Serving time in prison is not supposed to be pleasant. Nor, however,
is it supposed to include being raped by fellow prisoners or staff,
beaten by guards for the slightest provocation, driven mad by long-term
solitary confinement, or killed off by medical neglect. These are the
fates of thousands of prisoners every year—men, women, and children
housed in lockups that give Gitmo and Abu Ghraib a run for their money.
While there's plenty of blame to go around, and while not all of the
facilities described in this series have all of the problems we explore,
some stand out as particularly bad actors. We've compiled this
subjective list of America's 10 worst lockups (plus a handful of
dishonorable mentions) based on three years of research, correspondence
with prisoners, and interviews with criminal-justice reform advocates
concerning the penal facilities with the grimmest claims to infamy. We
will roll out the remaining contenders in the coming days, complete with
photos and video. Number 8 on our list is a corporate-managed Texas
facility where Tylenol apparently passes for significant medical
treatment.
Read on...
