First published on WhyIHateCCA

Residents of Crete, IL have accomplished the (near-)impossible feat of successfully rejecting a plan by CCA and ICE to build an immigration detention center in their town.  The plan had come under heavy fire from residents practically from its inception, but CCA and ICE pushed hard to get permission to build the facility despite overwhelming opposition by the citizens.  The Sheriff of Lake County even threw his hat into the ring – publicly supporting legislation that could have prevented the facility’s construction (it would have prevented agencies in the state from contracting with private prison companies), because the plan was clearly designed to benefit a private company with no obvious benefit to the community.  The legislation ultimately failed, but that wasn’t enough to dissuade opponents of the facility from continuing to protest and work against it, even though many of their representatives had failed to support the bill.

In a voice vote, village trustees unanimously decided to reject the proposal.  This is a monumental victory for the hundreds of groups and individuals who worked so hard to prevent this facility from coming to town.  Congratulations to everyone involved!  This just goes to show that no matter how big and powerful some corporations can get, they can never completely trump the will of the majority.

First published on WhyIHateCCA

About three weeks ago, the ACLU challenged CCA to a public debate on the merits of prison privatization, a timely request given that it came on the day of CCA’s shareholder meeting where it faced a proposal from a shareholder that would have required the company to report on its efforts to curb sexual violence within its facilities.  The ACLU asked CCA to discuss rationales behind using private companies to perform an inherently governmental function, particularly when the industry has failed in so many respects, from efficiency and oversight to the humane treatment of the prisoners it houses.

CCA, incapable of actually defending its morally reprehensible and laughably inefficient business model, meekly rejected the ACLU’s offer to debate in a public forum. I guess they find it difficult to justify abusing and neglecting human beings while reaping hundreds of millions of dollars in profit every year, and having spent millions more lobbying for an ever-expanding prison industrial complex while crime rates continue to fall.

Just a hunch…

First published on WhyIHateCCA

Historic jail in Florida. Photo by Marsanne Petty.

Many lawmakers in Florida, home of the GEO Group, are enamored with the idea of prison privatization.  Legislators, mostly Republican, have thrice attempted (and failed) to privatize half the state’s prison system within the past two years. The former speaker of the house, serving time in prison, is still being investigated by the FBI in part for his role in bringing a private prison to the state and attempting to force the closure of multiple state facilities to populate it. He’s also the target of a federal grand jury investigation for his dealings with the GEO Group.

In the towns of Southwest Ranches and Pembroke Pines, residents have been waging war against CCA and ICE, who want to build a huge immigration detention center there. Upset over the risks of bringing a private prison to town, residents have already faced legal harassment after they have failed to capture the attention or sympathy of their representative, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. The parties are engaged in a struggle over resources, as CCA is attempting to strong-arm the small towns into providing water and sewer services to the prison. Pembroke Pines has already had to shell out more than $120,000 in legal fees to battle a detention center that the federal government seems to be forcing on them.

The most recent battle in Florida has arisen over the state’s plans to privatize health care for all its prisoners, which I guess was the fall-back option if wholesale privatization failed. The plan is being challenged by the Nurses’ Association, which filed a lawsuit similar to the one that successfully defeated the wholesale privatization; basically saying the state Legislature didn’t have the authority to order such a sweeping change to such a huge portion of the state budget without passing a stand-alone bill. It’s estimated that as many as 2,800 jobs and $300 million of the budget could be impacted by the switch, which is also opposed by the union that represents COs.

It seems simple to explain part of this love affair, the GEO Group and CCA have contributed huge sums of money to Florida legislators, with most of that going to Republicans. During the last election cycle, the industry donated nearly $1 million to campaigns, with more than 80% of that coming from the GEO Group. GEO has already given more than $100,000 to Governor Scott for the upcoming election.

But just looking at the campaign contributions fails to reveal the whole story. Governor Scott’s closest advisor and de facto gatekeeper, Steve McNamara, is a man with so much political influence he’s been called the state’s “Shadow Governor.”  He also happens to be close personal friends with Jim Eaton, head lobbyist for the GEO Group, which might help explain why Scott decided to can the head of the Department of Corrections for challenging the privatization scheme. After news came out that McNamara had been using his influence to advance himself and his friends politically and financially, he was forced to resign. Jim Eaton, by the way, also happens to be the head lobbyist for Wexford, one of the companies in the running for the state healthcare contract.  So McNamara’s influence is likely to last well beyond his tenure as “Shadow Governor.”

Taking ALEC to Task

ALEC, one of the banes of my existence, has been in the news a lot recently, as people are starting to realize that they’re behind every conservative conspiracy to screw over some segment of the population.  As I’ve reported on before, the industry has helped to write and push laws that have dramatically increased our country’s prison population and funneled taxpayer dollars to private prison companies.  The group is also behind a lot of the anti-reproductive rights legislation sweeping the country, the anti-union measures that passed in places like Wisconsin, Maine, and Ohio, voter suppression measures like anti-fraud legislation (which was a solution in search of a problem), and the “Stand Your Ground” law in Florida that’s one of the focuses of the Trayvon Martin case.  So basically, ALEC is the manifestation (and source) of the anti-democratic forces directing conservative ideology.

So I was happy to see that a journalist of such a high caliber as Paul Krugman took them to task for promoting privatization efforts that threaten to dismantle many democratic institutions. He focused only a small part of his article on the group’s work with the private prison industry, and mentioned how SB1070 came out of an ALEC conference.  But CCA’s intimidation PR machine came out in full force, demanding an apology from Krugman for implying that CCA lobbied on behalf of SB1070.  CCA, as a company, did not lobby or donate on that bill.  But multiple members of its executive board did, something CCA’s shill Steve Owen seems to always coincidentally forget.  The company is clearly trying to intimidate Krugman and others who would potentially disparage the good name and reputation of the industry, and prevent negative press.

Folks, this is only a small taste of what a truly free market would be capable of.  As groups like ALEC erode the foundation of civility and equity on which our country has thrived, by promoting privatization of public assets and destroying the democratic party’s voting base, we, the common people, lose.  Thankfully there are still reporters with some cojones who tackle these important issues, but they seem to be getting fewer and farther between.  ALEC is an absolute menace to the 99% of people who don’t stand to benefit from an even greater concentration of political power and wealth.

Some of the Worst Abuse Ever Seen

Following on the announcement of the removal of all juvenile prisoners in Mississippi from private prisons, the Department of Justice has just released a report of its findings in investigating the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility, which is run by the GEO Group.  Walnut Grove was the target of the lawsuit that resulted in the prohibition on sending juveniles to private prisons, and it turns out the state was more than justified in ordering such a removal.  Juveniles incarcerated at the facility were subjected to ongoing sexual misconduct and other forms of abuse; the abuse was “among the worst that [the DOJ has] seen in any facility anywhere in the nation.”

This is truly one of the most gut-wrenching tales of the horrors of privatization that I’ve ever seen.  The report indicates that the profit motive inherent in the private prison industry led the GEO Group to ignore the suffering of children under its care; the company earned more than $100 million from the facility’s operation.  Staff were frequently involved in gang activity, and children suffered from excessive use of force regularly.  The children were sexually assaulted, guards smuggled drugs into the facility, numerous extremely violent riots occurred, and the kids were routinely subjected to long periods of isolated confinement, denied medical care and access to educational programming.  It was so bad that the judge who just ruled on the settlement remarked that “The sum of these actions and inactions … paints a picture of horror as should be unrealized anywhere in the civilized world.”  The inaction the judge refers to is not only the fault of the GEO Group; the state of Mississippi was remiss in repeatedly failing to enforce and monitor the contract it has with the company to ensure its own citizens, children of all people, would not suffer through such horrendous experiences.

It looks like long-needed change has finally come to the children housed at Walnut Grove and their families, all of whom were victimized by the prison-industrial complex, and more specifically, by the profit motive inherent to the private prison industry.  Judge Reeves, who approved the settlement, claims he will avidly enforce the agreement to ensure that no other children fall prey to the GEO Group.

Update on CCA’s Diabolical Scheme

Just wanted to give a quick update on the newest craze sweeping the private prison industry, CCA’s diabolical scheme to connive state governments into selling prisons to the company and guaranteeing 90% occupancy of said prisons for decades to come.  Basically, they’re looking to ensure the US remains the world’s embarrassing outlier in its unnecessarily high rate of incarceration.  The proposal has been quickly and loudly criticized by dozens of groups, including advocacy groups and a coalition of religious organizations.

Beyond the mere idiocy of guaranteeing a private prison company income despite prison population shifts for the next twenty years, people are starting to question the source of the proposal; former director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Harley Lappin.  Shortly after leaving his post in the federal government, Mr. Lappin took his highly lucrative job in the private sector in one of many examples of the “revolving door” that characterizes the industry and its success at cultivating political relationships.  The proposal from CCA actually encourages the sale of federal prison facilities, which Mr. Lappin himself was in charge of just a few short months ago.  But that’s not all; in his capacity as director of the BOP, Mr. Lappin authored a report highly critical of the very private prison industry in which he is now employed.

Thankfully, it’s looking like the work of the groups who were quick to oppose CCA’s proposal is paying off.  Many states have already decided to reject it; at least five states, including those with the highest correctional populations, many of which have existing contracts with private prison companies, have said they aren’t even considering it.  I guess their current relationships with the industry have dissuaded them from wanting to further entangle themselves with a company that profits off human misery.  Who woulda thunk?  Of course, some governments were bound to take the bait; Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal recently announced his plans to sell a state prison to the highest bidder, which is, in the words of a state representative, “an unlawful dereliction of state duty.”

I’m sure this won’t be the last of what we hear from states as they consider the proposal.  But hopefully this will be the last bad news.

The End of Leniency in New Mexico

I have previously reported on the problems New Mexico has experienced with private prisons.  In particular they’ve found the prisons to be wildly more expensive than government-run facilities, and have found major staffing deficiencies and other issues at prisons run by the GEO Group and CCA.  In the past, these companies had escaped responsibility for short-staffing their facilities, when the head of the state’s DOC, Joe Williams, former employee of the GEO Group, failed to fine the companies for repeated contract violations.  Well all that has changed with new Corrections Secretary Lupe Martinez, who is determined to ensure the state collect on the fines her predecessor failed to bring in (to the tune of $18 million the state missed out on).

Now that Joe Williams has returned to working for the private prison industry, reclaiming a position with the GEO Group after leaving his post in New Mexico, the state has begun to hold the two companies to account.  After assessing more than a million dollars’ worth of fines last year against the industry, CCA and the GEO Group failed to learn their lesson.  GEO just got fined almost $300,000 for failing to maintain adequate staffing levels at its facilities, and CCA got hit with nearly $12,000 in fines for holding female prisoners well beyond their expected release dates, in some cases more than a month longer.  Now, why would a prison do that?, you may be asking yourself.  Because by continuing to house those prisoners, they continued to collect on the per diem the state paid them to house the prisoners.

This abuse of authority is sickening; CCA literally imprisoned people unlawfully in order to make more money.  Welcome to the world of for-profit prisons!

CCA’s Diabolical Scheme

Now some of you might think that title is a bit of exaggeration; hyperbole, even.  But I assure you, it’s not.  See, CCA recently sent a letter to the governors of 48 states, offering to purchase prisons currently operated by state or local governments and operate the facilities.  That in theory may not sound so terrible, if you ignore all the issues that plague the private prison industry and its consistent failure to deliver on its promises of cost-savings.  But the letter, written by Harley Lappin, former director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (who coincidentally wrote a pretty scathing report of private prisons in that role), doesn’t just offer an influx of cash in the short-term for budget-crunched state officials.  Its true intention is much more sinister.

In order to get CCA to purchase a prison, a state or government entity that contracts with them will have to agree to maintain 90% occupancy at the prison, for a contract term of no less than 20 years.  What that means is that states who agree to sell a prison to CCA would commit a significant amount of fiscal resources to the company for the next two decades.  Governments would also be required to either redistribute prisoners from government prisons if the population declines (which is really important, considering state prison populations have declined for 2 straight years), or pay CCA for empty beds.  So what this letter really amounts to is offering a binding, generation-spanning commitment for governments to continue to financially support an industry that an increasing body of research shows doesn’t save money and performs less efficiently than the public sector.  Further, it would continue our nation’s over-reliance on incarceration as it would dissuade state legislators and officials from seeking meaningful criminal justice reform, by removing a primary incentive to reduce our absurdly overblown prison population.

Unfortunately, some governments have already started to be lured in by this asinine proposal; Tennessee state officials are considering selling the Clifton state prison to the company.  But as the plan’s true intentions became clear, a host of advocacy groups have started to speak out publicly in opposition to the proposal.  Letters from a coalition of faith-based groups and from civil rights and other advocacy organizations have come pouring into governors’ offices across the country. CCA is of course already lashing out at these groups with their typical criticism, but opponents should remain undeterred. Any state representative who even considers this proposal is, either willingly or not, considering the continuation of the foolishness that has caused the US to lead the entire world in locking its own people up.

AZ Finds Private Prisons Don’t Save Money, Are More Dangerous

I apologize for being so late on this; there are actually a few stories I’m behind on and I’ll try to catch up as much as possible.

A report was just released by the American Friends Service Committee in Arizona that found private prisons actually cost the state more to operate than their government-run counterparts.  In just three years (2008-2010), the state spent $10 million more on private prison beds than it would have cost them to just operate the prisons itself.  The state for some reason loves private prisons, having previously tried to privatize its entire correctional system.  The state was also the first place that an iteration of the “Breathing While Brown” law (that ALEC-written handout to private prison companies) was introduced  It is currently seeking 2,000 additional private prison beds, which would cost $6 million more than beds the government could operate.  And this comes at a time when the state’s prison population is actually decreasing.  It is also looking to outsource medical and mental health care to private, for-profit providers, for as many as 34,000 prisoners; that segment of the private prison industry suffers from all the problems inherent to the profit-driven world of incarceration.

The report was conducted because the state has consistently failed to conduct analyses of private prisons, even though there is a state law mandating that it do so. After years of ignoring calls to produce such a report, the state finally finished one in January of this year, which, surprise surprise, found private prisons to be more expensive.

This new report by the AFSC also found that private prisons are more dangerous, and experience higher levels of “disturbances” (prison parlance for riots/violent incidents), many of which were never reported to the public.  In fact, the state exempts private prison companies from reporting such information that is required of government-operated prisons, shielding them from accountability for all the terrible things they let happen.  The report by AFSC noted that these instances were likely under-reported, and that the public has very little access to vital information concerning the operation of prisons in Arizona.

So you would think with all this information; that private prisons cost considerably more to taxpayers, that they consistently fail to operate prisons safely and securely, that the state’s political system would bring the hammer down and start to hold private prison operators more accountable for the millions in taxpayer dollars they benefit from, if not abolish the industry altogether.  But, this is Arizona.  The state legislature released a budget bill that still provides funding for private prisons, and actually eliminates the requirement for cost-comparison studies of public vs. private prisons that brought about the first report (by the state).  Talk about burying your head in the sand.

PA Says NO to Private Prisons

Just a quick link here.  Pennsylvania is one of many states that has seen an explosion in its prison population, and the prison budget, over the past few decades, largely as a result of the government’s push to become “tough on crime.”  The wave of legislation that has dramatically increased our prison population to the point where it is grotesquely out of accord with anything resembling common sense, or anything seen anywhere else in the world, was actually largely the product of the private prison industry’s work through the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to draft and promote 3-strikes laws, mandatory minimums, and “truth-in-sentencing” legislation.  But that’s a different story altogether.  Suffice it to say, they spent decades passing tougher criminal statutes, and are now planning to reap the financial rewards of locking up millions of people as they try to encourage states to give them their prisoners.  Thankfully, Pennsylvania is standing tall against the onslaught of privatization; Governor Corbett proposed a budget that won’t increase spending for the state DOC, and a DOC spokeswoman recently said the state was not considering privatizing part of the prison system.  Bravo, Keystone State!