Private Prison Company CCA to Face Trial in Violence Lawsuit

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A federal judge says the Corrections Corporation of America will stand trial in December in a civil rights lawsuit over understaffing and violence at an Idaho prison. U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge made the ruling Thursday.

Eight inmates at the Idaho Correctional Center sued the private prison company in 2012, contending that poor management and chronic understaffing led to an attack in which they were stabbed and beaten by a prison gang. CCA spokesman Steven Owen said the Idaho prison was appropriately staffed at the time of the attack and that he's confident CCA will prevail at the trial.

CCA operated the Idaho Correctional Center for more than a decade under a contract with the Idaho Department of Correction. But in 2014, Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter ordered IDOC to take over the prison.