DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS TO PUT ZAC BEARS, RICK CARAVIELLO AND ADAM KNIGHT IN ONE CELL WITH NO CAMERA

 DOC TO EXACT HARSH PUNISHMENTS ON CARAVIELLO, BEARS AND KNIGHT ONCE THEY ARE CHARGED, TRIED AND INCARCERATED FOR THEIR CRIMES AGAINST THE CITY OF MEDFORD

CARAVIELLO WILL BE TAKEN TO THE  P2 cellblock of the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center FOR HIS CRIMES AGAINST THE PEOPLE

A look at secrecy, assaults, and accountability inside Massachusetts’ maximum security prison

This story was reported by Mark Arsenault, Matt Rocheleau, and Spotlight editor Patricia Wen. It was written by Arsenault.

August 14, 2021

 

https://apps.bostonglobe.com/metro/investigations/spotlight/2021/08/department-of-corrections-investigation/

Prisoners’ Legal Services, representing clients at Souza, is drafting a federal excessive force lawsuit against the Department of Correction. State regulations forbid the use of force as a punishment. PLS will allege that department leadership “authorized and encouraged” retributory violence against incarcerated men, according to a statement released by Elizabeth Matos, the group’s director. “What happened at Souza last year is one very clear example of how this system is not only failing to rehabilitate those behind the wall but, quite literally, harming them,” the statement said. 

How their harsh handling fits into the larger frame of this prison operation is hard to document except for this: Data show more prisoners at Souza complained about excessive force by officers in the early weeks of 2020 than any other time in the recent history of the institution — even after the men accused of participating in the Jan. 10 assault on Souza staff were transferred to other facilities.

Between Jan. 10 and March 1, 2020, men incarcerated at Souza lodged 118 allegations of excessive force by officers, according to Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts, a nonprofit organization that aids and advocates for incarcerated people.

In the same time period in 2019, there were four excessive force complaints at Souza.

Same time period this year? Six.