Inmate sues one of the nation’s largest private prison operators over his 2021 stabbing

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — An inmate is suing one of the nation’s largest private prison operators over his 2021 stabbing inside a now-defunct maximum security federal facility in Kansas.

Joshua Braddy, who is now incarcerated in Illinois, amended his suit Monday to add CoreCivic, alleging the company was negligent in how it ran the Leavenworth Detention Center, prioritizing “profit over safety.” Also added were prison staff and the prison’s health care contractor.

The suit initially named as defendants three former Leavenworth detainees accused of stabbing Braddy.

Just a few weeks after the attack on Braddy, civil rights advocates and federal public defenders urged the White House in a letter to shutter the facility. The letter cited a host of other problems, including suicides and an attack on a correctional officer.

CoreCivic responded at the time that the claims were “false and defamatory.” But with President Joe Biden already calling on the U.S Marshal’s Office to end its reliance on private prisons, the contract for the facility was ended in December 2021.

The private prison was separate from Leavenworth’s better-know federal penitentiary, where infamous mobsters and, more recently, former football star Michael Vick, were held.