The New Mexico Supreme Court says that private prison operator Corrections Corporation of America may be held liable for compensatory damages to three victims who were raped by a guard.
The opinion was released on Monday and could influence an appeal of damages against the company pending before the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.
A federal jury in 2012 awarded more than $3 million in damages to three former inmates at the Camino Nuevo Women's Correctional Facility that was run by the Nashville, Tenn.-based company.
The New Mexico Supreme Court is affirming that the prison company can be held vicariously liable because private corrections officer Anthony Townes was aided in the sexual assaults by his job position. Townes is serving a 16-year state prison sentence.
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