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Two interesting pieces here regarding the influence the private prison industry wield in its political affiliations and activities. Most of the reason the industry has been so successful in securing contracts despite decades of failing to perform is the cozy relationship it has cultivated with state and federal officials who control the disbursement of public funds and criminal justice sentencing. They cultivate these relationships through donating to individual politicians and various campaigns they embark upon, but also through hiring professional lobbyists to promote their will while the legislature is in session.
Lobbyists often have great access to politicians, and in many cases either come directly from government or head there after leaving the lobbying business. By utilizing lobbyists to advocate for their interests, the private prison industry is able to simultaneously amplify their voice within the legislature, and to some extent prevent the public from knowing just exactly who and what is influencing political decisions.
In Arizona, for example, I have reported extensively on the ties between Governor Brewer’s office and a huge lobbying firm that works for CCA, Highground Consulting. Highground’s manager, Chuck Coughlin, is the governor’s chief of staff, and one of its principal lobbyists used to work for CCA (and his wife still does). To make the situation worse, the chair of the state’s appropriations committee (that would be the committee that controls public funds), John Kavanagh, looks to be quite close with the GEO Group, the country’s second-biggest private prison company. Public Policy Partners, an Arizona lobbying firm that GEO employs, donated at least 6 times to Kavanagh in the last election.
Is it any wonder this is the same state that passed an immigration bill that’s essentially a handout to private prison companies, or that they’re looking to privatize an additional 5,000 prison beds?
Meanwhile, over in Tennessee, state Republican representatives are coming under fire for participating in a fundraiser while the legislature was in session, that featured some of the biggest industries with a financial stake in Tennessee’s politics (fundraisers during the legislative session are supposed to be illegal). Among the businesses represented was CCA, which is headquartered in Nashville. They were so willing to help raise funds for state Republicans because the new Republican governor recently used the budget as an excuse to reverse a decision to close a CCA prison.
crossposted from Pay to Play
11 Comments
I would like to see the United States break up into several new sovereign states. I rather expect that to happen in post Imperial America. But even if the union remains there will have to be a New Republic and a new Constitution. No part of the federal government is worth saving. And our constitution is a dead letter.
Obviously, private prisons must be forbidden in our Constitution. And bribery of elected officials must be carefully defined and harsh penalties set forth.
In the meantime, is there any legal way to hurt the CCA and the scum bag politicians who fund them? Probably not.
Health care and prisons are shining examples of functions that must not operate for profit. Writers of our new constitution should specifically protect certain institutions from privatization.
Lost in the zeal to privatize the public sphere is the fact that the constitutional protections embodied in the Bill of Rights are restraints only on government. We have no constitutional rights in the private sector.
Every time we shift a traditional function of government to the private sector, we no longer have freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to peaceably assemble or to petition our masters for redress of our grievances. We are no longer entitled to due process of law in our interactions with those entities.
We are no longer citizens, we are serfs!
Unless the Citizens United decision is reversed and money is no longer deemed a form of speech, this country and will taken over lock stock and barrel by corporations.
Coach Bill’s observation, that when a traditional function of government shifts to the private sector, we no longer have freedom of speech.
The greatest threat to our country (that is, as defined by the Constitution) is not Islam, immigrants, religion, or even economic swings, but corporations gaining power over our elected representatives.
Privatized health insurance and prisons are two perfect examples of how bad it can get.
Why doesn’t the main stream media pick up on these stories?
Um, who owns the MSM? The corporations you just described.
Meant as a response to RodL2′s question.
Don’t leave NJ out of the prison privatization sewer! Here is a link to a NY Times article today about a NJ “bi-partisan” prison privatization project.
Apologies, dropped the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/nyregion/political-links-seen-behind-essex-county-detention-center-bid.html?scp=1&sq=Christie%20prisons&st=cse
Florida is gonna have more than anywhere. Oh yeah, in the end, they wind up costing more. Just a way to shovel money.
http://orlandoweekly.com/news/privacy-policy-1.1148804
i couldn’t have said it any better myself
I agree, to an extent. However, exercising the freedoms and protections embodied in the bill of rights is about the only effective recourse people have had to the private prison industry. Lawsuits over things like free exercise of religion, and cruel and unusual punishments, have acted as a check on the industry’s growth and influence (unfortunately though, not enough of one). What we need is for people to demand that any corporation or private entity that performs an inherently governmental function, such as a private prison company, adhere to the guidelines laid forth in that document, and other laws. Those rights are individual rights and we still retain them; that’s why even companies that provide only public accomodations can’t discriminate against their clientele based on race, ethnicity, religious preference, etc. The corporations who do indeed run our lives cannot violate the constitution in the process.
great link. I’ve covered the situation FL pretty extensively – it’s such a blatant handout to the private prison industry that the FBI is actually investigating it: http://whyihatecca.blogspot.com/2011/06/fbi-investigates-blatant-corruption-in.html
The Florida plan is a huge mistake that’s not going to save the state any money. There’s some valuable words of wisdom in the article you linked to:
“I think legislators should be careful in thinking that the private companies running these newer, efficient facilities can go into an inefficiently designed state facility and save boatloads of money,” he says. “To me, that’s a bit of a leap.”