Regurgitation / Compilation

I had been hoping to write some witty entry perfectly capturing the craziness that Bob Ortega has been covering in Arizona.  A little background; the state is seeking proposals for 5,000 new private prison beds (which is a step back from last year's plan to privatize the entire state system and sell off then re-lease the state house.  I wish I was kidding about that.), despite the problems its private prisons have had for their entire history and recent reports showing they don't even save money, and could in fact wind up costing the state more.

So the state has been seeking suitors to build a bunch of new private prison beds, and thankfully has set up multiple public hearings to air the situation out.  Bob Ortega, a reporter at the Arizona Republic, has done some fantastic reporting recently on the histories of the companies bidding for these beds, and the public hearings to discuss the potential risks and benefits of bringing private prisons to towns.

So rather than try to steal his thunder, I'm just going to link to his fabulous work.

First is a story about the lack of oversight of the industry, and its failure to deliver on promises of cost-savings while being incapable of running a secure facility.

Next is a great piece on the sordid history of the GEO Group, the second-largest private prison company in the world.

He also of course couldn't resist delving into the illustrious track record of CCA.

Then today he released two articles, the first of which goes into MTC's also pathetic history.

The second discusses one of those public meetings, at which officials for the GEO Group found strong opposition from the citizens of Goodyear, Arizona.

A Dose of His Own Medicine

Remember Mark Ciavarella, the judge from Pennsylvania who received millions of dollars in bribes from a private prison operator to sentence undeserving children to that private prison?  His conviction resulted in the dismissal of over 4,000 convictions of juveniles, as the court saw the obvious corruption and conflict of interest in his decisions.

Well thankfully that slimy piece of shit just got 28 years in prison.

Earnings Time

It's my (least) favorite time of the quarter-year!  Both CCA and the GEO Group recently released their 2nd quarter earnings.  

First up is GEO, which in what had to be a joke, announced it earned $21.6 million over the past three months based on "sound operational performance."  I guess re-purchasing $100 million worth of your own stock qualifies as "operational performance."

Meanwhile in Tennessee, CCA earned $42.4 million in profit over the last 3 months.  So combined, the two largest private incarcerators in this country earned more than $64 million in PROFIT over the past 3 months, just by locking up US citizens and immigrants.  Who knew it could be so easy?  For the math lovers (and haters of unrestrained capitalism) out there, that works out to a whopping $711,111 every single day, or $493.83 per minute.  Yes every fucking minute these monsters make nearly $500 in profit off taxpayer dollars, much of which is turned around in efforts to incarcerate an ever-increasing number of people.

But I guess there is a bit of consolation, for me at least, in the fact that both companies apparently under-performed, based on market expectations.

Crappy Medical "Care"

Another quickie here, this one from Indiana, where the medical services for the Lake County Jail are contracted out to a private company, MedStaff.  As with the companies that operate entire prisons, private medical care contractors cut corners and hire unqualified staff, all in a bid to maximize profits.  Unfortunately for Lake County prisoners, they are subject to the "care" of a company in which "no one in the organization has experience in correctional medical care... The organization lacks leadership and direction."  So little direction in fact that a recent audit found that medical staff routinely devise their own courses of treatment because no one is available to guide them.

More on the Understaffed GEO Facility

I wrote previously about some of the trouble Florida has had with its private prisons, which is relevant because the state is looking to privatize the correctional services of up to 18 counties.  This is just a quick link to an article that goes into more detail on the South Bay Correctional Institution, the GEO Group facility that investigators were unable to inspect last month because they couldn't find anyone at the prison to let them in.

CCA's Investment in Georgia

CCA and other private prison companies have a business model that relies upon a steady flow of prisoners to remain profitable.  It's a natural outcome of the industry.  Unfortunately for everyone not profiting from locking human beings up, this plays out as companies help write and pass legislation that increases criminal and civil penalties, to the degree that we now have the highest rate and real numbers of incarceration in the entire world.

In Georgia, as in Arizona, CCA has sought to ensure itself a steady flow of "revenue" by first drafting what would become SB1070, and Georgia's copycat bill, HB87, then by contributing to the campaigns of representatives likely to vote on the legislation.  So after spending untold thousands of dollars for a seat at the table with ALEC to write the legislation (literally untold - its pretty much impossible to see who contributes, and how much, to this shady nonprofit), CCA spent over $240,000 in the past 7 years in campaign contributions in the state of Georgia alone.  Of 17 representatives who received contributions from CCA in the previous 2 cycles, only 2 voted against HB87, a piece of legislation that allows police to check immigration status and will undoubtedly result in more immigrants being incarcerated.  Hell, CCA even took 8 of them out to dinner, and, shocker - none of those 8 voted against the bill.  This all in a "conservative" state (wait, I thought they didn't like government intervention?)

But Georgia's legislators didn't stop at illegal immigrants, because there's money to be made in locking up their own citizens as well.  It doesn't seem to matter that private prisons cost the state nearly $10 more per prisoner, per day (so literally millions of dollars more per year, as there are 7 private prisons in Georgia) - the state is forging ahead with plans to open a new, 1,500-bed private prison.  As an advocate said, "These prisons are new plantations, and immigrants are a new crop... there's a huge profit margin."

Inhumane and Dangerous

Two quick links here.  First up, one of the official mental health advisers for Australia's federal government is convinced that the situations asylum seekers find themselves placed in when they're incarcerated in private prisons are worse than what is being reported.  A recent investigation is seeking to determine if the rates of self-harm in these facilities is higher than what's being reported.  A professor recently estimated that there is a "near-miss" suicide attempt nearly every single night in one of Australia's private immigration detention centers.

Meanwhile, in Kentucky, a death at a prison has raised questions about the medical care being provided by Corizon, a private, for-profit company.  Anthony Dwayne Davis died nearly 20 hours after requesting medical attention but being denied treatment at the Fayette County Detention Center.  17 hours after he submitted the claim, he was finally taken to the infirmary, where he did not have a pulse.  Davis had a history of heart trouble, which makes the 17-hour delay especially worrisome.  This company apparently has a bit of history in denying medical attention; last year, a 54-year-old prisoner died of a pulmonary embolism after not receiving treatment quickly enough.

Fodder for the Conspiracy Theorists

Just a quick link here to an interesting column discussing Corplan Corrections and its leader, James Parkey.  Corplan has constructed numerous immigration detention centers and prisons across the country, working most often with CCA.  They have built a lost of facilities on municipal bonds, and have often left small towns to foot the bill for the construction after they fail to help secure a contract to bring in prisoners - the most famous case is that of Hardin, Montana, which I've written about extensively.

But this article discusses how Corplan has been building many detention centers around the country, though not in response to a particular need for beds.  The author argues, somewhat convincingly, that these beds are being constructed to give the government the ability to detain political dissidents in the case of a "national emergency."  Basically, the government is building prisons to be able to silence political dissent when shit hits the fan.

That's some creepy stuff.

Cause for Concern

Last month, investigators from Florida's Department of Corrections came to the South Bay CF, run by the GEO Group, to conduct an inspection of the facility.  While this should not have made headlines, it did because the investigators could not get into the prison.  After repeatedly using the call box and even shining a flashlight directly into the security camera at the gate, investigators were unable to contact anyone inside the prison to let them in.  Apparently, there were no guards in the control room or monitoring the perimeter of the facility to let them in.  What's even worse is that the Florida DOC doesn't even have authority to oversee the prison - that's handled by the Department of Management services, which apparently lets the GEO Group conduct its own internal investigations of staff misconduct.  Because who would want a department of corrections to oversee something like corrections?

So the investigators filed a report, and the DMS released their own (heavily redacted) report about the incident, but no one has given a firm answer yet as to why staff were unresponsive for at least 20 minutes of the investigators' trying to get their attention.  This is very concerning, considering the state is pushing hard to privatize the correctional services of 18 counties.  There are some very high benchmarks in the request the state has put out though, such a mandating 7% savings and forcing the private vendor who wins the contract to provide programs proven to reduce recidivism.  I have absolutely zero faith in any private for-profit company to meet these benchmarks, since the industry has steadfastly failed to live up to similar expectations throughout its history.

I've written extensively on the failures of private prisons to provide programming and offer cost-savings.  But Florida's politicians need look no further than their own state to see that privatizing correctional services doesn't save money.  Because Jackson County, which recently had been seeking to outsource prison healthcare, recently decided to continue to have the government provide healthcare.  Why?  Because the county will save MILLIONS of dollars per year in doing so.  That's right - it would cost millions more for a private company to provide healthcare to prisoners than the government.

Is there any question anymore that Ric Scott, JD Alexander, and all the other Florida politicians looking to privatize prisons aren't merely corporate shills?

Private Prisons in a Wider Context

An excellent video that delves into the private prison industry, its motivating factors (SPOILER ALERT: $$$), and how the increasing criminalization of American citizens and immigrants helps the industry's bottom line.

Ongoing Abuse

Hawaiian prisoners continue to report extreme violence and abuse at the Saguaro Correctional Facility, a CCA joint, in Arizona.  Thousands of Hawaiian prisoners are housed by CCA on the mainland, despite Governor Abercrombie's promise to bring them all home.  In the private hellholes, they have been repeatedly subject to sexual assault and harassment, violence, and even murder.  The Solicitor General of the state even released a scathing report on the questionable tactics CCA engages in to manipulate cost projections and scam the state into thinking it's saving money by having prisoners at their facility.

In a complaint just filed in Honolulu, Hawaiian prisoners are suing CCA and the state of Hawaii for subjecting them to the brutal conditions at Saguaro.  The complaint details some of the problems these men face, saying

    "Plaintiffs were stripped of nearly all of their clothing while being beaten, questioned, and humiliated.

     "Plaintiffs were threatened with harm to themselves and their families, including through such statements as:

     "a. 'We have your emergency contact information;'

     "b. 'We know who your family is and where they live and we are going to harm them;'

     "c. 'We are going to kill you;'

     "d. 'We will continue to beat you and the only way to stop that is to commit suicide;'

     "e. 'We will send you to hell;'

     "f. 'We will stick something up your ass.'

     "g. 'We will smash all the bones in your face.'"

I really hope this finally catches the Governor's attention and that he realizes sending prisoners to private facilities is a disgraceful and inhumane way to back out of the state's responsibility to house its prisoners.

Failing to Deliver

There are two stories I wanted to highlight today, both of which deal with the failure of the private prison industry to deliver on its promises of economic stimulus.  Private prisons are often pitched to small towns and rural communities as vehicles of economic growth, with promises of tax revenues and jobs.  Unfortunately though, many of these prisons are built on the speculation that they'll be filled (meaning no contract to house prisoners is in place before many of these prisons are built), but the contracts don't always come through as planned.  For a great example of how this happens, see the example set by Hardin, Montana, which was conned by Corplan Corrections and still has a jail that sits empty, 5 years after it was built.

So the first article comes from the small town of Littlefield, TX.  A small town desperate for economic stimulus, Littlefield financed the construction of a private prison for nearly $11 million dollars.  After the prison was built in 2000, the GEO Group was hired to run it.  In the shocker of the century, the facility was plagued with violence, assaults, and escapes to the degree that Idaho, the state whose prisoners comprised the largest segment of the population, decided to pull all its prisoners from the facility.  Shortly thereafter, the GEO Group backed out of operating the facility.  The town however was still on the hook because it had financed the facility, and is now facing a bill of $65,000 per month.  Unfortunately, "Littlefield is not alone. Several other Texas towns that build prisons to be run by private companies have found the prisons to be financial drains."  Littlefield actually auctioned off the prison a few days ago, to an undisclosed buyer, but the damage has been done to the city's bond rating.

The other article comes from our friends up north, where British Columbia lawmakers are debating where they should place a new private prison.  Of course, the town is hoping for some stimulus from the prison in terms of revenue and jobs.  While this has not yet turned into a money pit like Hardin and Littlefield, the article goes on to describe how BC is looking to save money by privatizing, and discusses all the great economic benefits of bringing a prison.  But what really caught my eye is a quote they pulled from the Economist, hardly the left-wing rag, which discusses the nature of privatized corrections and how the savings achieved in terms of dollars and cents may not be worth the toll privatization takes on humans who experience it.  The Economist said, "It is 'hard to see the expansion of a forprofit industry with a permanent interest in putting ever more people in cages as consistent with either efficiency or justice.'"