美国国家公共电台 NPR--The newest federal prison has become one of the deadliest

The newest federal prison has become one of the deadliest

Transcript¹

NPR's Investigative Unit teamed up with The Marshall Project to look at a penitentiary² in Thomson, Ill., that is one of the country's most violent and dangerous federal prisons.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

We turn now to NPR reporting on one of the most violent and deadly federal prisons in the country. NPR's Joseph Shapiro and Christie Thompson with the Marshall Project investigated a string of killings⁴ at the penitentiary in Thomson, Ill. Here's Joseph with our report.

JOSEPH SHAPIRO, BYLINE⁵: Sue Phillips thinks prison guards had to know what was going to happen when they put her son, Matthew, into a recreation cage with two members of a white supremacist prison gang. Matt was Jewish.

SUE PHILLIPS: He got a Star of David tattooed⁷ on his chest.

SHAPIRO: His mother says he wasn't particularly observant. But being Jewish was part of his identity, like that tattoo⁶.

PHILLIPS: Sort of right in the middle of his upper chest, sort of on, like, the breastbone area, and it was just a large Star of David. You could not miss it.

SHAPIRO: And you couldn't miss that the two men let into the rec cage that morning were white supremacists. Their tattoos⁸ showed they were members of a prison gang called the Valhalla Bound Skinheads.

PHILLIPS: They had white supremacy⁹ markings on their shoes.

SHAPIRO: This is all from the federal indictment¹⁰ of the two men.

PHILLIPS: They also had cells that contained Nazi¹¹ memorabilia - mugs with swastikas on them, articles of literature promoting white supremacy, drawings of Hitler.

SHAPIRO: It was the morning of March 2, 2020, in the rec cage at the newest federal prison at Thomson, Ill. Matt Phillips was in college when he got addicted¹². He went to prison for selling heroin¹³. Brandon Simonson and Kristopher Martin were known in prison as Whitey and No Luck. And in that rec cage - which is just that, a fenced cage like a large dog kennel¹⁴ - those men allegedly attacked Phillips, kicking and stomping¹⁵ his head.

PHILLIPS: There was a reference in the indictment that said they continued to kick him in the head repeatedly, even when he became defenseless and even when the guard shouted stop. What, if anything, did the guards do to stop this, besides shouting stop?

SHAPIRO: The Federal Bureau of Prisons said it can't talk about a case under litigation. NPR, working with the Marshall Project, investigated conditions at Thomson. We found it is one of the most dangerous and violent federal prisons in America. Since 2020, seven prisoners have died violently at Thomson. Matt Phillips - he was 31 - was the first to die, then Edsel Badoni and Shay Paniry, both stabbed. Boyd Weekley, Patrick Bacon - hangings. In December, Bobby Everson - another homicide.

ANGELA EVERSON: I just screamed. I mean, I couldn't believe it. I said no.

SHAPIRO: That's Angela Everson on how she reacted when she heard her nephew was killed at Thomson.

EVERSON: I had just got a letter from him. And he said, Auntie, don't go nowhere now 'cause I'm coming out. Don't go nowhere. But he wound up leaving me.

SHAPIRO: Then in March, James Everett - found unresponsive in his cell. His mother, LaVonda Clark, says her son, with his mental health problems, never should have been in Thomson.

LAVONDA CLARK: He was talking about the guards, how mean they were. It's not a good place.

SHAPIRO: The Federal Bureau of Prisons moved its special management unit to Thomson in 2019. That's a disciplinary unit that is supposed to be reserved for dangerous prisoners, ones who are gang leaders or cause violence. There was an earlier special management unit at Lewisburg, Penn. A 2016 investigation¹⁶ by NPR and the Marshall Project showed high rates of violence there. Then the Bureau of Prisons shut it down.

MARK DONATELLI: Lewisburg was not only a violence factory. It was a homicide factory.

SHAPIRO: That's Mark Donatelli. He's part of the Federal Death Penalty Resource Council, lawyers who represent defendants¹⁷ in federal death penalty cases. Donatelli says they noticed something about men who went through the special management unit, known as the SMU.

DONATELLI: We know of at least seven prisoners who came through the SMU program at Lewisburg, and within a short period of time after they're released, they were involved in homicides - most of them in prisons, one on the street. But these were prisoners who didn't have murders in their records but did shortly after the time they were released from the SMU.

SHAPIRO: Donatelli says conditions that caused violence at Lewisburg are the same or worse at Thomson. Men placed in restraints - sometimes painful four-point restraints for hours or days, something Donatelli says that's rare at other federal prisons - prisoners forced into tiny cells with men they don't get along with and locked down for 23 hours a day, men with mental health problems who don't get medications or care, a severe and stubborn staff shortage of corrections officers - these are all problems that NPR and the Marshall Project found in our investigation.

DONATELLI: This is likely another violence or homicide factory that the Bureau of Prisons is running.

SHAPIRO: Sue Phillips and her ex-husband, Matt's father, flew from Texas and found their son in the intensive care unit. Half of his skull¹⁸ had been removed to relieve pressure on his swollen¹⁹ brain. Matt was sedated²⁰, intubated, unable to breathe on his own, unable to talk. And he was...

PHILLIPS: ...Handcuffed to the bed, both arms handcuffed to the bed rails.

SHAPIRO: Her son was taken first to a small rural hospital. Doctors there said he needed to go to a trauma²¹ center. Hospital records show that prison officials refused an airlift by helicopter and sent him by ambulance instead for 90 miles. When Sue Phillips arrived, a prison official took control and warned her, don't talk to the doctors. She got just one or two 10-minute visits a day with her dying son. Two corrections officers sat outside the room.

PHILLIPS: What I clearly remember, though, was them sort of laughing and talking and sort of, you know, just fooling around with each other. And even at the end of his life, Matt was treated with such a lack of dignity.

SHAPIRO: NPR got access to a U.S. Department of Justice document that says two of the guards mocked the dying man. They told hospital staff they should just poke²² Matt Phillips in his exposed brain and get it over with. Someone at one of the hospitals reported the guards. The Federal Bureau of Prisons investigated. The guards denied it. We asked the Bureau of Prisons, did they punish those corrections officers? Why didn't Phillips get an air evacuation? Why was he handcuffed to the bed? The BOP said it can't talk about a case where there's pending²³ litigation. The Phillips family is suing to try to get some answers about how their son died.

PHILLIPS: We are so outraged²⁴ what happened to our son and now to learn how many times it's happened over and over again at really this house of horrors - there needs to be answers. There needs to be accountability, and it needs to stop.

SHAPIRO: The two men charged with killing³ Matthew Phillips pleaded not guilty. They'll go to trial maybe later this year.

Joseph Shapiro, NPR News.

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1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 penitentiary   

n.感化院；监狱

参考例句：

• He worked as a warden at the state penitentiary.他在这所州监狱任看守长。
• While he was in the penitentiary her father died and the family broke up.他坐牢的时候，她的父亲死了，家庭就拆散了。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 tattoo   

n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于

参考例句：

• I've decided to get my tattoo removed.我已经决定去掉我身上的纹身。
• He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.他手背上刺有花纹。

7 tattooed   

v.刺青，文身( tattoo的过去式和过去分词 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• He had tattooed his wife's name on his upper arm. 他把妻子的名字刺在上臂上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sailor had a heart tattooed on his arm. 那水兵在手臂上刺上一颗心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 tattoos   

n.文身( tattoo的名词复数 )；归营鼓；军队夜间表演操；连续有节奏的敲击声v.刺青，文身( tattoo的第三人称单数 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的胳膊上刺满了花纹。
• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的双臂刺满了纹身。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 supremacy   

n.至上；至高权力

参考例句：

• No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员，无人能胜过她。
• Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说，她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。

10 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

11 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

12 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

13 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

14 kennel   

n.狗舍，狗窝

参考例句：

• Sporting dogs should be kept out of doors in a kennel.猎狗应该养在户外的狗窝中。
• Rescued dogs are housed in a standard kennel block.获救的狗被装在一个标准的犬舍里。

15 stomping   

v.跺脚，践踏，重踏( stomp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He looked funny stomping round the dance floor. 他在舞池里跺着舞步，样子很可笑。 来自辞典例句
• Chelsea substitution Wright-Phillips for Robben. Wrighty back on his old stomping to a mixed reception. 77分–切尔西换人：赖特．菲利普斯入替罗本。小赖特在主场球迷混杂的欢迎下，重返他的老地方。 来自互联网

16 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

17 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

18 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

19 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

20 sedated   

v.使昏昏入睡，使镇静( sedate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She's sedated,but she's probably scared out of her mind. 她很安静，但是她可能已经吓疯了。 来自电影对白
• Are you telling me the porn actually sedated you? 你是要告诉我，那毛片的确让你镇静下来吗？ 来自电影对白

21 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

22 poke   

n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
• Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。

23 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

24 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。