The prisons in Umatilla and Pendleton have come under scrutiny following the recent deaths of convicted sex offenders and a lawsuit filed by an inmate claiming he’s subjected to “cruel and unusual punishment.”
According to the Associated Press, 31-year-old Damion Banks died at Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Pendleton on Feb. 5. Banks’ death was the third at the prison in as many months – all three were convicted sex offenders. Ten days earlier, Shane Michael Morris, 39, was found unconscious in his cell and later died. According to the AP, Morris had been in TRCI since Oct. 2009 and incarcerated since July 2005 on three counts of sexual abuse and one count of sodomy in Umatilla County. His earliest release date was February 2019.
And in early December the department announced the death of inmate Larry Hurst, 67, on the evening of Nov. 30. Hurst was alone in his cell when he was found unconscious and a preliminary investigation did not indicate foul play. Hurst had been at TRCI since Sept. 2011 and incarcerated since April 2010 for delivery of marijuana to a minor and one count of attempted sodomy. He was eligible for release as early as January 2015.
Meanwhile, David George Chandler, 41, currently serving time at the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton after being convicted on rape and sodomy charges in Clackamas County, claims the prison is violating his eighth amendment rights to protection from cruel and unusual punishment.
According to the AP, court documents detail Chandler’s complaints, including a claim that an inmate once grabbed him by the throat, called him “rape-o” and slapped him. Chandler told the court he and other inmates incarcerated for sex crimes were required to pay “rent” in order to avoid being assaulted and were often put in danger in the dining hall when crowded conditions forced them into contact with gang members who had threatened them.
Read the full story here.
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