Major Problems, Major Donations

Quick one here - just a link to the second part of a great expose put together by a local TV station in Idaho on CCA's terrible track record and generous campaign contributions. Their investigation found "complaints against C.C.A. in all 19 states they operate, all within the past decade, involving much more than just medical care." Which is basically what I've found as well.

The article goes on to describe how CCA has contributed nearly $20,000 to the governor of Idaho, even though only about 3% of their population is housed there, in the Idaho Correctional Center. What often remains unspoken about these donations is that contributions from the private prison industry are far more effective than even your standard lobbying dollars. That's because there is no counter-lobby, and no government agency working against private prisons' interests. For every dollar an oil company spends on lobbying, for example, counter-lobbies comprised of progressives and government agencies like the EPA use their influence against big oil's interests. No lobby works on behalf of prisoners. No organization lobbies to have less private prisons (except really the COs union in California). So not only do CCA, GEO, and the others spend great sums of money lobbying; every penny they spend is especially effective because there is really no counter-argument.

You probably remember that the ACLU is suing CCA for running the ICC as a "gladiator school," where prisoners were encouraged to fight, then denied medical care following assaults to both save money and to try to hide evidence of the assaults. ICC is a terrible place, one of the more violent prisons in this country. Hopefully the lawsuit by the ACLU will prompt major changes at the facility and in the way CCA operates (or fails to).