Florida prison videos

I’m currently waiting on more blog entries to arrive from Ted.

This particular video is an introduction to Florida’s prisons for those interested in entering the correctional officer field. The buildings are clean and pristine. There are no dirty cells crawling with bugs, no bloody mattresses and certainly no correctional officers beating and kicking the inmates.

FL DOC Video

The following video on YouTube is a stark contrast to the one touted by the Florida DOC. It shows the abuse of Justin Caldwell at the Aurthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, Florida, on February 11th, 2007 and it was caught on at least three video cameras.



The video can also be found on YouTube here.

The images begin at 17:48 or 5:48 p.m.

17:48:12 Dozier ISP Front Bunks – Scroll to 17:52:50. Watch the calmness of the scene. Suddenly, at 17:53:17, without warning or apparent provocation, a guard appears to hit Justin below the chin and throw him backward to the floor.

17:50:17 Dozier ISP Common Room (Facing South) – Scroll to 17:53:17. There is another glimpse of the violence in the guard’s seemingly unprovoked attack on Justin.

17:54:30 Dozier ISP Common Room (Facing North) – At 17:54:30, Justin is walked to the back corner of the Common Room where he is seen to collapse and is then dragged from the corner.

While there are two sides to every story, according to his father, Mark Caldwell, Justin initially began his DJJ incarceration at 13 after being found guilty of theft.

Mark Caldwell said it was a series of "petty accusations" that prolonged his son's stay at various DJJ facilities, ultimately landing him at Dozier School.

He alleges that a guard’s accusations of battery were made to cover up an incident that occurred later that day, which involved a different guard, Alvin Speights.

Speights was accused of battering Caldwell and the incident in question was caught on surveillance footage.

After reviewing testimony and the surveillance footage, a Jackson County grand jury exonerated Speights, saying "Speights was justified in the use of force required to insure the protection and safety of himself and others and that no criminal charges are warranted against him.”

On November 27, 2007, the Jackson County Floridian reported that Justin Caldwell was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of battery on detention facility staff.

For more on Justin Caldwell, visit here.