Two years after a riot at a private prison sent dozens of California inmates to hospitals all over western Oklahoma, four prisoners are suing the Corrections Corporation of America, which owns the sprawling facility, reports The Oklahoman. The inmates, who are black men, assert that they were put in harm’s way when the warden allowed them to mix with large groups of Hispanic gang members at North Fork Correctional Facility.
The suit alleges that poorly trained prison guards and reckless understaffing are to blame for the “severe and permanent physical and mental injuries” suffered by the inmates. The prisoners charged that Hispanics associated with the Surenos prison gang were “systematically attacking and beating African-American inmates, including plaintiffs.”