DREW ZIMMERMAN
,
ANALISA TROFIMUK
Faced with $644 million in debt and hundreds of lawsuits alleging inadequate health care, Wellpath, the nation’s largest private provider of medical care for county jails, declared bankruptcy late last year.
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Marcus Mays sits with his daughter, Aaliyah. Mays, who had a history of grand mal seizures, died while in the custody of the Will County Jail after failing to receive anti-seizure medication throughout his stay.
Photo provided
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Federal correctional officers staged a protest in response to an Associated Press investigation that exposed how the Bureau of Prisons repeatedly promoted an official who was accused of beating several Black inmates. The officers gathered in front of the Bureau of Prisons' regional office in Stockton, California. The picket comes as members of Congress, including the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, are demanding answers from the agency's director after AP's reporting on deputy regional director Thomas Ray Hinkle. Hinkle was repeatedly promoted, most recently to one of the highest posts in the agency. And this has happened despite his being accused of beating multiple Black inmates in the 1990s. Since then, people who know Hinkle say he has repeatedly boasted about the beatings and being part of a violent, racist group of officers that called themselves "The Cowboys." An Associated Press investigation has found the Bureau of Prisons has continued to promote Hinkle despite numerous red flags.
Contact Drew Zimmerman at 309-820-3276. Follow Drew on Twitter: @DZimmermanLee
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