Inmates Win $6 Million Settlement for Abuse Claims Against Prison Officers

The New York Times
October 30, 2025
Chris Hippensteel

A group of about 150 current and former inmates at a Massachusetts prison who accused correction officers of brutal abuse will receive about $6 million in a settlement, according to details of the agreement released by plaintiffs’ lawyers.

The settlement with state officials, which was approved by a federal judge last week and includes several reforms aimed at preventing the use of excessive force in the state’s prisons, ends years of legal wrangling in the class-action lawsuit. The case stemmed from what inmates described as a weekslong campaign of violence they endured in 2020 at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, the state’s only maximum security prison.

Margo Schlanger, a law professor at the University of Michigan, said that the settlement was notable because excessive force lawsuits against correction officers carry a high burden of proof, requiring plaintiffs to show that the officers’ conduct was malicious.

“They’re very, very hard cases to win,” Ms. Schlanger said.

Read more at: nytimes.com.