DOJ launches investigation into Tennessee's Trousdale Turner prison

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it was investigating conditions at Tennessee's largest prison .

Why it matters: The federal investigation will seek to determine if the state does enough to protect inmates from violence at Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, which is run by the for-profit prison company CoreCovic.

• The DOJ said it had received nearly 100 complaints from inmates, their families and community groups.

What they're saying: "Violence at Trousdale Turner reportedly has been endemic since it opened in 2016," said Kristen Clarke, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, in a press conference Tuesday.

The big picture: Trousdale Turner, located about 55 miles northeast of Nashville, houses about 2,500 prisoners, officials said. State audits and lawsuits have publicly outlined perilous conditions there.

• CoreCivic, a Brentwood-based, publicly traded corporation, is contracted to oversee operations at Trousdale Turner and three other Tennessee prisons. The company has faced criticism from Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell and at the federal level.

By the numbers: Clarke said five people were stabbed at Trousdale Turner during a three-week span earlier this year.

• Between July 2022 and June 2023, Clarke said, the prison logged two murders, 15 deaths classified as accidental, at least 196 assaults, and at least 90 cases of sexual misconduct.
• Contraband is a significant problem: In June of 2023 alone, Clarke said, officials found 97 knives at the prison.

"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," she said.

• "In our legal system, proper punishment does not and cannot ever include violence and sexual abuse."

Nashville attorney Daniel Horwitz, who has filed multiple lawsuits related to violence at Trousdale Turner, praised the DOJ investigation in a statement.

• "The heinous abuses that occur with regularity at the chronically understaffed facility are unhidden, and they have been documented year after year," Horwitz said.
• "It is long past time for this death factory to be shut down."

The other side: A CoreCivic spokesperson said "the safety and dignity of every person in our care is a top priority." The spokesperson said the company would work with the state and DOJ "to address areas of concern."

• A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Correction tells Axios the agency will also cooperate with the investigation.

Between the lines: CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger has emerged as a potential contender in the 2026 race for Tennessee governor.

The bottom line: "This investigation should send a very clear message: When states choose to have private companies run their prisons, they remain liable for the conditions inside those facilities," Clarke said.

• "Private prisons are not above the law."