A federal judge has approved a $6.75 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit over violence against inmates at a Massachusetts maximum-security prison.
On Oct. 28, a final settlement was approved by the Department of Corrections (DOC) for over 150 current and former inmates, each set to receive between $10,000 and $40,000 for the violence they suffered during a 2020 crackdown at Souza Baranowski Correctional Center, WBUR reports. In addition to the settlement, the lawsuit will lead to prison reforms, including stricter use-of-force policies for officers, mandatory removal of staff found to have used excessive force, and the implementation of diversity and implicit bias training.
“This settlement represents a final step in a series of actions the Department of Corrections has taken in response to the incident, including a thorough review of existing policies and the implementation of key reforms,” DOC Commissioner Shawn Jenkins said in a press release…