The Department of Justice found several “serious issues” with treatment of inmates, contraband and employee practices at USP Canaan in Waymart during an inspection of the federal prison last June, reported WVIA.
According
to a reporty, the Office of the Inspector General found issues
including concerning use of restraints on inmates, issues with the prison’s
ability to provide healthcare to inmates and inappropriate imagery and
demeaning language in employee spaces.
In a video
released Thursday, Deputy Inspector Bill Blier said inspectors, while
on-site from June 2-5, 2025, observed employees applying four-point restraints
to inmates in a “manner that caused inmates severe discomfort and posed serious
risk of lasting injury.”
The prison
has capacity for 1,536 inmates, and had a population of 1,357 at the time of
the inspectors' visit.
“Multiple
USP Canaan employees told us they had seen four-point restraints applied too
tightly, which caused the hands of restrained inmates to swell and become
discolored,” Blier said. “While BOP (Federal Bureau of Prisons) policy allows
for use of restraints in certain situations, it is impermissible to cause
physical pain or extreme discomfort.”
In regard
to inmate healthcare, the report states USP Canaan had been without an on-site,
full-time physician since November 2022 at the time of the inspection. The
inspection also found inconsistencies with medication administration practices,
expired medical supplies and delays of healthcare and lab testing.
“We also
observed unsafe practices in dental services, specifically sharp dental
surgical tools and chloroform stored in unlocked cabinets near inmates,” a
release from DOJ states.
Blier said
the inspectors also observed prison employees using "inappropriate and
demeaning language” toward inmates and other employees, as well as
inappropriate imagery in employee areas.
“Our team
observed several instances of imagery associated with designated criminal
groups, white supremacy and anti-semitism in employee-only areas,” he said in
the video statement.
The report makes nine recommendations for BOP to
correct the issues found at USP Canaan. The BOP agreed with all of them, and in
the appendices of the report, outlined the steps that have been taken over the
past year to rectify each situation.
The
Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General publishes the progress of
its recommendations online as reports become available.
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