BOSTON (WHDH) - Inmates and former inmates at a Shirley prison said guards have been abusive before and after a riot last month, and lawmakers say the state needs to rethink its approach.
Three weeks after a group of inmates attacked a corrections officer at Souza Baronowski prison, former inmates and prison advocates spoke at the State House following Sunday’s surprise visit to Souza Baronoski by five state lawmakers who were alarmed by what they saw.
“I’ve been beat so much that it was normal to me, scars on my face and chest can prove that,” said former inmate Jurell Laronal. “I don’t care who’s in there or what you got arrested for, I should be able to go there do my time and not worry about coming home in one piece.”
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge says he and the other legislators spent 6 hours interviewing 15 inmates during their visit this weekend. He says they told him guards punished and abused them even though they were not involved in the attack on the officer, including surprising them in their cells without any notice and pointing pepper spray guns at their foreheads.
At the State House, one man said his son, who had not been involved in the attack, had been kept in his underwear and a T-shirt for two weeks.
The lawmakers went to the prison two days after several inmates filed a lawsuit accusing corrections officers of blocking their access to their attorneys. In a statement, the Department of Corrections said “While some privileges have been restricted and some inmates were moved as staff searched the maximum security facility for weapons and other contraband, this process was necessary to prevent further violence,” and added that it “vigorously defends” its actions.
“The bottom line is everything gets investigated and the primary goal and objective for folks in the Department of Corrections is to keep inmates and correctional officers safe,” said Gov. Charlie Baker.
But Eldridge said DOC is taking the wrong disciplinary tack.
“The vast majority of prisoners will be out in society, what are we doing to rehabilitate prisoners?” Eldridge said. “I do not think the Department of Corrections approach is doing that.”
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