Dade Correctional Institution

Dade Correctional Institution/Homestead Correctional Institution

The Dade Correctional Institution (Dade CI or DCI) is a prison in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, near Florida City and Homestead and in Greater Miami. It houses adult males. It opened in September 1996.[1] It is a part of the Florida Department of Corrections.

History

In 2005 three prisoners escaped for one and one half hours, but were captured and sent back to prison.[2]

In 2014 Dade CI prisoner Mark Joiner accused prison authorities of fatally torturing prisoner Darren Rainey, who was mentally ill, by scalding him in a shower.[3] A prisoner stated that 50 year-old Rainey, DOC#060954, had defecated in his cell and refused to clean it, and because of that the prison guards punished him. He died on June 23, 2012.[4] Originally the police classified the death as unexplained, and the DOC never punished any staff. Two officers on duty at the time of the death later received promotions. The police began interviewing witnesses after the Miami Herald obtained public records and made a visit to the prison.[5]

As a result, human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida, and the Florida Council of Churches sent a letter to the United States Attorney General Eric Holder, asking for intervention from the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ).[3] In April 2014 George Mallinckrodt, a psychotherapist who worked at Dade CI from 2008 to 2011, filed a complaint with the USDOJ about the way mentally ill prisoners are treated.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Dade Correctional Institution." Florida Department of Corrections. Retrieved on June 28, 2014. "19000 S.W. 377th Street Florida City, Florida 33034-6409"
  2. ↑ Torres, Ginelle G. "Miami-dade Prison Escape Shortlived" (Archive). South Florida Sun Sentinel. April 30, 2005. Retrieved on June 28, 2014. "Three men who briefly escaped from a state prison in Homestead stole a pickup and led police on a chase that ended when they plunged the truck into a canal, authorities said. Miami-Dade police said the three convicted felons escaped from Dade Correctional Institution[...]"
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Brown, Julie K. "Prisoner: I cleaned up skin of inmate scalded in shower; human-rights groups call for federal intervention" (Archive). Miami Herald. June 25, 2014.
  4. ↑ Brown, Julie K. "Behind bars, a brutal and unexplained death" (Archive). Miami Herald. May 17, 2014. Retrieved on June 28, 2014.
  5. ↑ Brown, Julie K. "Prison death is one of several raising questions in Florida" (Archive). Miami Herald. June 14, 2014. Retrieved on June 28, 2014.
  6. ↑ Brown, Julie K. "Staff at a Miami-Dade prison tormented, abused mentally ill inmates, former worker says" (Archive). Miami Herald. Monday May 19, 2014. Retrieved on June 28, 2014.

External links