined keep such a position? We expect human beings to be hired, not thugs and if it’s over long hours and burn out creating a personal problem…quit. Find something else. If every CO behaved in this manner I might agree that too long hours, too few staff was the problem but we know that not all of them behave this way so weed ‘em out.
November 26th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Sounds like this guy is attempting to try this case in the press. It make one wonder what he did to the Officers? I think He is seeing Dollar signs.
Perhaps when the facts of an investigation come out we will see more than just his side and his possible lies.
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:20 am
I am a mother of a son who was charged with drunken disorderly in Rehobeth Beach. He assaulted no one. He did not break anything. He did have too much mouth apparently. Because Rehobeth has no holding cell for intoxicated persons he was taken to Sussex Correctional where at the early hours of the morning he was beaten and had a dog attack him and because our family is afraid of those people, I will not divulge everything. These people know who they are and that they did a wrong thing. Our son is not the same and neither are we. Thank heavens your mother or loved ones have not had to see you in that condition and know that you were treated so visciously. These are people who were not intoxicated and who are representing the state of Delaware. God, I pray that they have gone through some anger management training and that they learn how to act professionally and that their loved ones never go through what we have.