George Floyd’s convicted killer stabbed in Tucson prison; reform group weighs in

By Andrew Christiansen

On November 26, 2023

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The AP says Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, was stabbed at the federal correctional institution in Tucson on Friday.

Middle Ground Prison Reform, a group based out of Tempe, Ariz., is questioning the safety of inmates, especially because this is the second time there has been a lapse in security.

Last November, the AP says a federal prison inmate was able to conceal a firearm and attempted to shoot a visitor in the head.

One year later, Derek Chauvin’s stabbing is now worrying Donna Leone Hamm, the director of Middle Ground Prison Reform.

“He was not sentenced to death and he deserves to have a safe confinement,” Leone Hamm said.

She said he should’ve been in protective custody this whole time because the constitution obligates the government to take care of all inmates.

“If we’re going to follow the rule of law, and we expect him to follow the rule of law and we expect him to accept punishment for violating the rule of law, then we have to follow the rule of law,” Leone Hamm said.

Farmer v Brennan is the law case she is citing, which says “A prison official may be held liable under the eighth amendment for acting with “deliberate indifference” to inmate health or safety only if he knows that inmates face a substantial risk of serious harm and disregards that risk by failing to take reasonable measures to abate it.”

The eighth amendment doesn’t let prisons give out cruel and unusual punishments.

“People are sent to prison as punishment, not for punishment, and once the government takes custody and control of a prisoner, they have constitutional obligations,” Leone Hamm said when asked about why people with violent offenses should be protected.

As for a solution to ending violence in prisons, she says prisons need to have enough people to watch over inmates. She also says officers have to be trained properly and there needs to be a better system for separating prisoners from each other.

She says the Federal Bureau of Prisons should be held liable in Chauvin’s case.

When asked whether she would be willing to work with Chauvin’s team to get him protective custody she said she invites his lawyers to get in contact with her. She said Middle Ground Prison Reform has helped hundreds of people get protective custody.

“This was a colossal mistake in judgment by any warden who has ever had the opportunity to review or classify Derek Chauvin. A colossal error,” she said.

This piece was republished from K GUN 9 Tucson News.