“Strip, N-word!” That’s what Broome County correctional officers told Taej’on Vega after dragging the prone and handcuffed Black/Latino teenager across the floor to his cell. It got more brutal quickly, leaving Vega badly bruised and traumatized.
Similar stories have for years been repeated from cell to cell, from incarcerated persons to parents and friends. In this case, however, evidence exists. For Vega and his mother are courageously persistent, and Legal Services of Central New York admirably stepped in and filed a lawsuit on behalf of Mr. Vega.