Cruel and Unusual

One inmate suffering from mental illness was locked in a scalding-hot shower for two hours until he collapsed and died. Another prisoner was gassed to death in a concrete cell while begging for medical assistance. A third allegedly tied a double knot and hanged herself while her hands were cuffed.

"Cruel and Unusual" is an ongoing Miami Herald investigation into what prisoners, their loved ones, lawyers and activists say is a culture of brutality and a pattern of cover-ups in one of the nation's largest prison systems.