Georgia Prison Guards Arrested for Retaliatory Beating of Two Black Inmates
Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at 02:04AM 
From [HERE] and [MORE] Last Monday seven Georgia prison guards were arrested for their involvement in the December beating of Terrance Dean and Miguel Jackson prisoners in Macon State Prison after a highly publicized prison strike.
Christopher Hall, Ronald Lach, Derrick Wimbrush, Willie Redden, Darren Douglas Griffin, Kerry Bolden and Delton Rushin were each charged with aggravated battery and violation of oath of office, Atlanta’s WALB reported. Their arrests were the result of an inquiry done by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations at the request of the Department of Corrections. A coalition of prisoner rights advocates and allies demanded the GBI investigate the case earlier this year after they heard reports of retalitatory violence against prisoners.
According to advocacy group, the Concerned Coalition to Respect Prisoners' Rights -- inmates Terrance Bryant Dean and Miguel Jackson were "brutally beaten by guards" because they joined protests after the prison system banned tobacco. The protest started Dec. 9 and ended Dec. 15. The alleged attack was on Dec. 10. The list of grievances grew to include no pay for their prison work jobs and the quality of food and medical care.
It was not clear which inmate was hospitalized but Terrance Dean is at the Augusta State Medical Prison, according to the Department of Corrections website. Both Terrance Dean and Miguel Jackson are serving 20-year sentences. Terrance Dean, born in 1981, was convicted in Bibb County for armed robberies in 2003 and 2004. Miguel Jackson, born in 1975, is at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison near Jackson for several convictions, including armed robbery and aggravated assault.
Seven Georgia prison guards were arrested Monday on charges of beating an inmate, inflicting injuries so severe that the prisoner was in the hospital for "an extended period of time," according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. GBI spokesman John Bankhead said the seven -- Christopher Hall, Ronald Lach, Derrick, Wimbush, Willie Redden, Darren Douglass Griffin, Kerry Bolden and Delton Rushin -- were arrested Monday morning when they reported to work at Macon State Prison in Oglethorpe, Georgia. All seven are charged with aggravated battery and violating their oaths of office.
The investigation is ongoing, “It’s not closed. We’re still investigating,” Bankhead said. Bankhead did not know if more arrests were expected.
The GBI investigation was opened, at the request of the Department of Corrections, early last month after reports that guards attacked inmates at two state institutions – Macon State Prison and Smith State Prison near Savannah.
The alleged assaults came at the end of a six-day protest and work stoppage at nearly a dozen facilities. Inmates at 11 prisons began refusing to report to work details in early December. Four prisons responded with lock downs, which meant inmates could not make calls from the phones in the cell blocks, nor could they receive mail. Relatives and advocates said officers retaliated throughout the protest with violence against prisoners who participated.
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