BOISE -- A new lawsuit claims Idaho's privately-run prison, the Idaho Correctional Center, deliberately exposes inmates to beatings from other prisoners.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit late Thursday afternoon.
The lawsuit represents 23 inmates who claim to be victims of inmate-on-inmate violence. They say prison guards do nothing to stop it.
The defendants in this case are, the Idaho Department of Correction, which owns the facility; Corrections Corporation of America, a Tennessee-based company that runs the facility; and the Idaho Commission on Pardons and Parole.
The ACLU claims the attacks on their clients range from November 2006 up to last week.
"ICC has more attacks, it has three times the assaults of any other prison in Idaho, and as a matter of fact, has more assaults than all eight of Idaho's prisons combined," said Monica Hopkins, Executive Director of ACLU Idaho.
We received a statement from Steve Owen with CCA.
He says, "The document filed today relates to ongoing litigation, which has been underway for over a year. CCA will respect the ongoing legal process and respond to the allegations through appropriate court filings by our legal representatives."
Jeff Ray with Idaho Department of Correction says as a rule, they also don't comment on ongoing litigation.
The ACLU hopes this lawsuit will get the courts involved and intervene and protect inmates from the alleged neglect.
It is also seeks $155 million in punitive damages from CCA. That amount equals CCA's annual profits.
The Idaho Correctional Center is also referred to as the medium security prison.
According to reports obtained by NewsChannel 7, inmate-on-inmate violence at the Maximum Security Prison happens at about the same rate.
