Horrors Continue in Privatized Lockups for Juvenile Delinquents

A judge has been assigned to sort through wrenching allegations of abuse, neglect, and violence at a privatized juvenile lock-up. The Broward Public Defender’s Office filed a string of habeas corpus petitions in Broward circuit court last week and demanded the release of 58 kids locked up at the Thompson Youth Academy in Pembroke Pines. The allegations include charges in a 2010 federal lawsuit claiming that the Thompson staffers “choked and slammed children head-first into concrete walls.” The inmates also were chronically undernourished and were allegedly denied access to their attorneys. One kid claimed he had been sexually abused. Hassett & Associates hopes you had a very Happy 4th of July! For more information on this case go to http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/25/2867737/horrors-continue-in-privatized.html.