The lawsuit the ACLU had against CCA for its poor operation of the Idaho Correctional Center, commonly referred to as "Gladiator School" by its residents, has settled, after being combined with a separate suit that had been filed by a prisoner. Violence levels at the facility were so severe that the ACLU had sought more than $150 million in damages, CCA's annual profit (yes, as in the amount of taxpayer dollars they saved as profit by cutting services and medical care). Staff routinely ignored prisoners' requests to protect them from violence, and in many cases intentionally placed vulnerable prisoners in high-risk situations in which they knew they'd be assaulted.
The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, and CCA avoided admitting liability for the actions of its staff. Because they pay good money to effective, if completely crooked, attorneys.
FYI, the "Gladiator School" moniker was actually used for the Reformatory in Granite OK, it was used because young inmates were sent there to recieve schooling by one of the nations first accredited high schools in corrections, but those young inmates also learned how to be convicts as well, thus the moniker was borm in nineteen fourteen. While I agree private prisons need to be shut down because of poor training, poor staff, and a high rate of employee turnover due to poor working conditions and a host of criminal behavior by staff and administration, lets not undermine one of the best correections systems, or its highly trained emplyees, in the country by using a beloved moniker at one of oklahomas oldest and best run state facilities!!!.
ReplyDeleteHey - thanks! I always love to learn a little history. I have heard the term used for other prisons as well, particularly one juvenile facility around 2000 or so (though I forget the actual name of the prison offhand).
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