The James T. Vaughn Correctional Center (JTVCC), formerly the Delaware Correctional Center (DCC), is a state
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...
for men in
unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to:
* Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality
* Unincorporated entity, a type of organization
* Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...
New Castle County, Delaware
New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of th ...
,
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, near
Smyrna
Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...
. It is the
Delaware Department of Correction
The Delaware Department of Correction is a state agency of Delaware that manages state prisons. It has its headquarters in the Central Administration Building in Dover. At one time the headquarters was located in Smyrna.
Prisons
* Delores J. B ...
's largest correctional facility.
JTVCC houses some 2,500 minimum, medium, and maximum security inmates. It is also the primary facility for housing the Kent County pre-trial (detainee) population.
Before the abolition of
capital punishment in Delaware
Capital punishment in Delaware was abolished after being declared unconstitutional by the Delaware Supreme Court on August 2, 2016. The ruling retroactively applies to earlier death sentences, and remaining Delaware death row inmates had t ...
, the state's death row for men was located here. The death row for women was located in the Delores J. Baylor Women's Correctional Institution.
[Death Row Fact Sheet]
." Delaware Department of Corrections
The Delaware Department of Correction is a state agency of Delaware that manages state prisons. It has its headquarters in the Central Administration Building in Dover. At one time the headquarters was located in Smyrna.
Prisons
* Delores J. B ...
. Retrieved on August 16, 2010. Executions occurred at JTVCC.
The facility is named for former Delaware State Senator
James T. Vaughn, who died in 2007.
[Smyrna Clayton Sun Times " Retrieved on July 18, 2017.]
History
In 1996, construction began on a $110 million, 888-bed addition which included 600 maximum security cells in six units. The new addition houses the Security Housing Unit (SHU) and the Medium Housing Unit (MHU).
Inmates in the SHU, which formerly included the prison's death row, occupy single-bunked cells in which they are locked down and receive seventeen and a half hours a week out of their cell for recreational purposes. Inmates may earn their way out of the SHU through good behavior.
In 2015, the prison became a subject of an ACLU lawsuit, due to the use of solitary confinement for mentally ill inmates. Further lawsuits have been filed due to the Delaware State Correction's decision to feed some inmates "
baked slop," while other states have discontinued the use of such meals.
Incidents
On July 12, 2004, 45-year-old inmate Scott Miller, armed with a shank, took a 27-year-old female prison counselor hostage. Miller raped the woman whom he held for seven hours before being shot and killed. Miller, a convicted serial rapist, was serving a 694-year sentence at the time.
On February 1, 2017, inmates took control of Building C, initially holding five correctional officers as hostages according to media reports. This building houses about 100 inmates. The incident was first reported by a correctional officer's radio call for "immediate assistance" at 10:38 a.m. The prison, and all other prisons within Delaware, were placed on lockdown. One hostage was released a few hours later, and taken to a hospital with 'non-life threatening' injuries. Later that evening, two other hostages were reportedly released. When the hostage situation ended, one hostage, identified as correctional officer and 16-year veteran Sgt. Steven Floyd, was killed and another was injured. The incident led to a proposal to reinstate
the death penalty in Delaware.
Notable inmates
*
Thomas Capano
*
Billy Glaze
*
Steven Brian Pennell
*
Earl Bradley
Earl Brian Bradley (born May 10, 1953) is a former pediatrician from Lewes, Delaware and convicted serial child rapist. He was indicted in 2010 on 471 charges of molesting, raping, and exploiting 103 child patients (102 girls and 1 boy). Some ...
(previously in Vaughn's SHU: in 2016, he was moved to an out-of-state prison)
*
Jerome Franks
See also
* ''
Dawson v. Delaware''
References
External links
James T. Vaughn Correctional CenterDelaware execution chamber photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughn, James T. Correctional Center
1971 establishments in Delaware
Prisons in Delaware
Capital punishment in Delaware
Buildings and structures in New Castle County, Delaware
Execution sites in the United States