6:25 am in Uncategorized by WhyIHateCCA
First published on WhyIHateCCA
After the state of Mississippi announced it was not renewing its contract with the GEO Group (or that the GEO Group bailed on the state, depending on how you see it) following a litany of abuse and mismanagement issues at the prisons it ran for the state, the Department of Corrections needed to bring in another company to operate the private facilities formerly run by them. Apparently, the state did not consider just hiring additional corrections staff and taking control of the prisons itself.
Into the picture now comes MTC, or Management and Training Corporation, the third-largest private prison operator in the U.S. MTC most recently made headlines as the company in charge of the Kingman prison in Arizona, from which 3 felons (2 convicted murderers) escaped, fled across the country, killed an elderly couple, and stirred up a multi-state manhunt. Shortly thereafter, an audit found the facility had numerous security flaws that the prisoners exploited in their escape. This was part of what prompted many advocates to call for a statewide audit of private prisons that found the facilities to cost more than government-operated prisons. Then Republicans in the state legislature passed a bill to prohibit future audits. Of course.
So this is the company that Mississippi has apparently seen fit to give responsibility for prisoners in the former GEO Group facilities. MTC will operate 3 prisons for the state; Walnut Grove, East Mississippi CF, and Marshall County CF, while CCA will continue to operate an additional 2 facilities (one of which just suffered a riot). But many people, including this author, are skeptical that there will be any signifncant improvement at the prisons. Hopefully, Mississippi will have learned from at least some of its mistakes with the GEO Group, such as not having an enforcement mechanism in the contract to ensure adequate staffing levels.
Meanwhile, it looks like the GEO Group is seeking to expand northward into Canada since its reputation has taken such a hit here, and MTC is focusing their sights on our continental brethren as well. I just hope the Canadians learn from our mistakes.
Tags: abuse, cca, escape, GEO Group, juveniles, lawsuit, MTC, oversight, private prisons, privatization, riot, security, staffing
1:24 pm in Uncategorized by WhyIHateCCA
First published on WhyIHateCCA
Last week, a CCA prison in Woodville, MS became the site of the latest private prison riot. At least 23 prisoners were injured in the disturbance to the point where they required medical attention. Fights raged for nearly an hour before the prison staff got the facility back under control.
Tags: cca, private prisons, privatization, riot, security, violence
9:17 pm in Uncategorized by WhyIHateCCA
First published on WhyIHateCCA
Two weeks ago, prisoners rioted at a CCA prison in Georgia, resulting in the prison being put on lockdown. There’s not much more information available on that
But a second riot occurred at another CCA prison, this one in Mississippi, and what has come out so far isn’t pretty; 200-300 prisoners were said to be involved in the disturbance, and at least one guard has died. A handful of staff and inmates were injured at the immigration detention facility. The situation lasted for hours, with prisoners taking moire than a dozen staff hostage. Which makes sense, because a former employee said the staff-to-inmate ratio was dangerously low, so much so that he left his job there. Sixteen staff members had to be transported to a hospital due to injuries. Prison riots are a relatively rare occurrence; this one even more so because of the facility’s population. It houses immigrants charged with illegal re-entry, not many of whom have criminal convictions beyond that. So this isn’t a population that necessarily lends itself to violence and rioting; I imagine they are upset with the living conditions in the facility, though no word has yet come out about what incited it.
Thankfully, the company is already coming under fire for its poor management by a Mississippi Congressman, and the riot is being investigated by the FBI.
The guard who died was 24-year-old Catlin Carithers.
Tags: cca, immigration, private prisons, privatization, riot, riots, security, staffing, violence
8:38 am in Uncategorized by WhyIHateCCA
That is the description of the situation which Antoney Jones found himself in almost immediately after arriving at the Idaho Correctional Center. Jones, a black gay man, was intentionally placed by guards into a housing unit where he would be assaulted by other prisoners. “Prisoners throughout the pod lined the rails and began yelling, ‘Kill the nigger,’ ‘Get the fag’ and ‘Kill the rat.’”
Mr. Jones’ story is one of more than a dozen similar ones found in the complaint of a lawsuit brought by the ACLU of Idaho against CCA for their operation of ICC, a prison so notorious for its violence that
it’s been dubbed “gladiator school” by those housed there. The violence is so pervasive particularly because the prison is private; by routinely hiring unqualified staff and reducing staffing levels to the barest of minimums, the prison is literally a breeding ground for violent activity. In the assault that prompted the lawsuit (and an FBI investigation), a prisoner was brutally beaten for so long that his assailant had time to stop and rest in the midst of the attack, while guards simply watched from a control tower. That sort of unprofessional conduct is heart-wrenchingly unacceptable.And in other effed-up privatization of correctional services in Idaho news, the
state has fined a private medical care provider, CMS, “nearly $400,000 by state officials for failing to meet some of the most basic health care requirements outlined by the state.” And this is in a state that permitted CCA to operate the ICC for years without fining them, which means the medical “care” CMS was providing must have been appallingly insufficient.
Tags: assault, cca, medical care, prison, private prison, privatization, racism, riot, violence
