BOISE, Idaho – A private prison company is asking a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit over prison violence in Idaho, saying the inmates didn't try to solve their problems through a grievance process first.
The Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America told U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill on Wednesday that the inmates at the Idaho Correctional Center didn't go through administrative channels, so they should be barred from suing the company.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the inmates, says the prisoners took all the necessary steps and CCA still failed to fix the problems.
The inmates say the Boise lockup is so violent that it's known as "gladiator school" and prison workers use inmate-on-inmate violence as a management tool.
The judge says he plans to rule in the next few weeks.
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