In the Media:
Father of man who died in CoreCivic prison proposes family advisory board
Years after his 25-year-old son, Kylan, died in a Tennessee prison run by CoreCivic, Tim Leeper of Lebanon sat before a senate panel to share a proposal designed to help provide transparency and accountability to the prison system where little now exists.
The (De)Evolution of American Prisons
Prison is not being used for what it was intended. In the late 1800’s, Quakers sought to create a more humane alternative to harsh corporal punishments. The goal was simply to reflect, repent, and reform.
Since the 1860s, the US has been leasing convicts to industries like steel, railroads, coal, lumber, and mining. The economy was in shambles after slavery had ended, and the labor force was scarce. Toward the end of the 18th century, states begin to see this as inhumane and increasingly difficult to ignore. Yet even after 1928, when Alabama was the last state to outlaw convict leasing their were still many southern states that participated by finding ways around the law, Tennessee actually continued its practice until 1966 in the mining industry.
In the 1970’s we saw incarceration grow at such a rapid pace that states could not get ahead of the problem in part due to the war on drugs.
In the Media:
Republican lawmakers consider reducing Trousdale Turner to minimum security, creating new oversight in Tennessee.
Two Wilson County lawmakers are looking to address a pattern of deaths and assaults in the state’s largest prison, raising questions about whether the state should continue to contract with CoreCivic.
Tim Leeper Address Tennessee House
