Troy Anderson

Troy Anderson: Are prisoner's conditions worse since winning supermax lawsuit?

Troy Anderson, a mentally ill inmate at Colorado's supermax prison, won a landmark decision last summer when a federal judge ruled he's entitled to at least three hours a week of fresh air and outdoor exercise. Now, Anderson's attorneys claim Department of Corrections officials have failed to comply ... More >>

Albert Abeyta: Prisoner's coma-inducing latex allergy triggers lawsuit, burning questions

A prisoner's lawsuit against the Colorado Department of Corrections, claiming a latex allergy so severe that he's suffered burns and respiratory problems when touched by glove-wearing guards, appeared to have been resolved last month when DOC officials testified that they no longer use latex in thei ... More >>

Dorothy Rupert on the prison industry and being a game changer

There was a time in the mid-1990s when Dorothy Rupert, then a state senator from Boulder, made a point out of touring every prison in Colorado. No easy feat, since at the time the state had the fastest-growing corrections system in the country. "I was just appalled at the rapid growth," Rupert recal ... More >>

Troy Anderson lawsuit: Supermax must provide outdoor rec, judge rules

In what amounts to a landmark decision, a federal judge has ruled that the conditions of solitary confinement at the Colorado State Penitentiary constitute "a paradigm of inhumane treatment" and must change -- notably, so that inmates locked down in their cells 23 hours a day can have at least three ... More >>

Update: Photos from supermax lawsuit claiming horrific abuse of mentally ill at ADX

Update: Yesterday, Alan Prendergast reported on a supermax lawsuit alleging shocking mistreatment of mentally ill prisoners. We've added a copy of the suit, plus photos of the facility and the imprisoned plaintiffs in the case. See it below following Prendergast's piece. Original post by Alan Prend ... More >>

Sharletta Evans meets with son's killer for "healing encounter"

The meeting began with a prayer. Eight hours later, it ended with Sharletta Evans feeling that she'd found much of what she'd been seeking from a face-to-face encounter with Raymond Johnson, one of the people responsible for the killing of her three-year-old son Casson seventeen years ago. She would ... More >>

Troy Anderson lawsuit: Supermax conditions draw criticism from judge

After nearly five days of testimony in a lawsuit brought by Troy Anderson, a prisoner who's been in solitary confinement for twelve years, a Denver federal judge was strongly urging Colorado Department of Corrections officials to fix the harshest conditions at the state's supermax prison -- before h ... More >>

Bloody vomit, medical neglect and more in Matt Malloy prison lawsuit filed by DU students

Matt Mallory​Complaints of substandard health care in the Colorado prison system are nothing new, but a newly filed lawsuit by one inmate, alleging that he was neglected in his cell while vomiting blood for three days, makes for particularly interesting reading. For one thing, Matt Mallory's ... More >>

Supermax opening in Colorado: Is lawsuit-filing Troy Anderson on "the list" to move there?

Troy Anderson​This week, without much fanfare and after months of budget-related delays, state officials opened one wing of Colorado's second supermax prison, designed to hold "the most disruptive offenders" who have "demonstrated the inability to function at a less secure facility." The mov ... More >>

Solitary-confinement report conclusions outrage prison activists

Colorado's supermax is so much fun the state is opening a second one. ​The release of a twelve-month study about the mental effects of solitary confinement at Colorado's supermax is still weeks away. But preliminary results leaked from the report -- which suggest state prisoners suffer little ... More >>

Troy Anderson: Mentally ill inmate sues state over decade in the hole

Troy Anderson hasn't been exposed to direct sunlight since 2000.​Troy Anderson knows he's never going to get out of prison alive. He's spent 23 of his forty years on the inside, and though he's never killed anyone, he's currently serving a 75-year sentence on multiple counts for two shootouts ... More >>

More Head Games

Letters to the Editor

From the week of October 5, 2006

Head Games

At least one out of every five Colorado prisoners is mentally ill -- some violent, some undetected or untreated. How did the Big House become the Bug House?

Checking Out of Lockdown

Inmate suicides put the spotlight on medical care at Colorado's supermax.

Starved for Attention

How do you break a high-security hunger strike? Put a lid on it.