Six weeks after the death of a Vermont inmate, the Department of Corrections is still awaiting a final report on the cause of death.
James Nicholson died May 18 while incarcerated at a prison in Kentucky run by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).
Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito said Monday that he understands that Nicholson had some existing health conditions. The inmate, who was in his 60s, was housed in the prison’s infirmary at the time of his death.
“I have no reason to believe that anything is amiss in that case,” Pallito said Monday, “but until I see a death certificate I don’t know for sure.”
Nicholson was reportedly involved in a fight several weeks before his death. It is unclear if there is any correlation between the altercation and his death.
Pallito said he expects to hear from the coroner in Kentucky in the next few weeks. He said that the DOC is working directly with the coroner’s office, rather than CCA.
The lengthy wait for conclusions about Nicholson’s death illustrates the challenges associated with overseeing prisoners held at correctional facilities out of state. Communication becomes more complicated any time an inmate is out of the DOC’s custody or when state borders are involved, Pallito said.
When Patrick Fennessey, an inmate at Southern State Correctional Facility, died at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire on April 25, the Department of Corrections was notified of the death three days later.
Pallito said that there were “a ton of emails going back and forth” in the days after Fennessey was hospitalized, and that the DOC “kept asking the question.”
“We’re dealing with another state, and so it’s just not as easy,” Pallito said.
A panel of lawmakers that meets outside the legislative session to oversee Vermont’s corrections system put off discussion of Nicholson’s death at their meeting last week.
They also did not discuss the deaths of Annette Douglas, an inmate in the state’s only women’s prison who died in January, or that of Fennessey, who died after attempting suicide at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield.
Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, who was elected chair of the committee at the meeting, said discussion was delayed because Defender General Matt Valerio, whose office investigates prisoner deaths, could not attend.
Sears said that it will be more appropriate to discuss the three deaths at the next meeting, likely to be in August, once the DOC has more answers about Nicholson’s death.
“That’s another problem with out-of-state [prisons],” Sears said. “When something happens, it’s in a different state.”
Gordon Bock, an advocate with the prisoners’ rights group CURE, questioned the lack of committee discussion about the inmate deaths.
“I’m just appalled that the families of these three deceased prisoners have no closure as to what actually happened to their loved ones,” Bock said.
The Legislature passed a law in 2014 clarifying the role of the Defender General’s office in investigating prisoner complaints. Investigators in Valerio’s office ran into barriers when investigating inmate Robert Mossey’s 2013 death by suicide.
Bock questions whether the law provides the Defender General’s Office with the authority for sufficient independent oversight.
Valerio said his office is well-equipped to handle investigations inside prisons. The staff responsible for investigating prisoner deaths has doubled since he became Defender General in 2001. There are now two full-time investigators, and four full-time attorneys and one part-time working on inquiries.
The office completed a probe into Douglas’ death in March. Investigations into Fennessey’s and Nicholson’s cases are ongoing.
Valerio said the six-week wait for the coroner’s report on Nicholson from Kentucky did not seem unusual to him. However, he has concerns about local cooperation with the investigation, especially as Vermont is days away from leaving the prison in Kentucky.
Vermont’s contract with CCA expires at the end of this month. Some 280 Vermont inmates housed in two CCA facilities in Kentucky and Arizona are expected to be transferred this week to a single facility in Michigan run by the GEO Group, another for-profit corrections company.
