Maryland Governor Closes Baltimore Prison he calls ‘Worst in America’
ANNAPOLIS, Md., July 30 (UPI) — The governor of Maryland on Thursday ordered the closure of a Baltimore prison — which he called the worst in America — that houses more than 700 inmates and employs nearly a thousand correctional employees.
Gov. Larry Hogan announced the closure of the Baltimore City Detention Center largely due to its checkered history of corruption and “horrendous” living conditions for prisoners.
One of the main reasons for the jail’s closure, he said, was a terrible lack of institutional control. In other words, the inmates were running the prison.
“Making matters even worse, a number of employees either stood by, or in many cases enabled these criminals and the vast corruption that quickly followed,” he said. “Maryland taxpayers were unwittingly underwriting a vast criminal enterprise run by gang members and corrupt public servants.”
The FBI investigated the facility in 2013 and said it found numerous instances of inmates engaged in money-making enterprises — and some were even having sexual relations with female guards. Two-thirds of the jail guards were involved, the bureau stated.
Only two months ago, the American Civil Liberties Union sought better living conditions for inmates at the jail — calling the cells “dank” and “infested with vermin.”
Hogan on Thursday called it the worst prison in the United States and a “black eye” for the state of Maryland.
Following the FBI’s investigation, nearly 50 people were indicted on federal corruption charges — including 27 correctional officers — that alleged drug trafficking, money laundering and extortion, CNN reported.
An exact timeline for the facility’s closure was not outlined, but Hogan asked corrections officials to complete the shut down as soon as possible — saying it is “dangerous not only for workers, but for inmates too.”
