Matthew Vogel was finishing up a six-month stint astatine the South Central Correctional Facility successful Clifton, Tennessee, for a parole usurpation erstwhile helium was allegedly beaten to decease by a cellmate who was serving 3 beingness sentences for murder.
Vogel's cellmate is accused of bludgeoning him with a drainage screen earlier stabbing him with a shard of solid from a breached television, sidesplitting the 39-year-old 1 time earlier his scheduled merchandise successful August 2024. And according to a lawsuit filed earlier this year, Vogel's household claims cost-cutting and understaffing astatine the situation allowed it to happen. Vogel's household brought its lawsuit against CoreCivic, which operates the situation wherever Vogel died and is the largest private, for-profit situation steadfast successful the nation.
Vogel "had a large heart, precise emotional," his mother, Maria Googe, said successful an interrogation with CBS News.
Nearly a twelvemonth aft his death, she inactive has questions: "Who dropped the ball? Did cipher perceive it? Were determination nary guards that could person stopped it oregon intervened? There's conscionable excessively galore what ifs," she said.
Matthew Vogel with his mother, Maria Googe. She is suing CoreCivic implicit his decease successful a Tennessee situation tally by the company.
Family photo
The institution has disputed the lawsuit's claims. CoreCivic advisor Steve Conry says, contrary to the claims successful the lawsuit, its prisons are decently staffed.
"Over the people of an inmate's residence astatine our facility, alterations are made to lodging and programme assignments erstwhile it is due to bash truthful based connected immoderate changes successful the inmate's peculiar circumstances," Conry said. "For information and privateness reasons, we cannot code circumstantial details of an inmate's lodging oregon custody."
When asked by CBS News whether the decease of an inmate is considered a failure, Conry said: "One decease is 1 decease excessively many. We don't privation immoderate idiosyncratic to dice portion they're successful our care, but it does happen. We instrumentality it seriously."
Private prisons reemerge nether Trump administration
The Vogel lawsuit comes astatine an inflection constituent for the national usage of backstage prisons. One of President Trump's archetypal actions of his 2nd word was to reestablish the usage of private prison systems by national agencies antecedently barred nether the Biden administration.
CoreCivic could beryllium 1 of the biggest beneficiaries of caller national contracts nether Mr. Trump. CoreCivic has lobbied hard to play an progressively salient relation successful assisting successful the detention effort, on with its relation supplementing authorities and section situation needs.
The institution has touted that among the invaluable services it provides is the quality to physique prisons faster and cheaper to relieve overcrowding. It says it besides offers an array of vocational, acquisition and substance-abuse betterment services arsenic portion of its privately-run facilities.
"We person successfully partnered with federal, authorities and section authorities entities to creatively and efficiently conscionable their challenges successful ways they could not bash alone," CoreCivic told CBS News successful a statement. "As a result, galore systems are safer and amended capable to supply prime programming for the inmates successful their care."
Still, CoreCivic has been repeatedly recovered successful Tennessee state audits to beryllium deficient successful staffing and turnover. In 2023 CoreCivic had 146% turnover complaint for its prisons versus 37% percent for state-run prisons, arsenic good arsenic higher than mean unfilled corrections serviceman positions. A survey of employees for that audit recovered that staffing issues near them feeling unsafe, and made the occupation much dangerous.
CoreCivic, which operates 4 prisons successful Tennessee, has disputed CBS News' investigation of that authorities data, which appears to amusement that inmates are doubly arsenic apt to beryllium killed successful CoreCivic prisons compared to government-run prisons.
"Simply comparing aggregate numbers crossed a clip framework does not relationship for a wide scope of important factors and tin effect successful apples-to-oranges comparisons and inaccurate conclusions," the institution told CBS News successful a statement. "For example, the likelihood of committing a homicide during incarceration tin beryllium influenced by galore factors, specified arsenic information classifications, pack affiliations and crimes committed, among others."
Tennessee seeks reforms
State lawmakers successful Tennessee person precocious taken announcement and passed authorities that mandates a 10% simplification successful inmate populations astatine backstage prisons if their mean decease complaint is treble that of state-run facilities. CoreCivic, the sole backstage situation relation successful the state, presently meets the threshold for reduction, according to authorities Sen. Mark Pody, who introduced the measure during legislative debate.
One Tennessee CoreCivic situation successful particular, Trousdale Turner Correctional Center., has travel nether scrutiny including by the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, which launched an investigation past year.
"Publicly disposable accusation suggests that Trousdale Turner has been plagued by superior problems since it archetypal opened its doors," said then-United States Attorney Henry C. Leventis.
According to the Civil Rights Division's manager astatine that time, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, "Recent reported incidents of unit see stabbings of 5 radical wrong a 3 week span successful aboriginal 2024, astatine slightest 196 assaults, 2 murders and 15 deaths that the installation classified arsenic accidental betwixt July of 2022 and June of 2023, astatine slightest 90 incidents of intersexual misconduct successful that aforesaid timeframe, ample amounts of contraband, including 97 knives recovered successful June of 2023 alone."
CoreCivic says it is cooperating with the investigation.
"We instrumentality this substance earnestly and are afloat committed to moving intimately with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) officials to code immoderate concerns," the institution said. "Out of respect for their process, we defer to USDOJ and TDOC regarding immoderate concerns oregon allegations related to the investigation."
The institution says the information and dignity of inmates is simply a apical precedence for its leadership, and for unit astatine Trousdale Turner.
"That's wherefore we've worked intimately with TDOC to place and instrumentality policies and processes that heighten information and information portion providing meaningful programs and services geared towards helping the individuals successful our attraction hole for palmy reentry," the institution said. "We instrumentality this substance precise earnestly and are committed to moving intimately with some TDOC and USDOJ officials to code areas of concern."
There is grounds to suggest immoderate unit continues. Over the past weekend, instrumentality enforcement responded to what the sheriff described arsenic a riot precocious Sunday nighttime astatine the Trousdale Turner installation involving arsenic galore arsenic 200 incarcerated individuals. Original reports were that astatine slightest 2 corrections officers were held hostage, though CoreCivic present disputes that. All got retired safely and with nary large injuries.
Emergency unit were dispatched astatine slightest 47 times to Trousdale Turner successful the archetypal 6 months of 2025, according to publically disposable records reviewed by CBS News. While a bulk of those calls were for aesculapian emergencies, they besides included 4 termination attempts, 5 suspected overdoses and 9 stabbings.
Now with the summation successful migrant detentions, CoreCivic appears poised for large growth.
"I've worked astatine CoreCivic for 32 years, and this is genuinely 1 of the astir breathtaking periods successful my career," CEO Damon Hininger told shareholders during a February 2025 net call, which coincided with the Trump administration's migration crackdown and caller national contracts with backstage situation companies.
CoreCivic donated $500,000 to Trump's inauguration.
Only astir 7% of prisoners successful the U.S. are housed successful backstage prisons, but astir 90% of U.S.Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees are held successful privately tally facilities.
In March, the institution received a declaration worthy up to $22.6 cardinal to reopen an ICE installation successful Leavenworth, Kansas, though a justice precocious blocked that from moving guardant aft the metropolis sued. A 2nd $31.2 cardinal declaration was awarded successful April for a detention halfway successful California City, astir 100 miles northbound of Los Angeles.
A decease successful custody
Attorney Ben Raybin, who is suing CoreCivic connected behalf of the Vogel family, told CBS News helium believes the challenges astatine the company's facilities travel down, successful part, to staffing.
"This is simply a institution that makes tens of millions of dollars each twelvemonth and yet leaves its prisons understaffed," Raybin said successful an interrogation with CBS News.
Raybin argues that staffing concerns were down the company's determination to springiness a little hazard standing to the antheral accused successful Vogel's death, cellmate Travis Bess. Bess had been convicted successful 2014 of sidesplitting a erstwhile cellmate.
The institution reduced a hazard standing for Bess from a 4 — the astir unsafe — to a zero, Raybin said.
A papers obtained by Raybin and shared with CBS News shows a machine printout that calculated Bess' hazard factors for recidivism. Raybin told CBS News that it appears idiosyncratic overrode the computerized scoring. Tennessee Department of Corrections guidelines let this successful definite circumstances, but necessitate an accompanying explanation. Raybin says nary mentation for the simplification was provided.
According to Department of Justice guidelines, individuals with higher hazard scores person stricter supervision oregon much intensive interventions, portion those with little scores look less restrictions oregon minimal intervention. Christopher Slobogin, manager of Vanderbilt Law School's Criminal Justice Program, says that "people who are higher hazard volition astir apt request much hazard absorption services, which volition mean much unit and different resources."
Although Tennessee does not merchandise statistic for the outgo per captive based connected custody level, 1 authorities that does is North Carolina. According to that data, the regular outgo of lodging an idiosyncratic captive successful adjacent custody is $174.22, versus $151.58 for medium.
"One of the main concerns is that backstage situation companies are beholden to the bottommost line," said Eunice Cho, an lawyer with the ACLU's National Prison Project. "Because they are yet accountable to their investors determination volition ever beryllium ways that backstage situation companies are looking to chopped costs."
As for Googe, she says she's inactive waiting for answers to what happened to her son.
"It's thing that cipher should ever person to woody with," she said.
Alyssa Spady contributed to this report.
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