Former Maury County, Tennessee, Corrections Officer Sentenced for Obstructing Civil Rights Investigation

A former corrections officer of the Maury County, Tennessee, Jail was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Nashville, Tennessee, to 60 months in prison and two years of supervised release.

James Stewart Justice was previously convicted of falsifying a record in a federal civil rights investigation for a report he wrote in response to allegations that he had sexually abused an inmate in his custody.   

“Everyone who serves in law enforcement knows of their duty of candor,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “That duty of candor is at its highest when responding to serious allegations such as the sexual abuse of an inmate in the officer’s care. The Civil Rights Division will continue to vigorously prosecute officers who disregard that duty and obstruct federal civil rights investigations.”

“When he authority that corrections officers are given is abused, it’s not just the civil rights of prison inmates that are threatened, but the public’s trust,” said Special Agent in Charge Joe Carrico of the FBI Nashville Field Office. “This sentencing should be a reminder that the FBI will vigorously investigate these kinds of cases and bring to justice any law enforcement officer who violates the constitution and trust of the people."

According to court documents, Justice, formerly known as James Stewart Thomas, wrote an official report for the Maury County Jail in response to allegations that he sexually abused an inmate he guarded in a hospital room while the inmate recovered from major surgery. In his report, the defendant 1) falsely claimed that he had reported to two Maury County Jail supervisors that an inmate had made sexual advances toward him while the inmate was in his custody at the hospital; 2) falsely claimed that those two Maury County Jail supervisors both advised him not to write a report about those alleged sexual advances by the inmate; and 3) omitted a claim he later made to criminal investigators that he had a sexual relationship with the inmate after the inmate’s release from custody.

The FBI Nashville Field Office investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nani Gilkerson for the Middle District of Tennessee and Trial Attorney Kyle Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division prosecuted the case.