Case Study Of Whistle-Blowing At Corcoran State Prison

In the case study of whistle-blowing at Corcoran State Prison, two corrections officers were all but shunned for the actions they took to put an end to the mistreatment of prisoners. Officers Richard Caruso and Steve Rigg witnessed their fellow corrections officers abusing their power by placing rival gang members in a small recreation yard in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) to promote fighting. The officers would make bets on the inmates, treated the fighting like a sport and used unnecessary deadly force with a firearm at will (Dryburgh, 2009). Caruso and Rigg, both former marines, had superior comprehension of ethically handling a firearm; the actions of their co-workers became unacceptable so they took action (Dryburgh, 2009).

Caruso and Rigg went to the warden with their concerns about the shooting policy as well as allowing known rivals in the same SHU yard at the same time; believing that it was under those circumstances that the recent death of an inmate had occurred (Dryburgh, 2009). To no avail, the concerns of the two officers fell on deaf ears; the warden took no action to end the mistreatment of the prisoners. Officer Rigg attempted to minimize the violence by ordering officers to not place rivals next to each other on their given tier, however that order was only followed when he was on shift (Dryburgh, 2009). The chain of command was ineffective; they were now being labeled as whistle-blowers by fellow officers and were beginning to face retaliation.

The retaliation toward the two officers became too much to bear; the officers felt

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legal action was their only recourse left. They filed lawsuits and soon Corcoran State Prison was in the public spot light. The F.B.I. would soon become involved a...

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...selves from the problem, leaving inmates to continually be mistreated. Had they been transferred they then could have sought legal aid and/or media attention.

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It is not known whether or not the Corcoran State Prison would have stopped the unethical practices had outside entities not gotten involved. There were statements from guards that there was confusion in regard to policies and protocol which was leading to the unethical treatment of inmates. The confusion, the ethical dilemma, was rectified when there was clarity placed on the policies and protocols; there was no more gray area, now everyone was on the same page. The impact of the circumstances surrounding the investigation of Corcoran was an eye opener for prison officials everywhere; it was a lesson to uphold the mission statement and to place more emphasis on ethically treating prisoners.