Families: Inmates At MA Prison Beaten, Denied Access To Lawyers

SHIRLEY, MA — Relatives and lawyers are claiming inmates at the state's maximum security prison in Shirley are being beaten by guards in tactical gear, given half portions of food and being denied meetings with attorneys following a Jan. 10 attack on three correctional officers.

According to the Boston Globe, which first reported this story, the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center has been on lockdown since the attack. Inmates have been confined to cells for all but 15 minutes per day, and some inmates have gone as long as five days without being allowed to bathe. At least a handful of prisoners from have been hospitalized, according to one advocate.

"People want to believe that things are happening by the book," Elizabeth Matos, executive director of Prisoners’ Legal Services, told the newspaper. "But from what we’re hearing, it’s very hard to believe that."