Tennessee
December 22, 2011
Press Release from the Tennessee State Senate Republican Caucus, Dec. 22, 2011
State Senator Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) announced today he has introduced legislation that would reform the way pensions are calculated for new state employees. The plan would be offered for new state employees but not for local government employees or for education workers. Kelsey said the proposal would establish a privately managed cash-balance plan to eventually replace the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System defined benefits plan, participation in which would continue to remain available for current employees.
The legislation is the tenth in a series of announcements by Kelsey in his “12 for ’12” initiative for the next legislative session, which is set to reconvene January 10, 2012...
LINK - TNReport.com
October 4, 2010
Captive audience
Charter flights usually carry vacationers or sports teams.
But about four times a year, the flights are different.
That's when up to 150 male inmates with hand and leg restraints are loaded onto a convoy of buses and transported under armed guard from prison to the airport...
LINK - StarAdvertiser.com
December 9, 2009
CCA lets inmate escape, inmate shoots cop, CCA blames cop for getting shot?
Private prison operator Corrections Corporation of America is denying responsibility in the shooting of a Nashville police officer, allegedly by an escaped inmate.
Sgt. Mark Chesnut claims in a lawsuit filed in October that the Nashville-based company was negligent in Joseph Jackson Jr.'s escape from an offsite doctor's office while he was an inmate of CCA's Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood, Miss.
Chesnut stopped a rental car carrying Jackson and his cousin - Courtney Logan of Louisville, Ky. - on June 25, just hours after the escape…
LINK - WSMV.com
June 28, 2009
CCA refuses court order to open records
The state's appeals court will determine whether Nashville's Corrections Corporation of America, a private company that runs state prisons, is equivalent to a governmental entity when it comes to turning over records.
A former prisoner-turned-activist, who won the case at the Chancery Court level, is suing for the release of several documents, including audits and contracts.
Appellate judges heard arguments Thursday from the corporation's attorney, Joe Welborn, and Memphis civil rights attorney, Andy Clarke, who is representing prison-rights activist Alex Friedmann. It takes weeks, if not months, for the appeals court to make a decision…
LINK - Tennessean.com
September 4, 2008
CCA: Depositions begin in inmate lawsuit
Attorneys for a mentally ill inmate who went months without showering have begun taking depositions in their suit against Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America, which alleged the company denied him adequate mental health care and access to mail.
Mary Braswell, who filed the suit on behalf of her grandson, Frank Horton, is seeking punitive damages on the grounds that Horton's civil rights were violated during his incarceration at the Metro-Davidson County detention facility.
AdvertisementJohn Clemmons, one of Braswell's lawyers, said he couldn't speak about the case because it's ongoing…
LINK - Tennessean.com
August 21, 2008
CCA Shows a Flair for Creative PR Fiction
So this is hilarious. Corrections Corporation of America, the widely condemned prison company in Green Hills, has launched a Pravda-styled website aimed at providing "factual information" about its operations.
The site makes out CCA to be as sweet and innocent a business as your daughter's lemonade stand. Sadly, as the company's PR push notes, a "local daily paper" has willfully mis-characterized the outfit's open and efficient approach to doing business.
That's right: Only The Tennessean has raised pertinent questions about CCA. No one else has said a word, correct?…
LINK - NashvilleScene.com
August 14, 2008
CCA to close Memphis facility, lay off 92
Corrections Corp. of America will lay off 92 Memphis employees starting Monday, according to the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Nashville-based Corrections Corp. of America (NYSE: CXW) will close the 200-bed Shelby Training Center in Memphis, which houses male offenders for the Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County, said Steve Owen, a company spokesman.
The company will cease operations at the facility at the end of August. The facility anticipates a permanent reduction in population as the county will begin sending its juveniles to the care of the Tennessee Department of Children's Services…
LINK - BizJournals.com
August 14, 2008
Ex-inmate helps make Bush nominee ‘controversial’
Had this been like most nominations for federal judgeships, the chief lawyer with Corrections Corporation of America might have been packing up his office and heading for the courthouse by now.
But a determined opponent — a former prisoner at a Corrections Corporation of America facility in Clifton, Tenn. — has worked tirelessly to see that would not happen.
And he may have succeeded.
More than a year after President Bush nominated Gustavus A. Puryear IV to become a U.S. district judge in Nashville, the 40-year-old's appointment appears to be in serious trouble, thanks in no small part to Alex Friedmann, a convicted armed robber turned inmate advocate…
LINK - AP.Google.com (The Associated Press)
July 23, 2008
Bills, lawsuits attempt to thwart private prisons’ escape from FOIA
Two Democratic lawmakers are looking to hold private prisons housing federal inmates to the same Freedom of Information Act standards as federal facilities. But while their bills sit in Congress, the First Amendment Center reports, open government advocates are coming at the issue from a different angle.
Two recent lawsuits aim to increase the flow of information from private prisons using FOIA, according to the First Amendment Center. Last month, the ACLU filed a FOIA suit against the Department of Homeland Security in hopes of forcing the agency to hand over records on the deaths of immigrant detainees who were in the custody of private prisons.
And in May, the Center reports, Prison Legal News, a monthly magazine on prison issues, took the largest private prison-management service in the U.S., Corrections Corporation of America, (CCA) to court in Tennessee. CCA, whose headquarters is in Nashville, had refused the magazine's public-records request…
LINK - RCFP.org (The Reporters' Committee for Freedom of the Press
June 13, 2008
Update: Puryear’s judicial appointment in peril
A year ago today, Gustavus "Gus" Puryear IV was nominated for a federal judgeship in Nashville and appeared headed to an easy confirmation.
Now Puryear's confirmation seems unlikely. In addition to questions raised about his qualifications and actions as general counsel for Corrections Corporation of America, Puryear's fate is now caught in intense election-year battles between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate over lifetime judicial appointments.
Senate Democrats are looking to approve as few of Republican President Bush's appointments as they can before his term expires, hoping Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois wins the presidency. Republicans did the same during the final months of the Democratic Clinton administration…
LINK - Tennessean.com
See related articles posted:
Puryear judicial nomination draws clash - 04.22.08
Corrections Corp. Defends Quality Program - 03.17.08
Ex-CCA Official: Puryear Misled Clients - 03.14.08
TIME Magazine's Expose on CCA, general counsel - 03.13.08
Senators Raise Doubt Over Testimony of Nominee - 03.07.08
Former Inmate Opposes Tennessee Judicial Nominee - 02.28.08
Judicial nominee's ties; qualifications criticized - 02.25.08
April 22, 2008
Puryear judicial nomination draws clash
The battle over the Bush White House's nomination of Corrections Corporation of America General Counsel Gus Puryear to a federal judgeship has turned to charges between supporters and opponents of conflicts of interest and hidden business agendas.
Activists opposing private prisons and Puryear's nomination sent a formal letter to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee questioning the business ties of law firms whose attorneys have offered their own formal support of Puryear to the committee, including quite a few Democrats.
Puryear's employer shot back, saying Private Corrections Institute (PCI) is simply an extension of the larger Florida Police Benevolent Association, a Florida police union that also represents correctional officers and openly opposes prison privatization…
LINK - NashvilleCityPaper.com
March 27, 2008
Inmate sues CCA after being attacked
An inmate who had his ear ripped off during an attack by another prisoner in Wayne County has filed a lawsuit against Nashville-based prison operator Corrections Corporation of America.
According to the lawsuit, 33-year-old Kevin Swafford claims his ear couldn't be reattached because he did not receive proper treatment after the attack. He also says the staff was negligent and his civil rights were violated.
Prison officials say Swafford was attacked in March 2007 at the South Central Correctional Center in Clifton in Wayne County…
LINK - KnoxNews.com (Knoxville, Tennessee)
March 24, 2008
CCA inmate didn’t leave cell to shower for 9 mos
Sheriff, Metro health officials disagree who's responsible; grandmother wants answers…
While other inmates at the Metro Detention Facility took an hour out of their cells most days, a mentally ill inmate named Frank Horton never left his cell for any recreation or a shower — for nine straight months. It's unclear if he even saw a doctor.
Living conditions for the inmate, a nonviolent offender before entering prison, changed only after an employee complained to the Metro Public Health Department on Jan. 31 and he was forced out for a shower and a mental health evaluation…
LINK - Tennessean.com
March 20, 2008
CCA wants to build a mega-prison in San Diego County
The private prison company that operates a detention center for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Otay Mesa is proposing to build a nearly 3,000-bed mega-prison nearby.
According to county records, Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America has applied for a permit to build a "secure detention facility" in two phases on a parcel of about 40 acres northwest of Alta and Lonestar roads. A portion of the latter road has yet to be constructed.
The proposed prison would have 2,880 beds and would employ 375 people, according to an application the company filed.
LINK - SignonSanDiego.com
March 18, 2008
Superdelegate Sleaze: A Case Study
The private Ohio prison which Johnson helped establish was, according to Youngstown's then-mayor, "a nightmare." By 1998, there had been two fatal stabbings, 44 assaults, and six escapes at the prison. A Department of Justice report found that under CCA, the prison had "failed to accomplish the basic mission of correctional safety;" and prisoners eventually collected $1.65 million in damages and legal costs for their treatment under CCA.
News reports traced the problems at the prison to both CCA's management and D.C. Corrections' practice of sending high-security inmates to the medium-security facility. The problems, Johnson told the Washington Post at the time, weren't "anyone's fault, it was just one of those things."
Mr. Johnson nonetheless profited from the deal, receiving $2.6 million in stock options for his work linking CCA with officials in Washington, D.C. Calling his work "instrumental" to their receipt of the contract, CCA said that Mr. Johnson had "exceeded his duties and obligations" to the company and also paid him $382,000 for his "consulting services" in helping to arrange the deal, and $991,000 for NCRC's services in another CCA prison in Texas….
LINK - HuffingtonPost.com (The Huffington Post)
March 17, 2008
Corrections Corp Defends Quality Program
Corrections Corp. of America on Monday criticized as "misleading and inaccurate" two media reports on Executive Vice President and General Counsel Gus A. Puryear and the quality-assurance program that he oversees.
Last week, both Time magazine and The Tennessean newspaper published articles questioning the integrity of the program, suggesting the Nashville, Tenn.-based provider of outsourced prison management services underreported and reclassified incidents…
LINK - Chron.com (The Houston Chronicle)
March 14, 2008
Ex-CCA official: Puryear misled clients
A former Corrections Corporation of America manager is accusing the company's general counsel and federal judicial nominee Gus Puryear IV of overseeing a practice that produced misleading reports about safety incidents at its prisons.
Ronald T. Jones, who until last year worked as a senior manager in quality assurance at the Nashville-based prison operator, said that Puryear directed him and other staff to classify incidents such as escapes, unnatural deaths and disturbances as less serious to make its performance look better in reports to government agency clients. Reports prepared for internal use, meanwhile, included more details about the specific incidents, Jones said.
Time Magazine also reported Jones' allegations on its Web site on Thursday.
LINK - Tennessean.com
March 13, 2008
Corrections Corp. CEO Exercises Options
The president and chief executive of prison operator Corrections Corporation of America exercised options for 18,000 shares of stock under a prearranged trading plan, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
In Form 4s filed with the SEC Wednesday, John D. Ferguson reported he exercised the options Monday for $5.70 apiece and then sold all the shares the same day for $26.14 to $27.20 apiece.
LINK - Forbes.com
March 13, 2008
TIME magazine does expose on CCA, its general counsel
Scrutiny for a Bush Judicial Nominee
As the top lawyer for America's biggest private prison company, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), Gus Puryear IV, is known to sport well-pressed preppy pink shirts, and his brownish mop of hair stands out among most of President Bush's graying nominees to the federal bench. A favorite of G.O.P. hardliners, Puryear, 39, prepped Dick Cheney for the vice presidential debates — both in 2000 and 2004 — and served as a senior aide to two former senators and onetime presidential hopefuls, Bill Frist and Fred Thompson.
LINK - Time.com (Time Magazine)
March 13, 2008
Opinion: ‘Tennessean’ portrays CCA in a negative light
After years of coverage in which the accomplishments, community goodwill and considerable business strides of Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America have been glossed over or overlooked by The Tennessean, enough is enough.
Our employees, shareholders, state partners, and community and business friends appear to be as frustrated as I am with The Tennessean printing a negative editorial on CCA in last Friday's (March 7, 2008) newspaper.
Web Editor's Note: Read the "comments" section below this opinion piece to see how the people of Tennessee and the folks who have been affected by CCA feel about it!
LINK - Tennessean.com
March 7, 2008
Senators raise doubt over testimony of Nashville judicial nominee
The accuracy of testimony by Gustavus "Gus" Puryear IV at his confirmation hearing to be a federal judge is being questioned by four Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Puryear is general counsel of Nashville-based private prison giant Corrections Corporation of America and was nominated by Republican President Bush.
After the February hearing, he provided written answers to additional questions about the company's handling of the death of an inmate at a company-run facility in Nashville, potential conflicts of interest he would face as a judge and his membership in the Belle Meade Country Club.
LINK - Tennessean.com
March 7, 2008
State should run the prisons, not a big, private company
If you let us build it, we will fill it. That seems to be the unwritten or unauthorized theme of Corrections Corporation of America, the Nashville-based prison builder and operator. And, they're at it again.
Last month, CCA officials announced plans to build a prison in Trousdale County that is expected to employ approximately 350 people. CCA, the nation's largest private prison operator, also is said to have an agreement to purchase 106 acres of land in the PowerCom Industrial Center off Highway 25 in Hartsville, Tenn., according to officials with Four Lake Regional Industrial Development Authority, which owns the property…
LINK - Tennessean.com
March 4, 2008
Prison Privatization in America: The Lost Children
Web Editor's Note: This is a long read but well-worth the effort. However you might feel about immigration laws and immigrant detention centers, it becomes clear by reading this story that CCA's continued prison for-profit campaign and management track-record paints an even worse picture of corrections in the public eye and increases distaste for correctional officers as a whole.
Private companies began making inroads into the detention business in the nineteen-eighties, when the idea was in vogue that almost any private operation was inherently more efficient than a government one. The largest firm, Corrections Corporation of America, or C.C.A., was founded in 1983. But poor management and a series of well-publicized troubles — including riots at and escapes from prisons run by C.C.A. — dampened the initial excitement. In the nineties, C.C.A.'s bid to take over the entire prison system of Tennessee, where the company is based, failed; state legislators had grown skeptical. By the end of 2000, C.C.A.'s stock had hit an all-time low. When immigration detention started its precipitate climb following 9/11, private prison companies eagerly offered their empty beds, and the industry was revitalized.
One complication was that hundreds of children were among the immigrant detainees…
LINK - NewAmerica.net
February 28, 2008
Former CCA inmate opposes Tennessee judicial nominee
A former inmate of a CCA run prison is protesting a former CCA executive's nomination to a federal judge post:
President Bush in June nominated Gustavus A. Puryear IV, chief lawyer with Corrections Corporation of America, to become a U.S. district judge in Nashville.That led Alex Friedmann, who spent six years at the company's prison in Clifton, Tenn., to investigate Puryear's qualifications.
According to the article, Friedmann contends that Puryear isn't qualified, having handled only two federal cases in his career as a lawyer, which Friedmann says is only one more than he has tried himself. As a former CCA executive, Puryear also has a conflict of interest presiding over numerous outstanding federal lawsuits against the company according to Friedmann…
LINK - SouthernStudies.org
February 25, 2008
CCA in Politics: Judicial nominee’s ties, qualifications criticized
Gustavus "Gus" Puryear IV is the top attorney for Corrections Corporation of America, the Nashville-based private prison giant. He graduated with honors from law school, is a deacon in his church and serves on the boards of numerous community organizations. Now President Bush has nominated him to be a federal judge for the Middle District of Tennessee.
But Puryear has never been a judge, has little trial experience, and works for and holds stock in a company enmeshed with the federal government through campaign donations, lobbying and huge contracts. And the company he represents gets sued a lot, many times in federal court in Nashville…
LINK - Tennessean.com
February 21, 2008
CCA once again fails to properly notify authorities of escape
Sheriff: Jailers Waited Too Long With Inmate
A Tennessee sheriff says jailers in Nashville may have waited too long to take out a warrant for an escaped inmate who was initially believed to be hiding somewhere in the facility. Habitual escape artist Terrell Watson was being held on auto theft and probation violation charges when he disappeared from his cell Sunday. Officials initially believed he was hiding in the jail, but by Tuesday they said the he escaped through a ventilation system.Sheriff Daron Hall tells WSMV-TV the contractor that runs the jail, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), didn't take a warrant until 48 hours after Watson vanished. Without a warrant, authorities didn't know to be looking for him…
LINK - WJZ.com
February 19, 2008
Tennessee: Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) Loses Another Inmate
Police Search For 'Dangerous' Escapee
Authorities Believe Terrell Watson Hiding In JailA Nashville inmate with a history of prison breaks has disappeared, but authorities said he's hiding in the facility.
Terrell Watson was not in his cell at Metro Detention Facility when jailers checked on him early Sunday morning. Assistant warden Johnny Sausedo said after a day of searching they think the 33-year-old Watson is still inside, but a Corrections Corporations of America (CCA) spokeswoman said on Monday afternoon that there is a possibility Watson could be out and on the run…
LINK - www.wsmv.com
