Susan Prentice

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"It's disturbing to see it in black and white. It just is," says Stranburge. "To see how how confident they are in themselves o that they can just write this down in a form that anybody can read" 'They know perfectly wll nobody cares,' he adds.

Pontiac Correctional Center is a maximum security prison in the small town of Pontiac, Illinois. It’s the oldest in the state - founded in 1871 - and has a reputation for being one of the most violent. There is a guard at Pontiac who some staff praise for being tough and having their backs. But other staff and people in the prison say she is known for abuse. In 2019, she was investigated by the Department of Corrections and State Police. Investigators had obtained 427 of the guard’s emails, revealing the conversations she’d had with other staff when it seemed like no one was looking.

This episode is in collaboration with the podcast Motive, from WBEZ Chicago, hosted by Shannon Heffernan. Season 4 of Motive investigates the hidden world of big prisons in small towns.

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