Oregon Public Broadcasting

The ACLU agreed Thursday to remove Idaho from a federal lawsuit against the company that operates a state prison near Boise.

The civil rights group alleges the company condones and even encourages violence against inmates. Doug Nadvornick reports.

The state of Idaho owns the Idaho Correctional Center, but the Corrections Corporation of America runs it.

The ACLU says the company has put profit before inmate safety by reducing the number of guards to unsafe levels. It says scores of inmates have been assaulted.

In March, the ACLU filed a class action lawsuit against the company and the state. Now, the group's Monica Hopkins says Idaho has been dropped from the lawsuit.

In exchange, the state Department of Correction says it will aggressively enforce potential federal court orders to reduce violence at the prison. She says, even though Idaho is no longer being sued, the ACLU will continue to monitor the state's performance.

Monica Hopkins: "When the state government chooses to contract out management of these facilities, they don't contract out their responsibility to adhere to constitutional standards."

A spokesperson for the Corrections Corporation of America told the Associated Press that the prison meets the highest professional standards.