Mother Files Lawsuit Against Connecticut Department of Correction Over Son’s Death in Prison

Bridgeport, Connecticut – Melisia Taylor commemorated the three-year anniversary of her son’s death on Thursday with a lawsuit against the Department of Correction, seeking accountability for the tragedy. Jamari Taylor, an inmate at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution, died in February 2021 due to a lack of oxygen to his brain. While the state medical examiner classified his death as natural causes, the family does not accept that explanation. The lawsuit alleges that the Department of Correction failed to conduct a mandatory health assessment when Jamari entered prison. The young man, who was awaiting trial on gun-related … Read more

Federal Jury Awards $9.5 Million in Civil Rights Lawsuit Against Correction Officers After Inmate’s Death

ALBANY, N.Y. – A federal court jury in Albany awarded $9.5 million to Tracy Yvonne Cooper after finding that correction officers at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora violated her son’s civil rights. The verdict came after hours of deliberation and followed Tracy Cooper’s claim that the guards used excessive force, resulting in the death of her son, Terry L. Cooper. Terry Cooper, a 25-year-old inmate, died during a confrontation with the baton-wielding guards at the maximum-security prison in 2016. The jury reached its decision only a few hours after hearing closing arguments in the case. … Read more

Mother Awarded $9.25 Million After Son Dies in Altercation with Correction Officers at New York Prison

ALBANY, N.Y. – A federal jury awarded $9.25 million to the mother of Terry L. Cooper, a prisoner who died during a confrontation with correction officers at Clinton Correctional Facility in 2016. The verdict came just hours after the jury began deliberating Tracy Yvonne Cooper’s claim that the guards used excessive force in her son’s death. The incident occurred when Cooper, a 25-year-old inmate, set off a metal detector while on his way to the prison gym. Two officers, Patrick M. Clancy and Kolby M. Duffina, discovered explicit photos in an address book found in … Read more