Wackenhut
April 27, 2009
Lawmakers’ relatives work for GEO Group prison co. as state weighs clamp-down on embattled firm
Two state lawmakers from South Texas have financial ties to a private prison firm that runs facilities for the Texas state prison system — at a time when lawmakers are debating sweeping new measures to clamp down on corrections companies.
State Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, and state Rep. Rene Oliveira, D-Brownsville, have financial links to the GEO Group, a Florida-based firm that runs 19 correctional facilities in Texas, including nine under contract for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Zaffirini's husband, Carlos, is a lawyer and advocate for the firm, formerly known as Wackenhut. In December 2007, the Zaffirinis' hometown commissioners in rural Webb County considered whether to stop supplying water and sewer lines to a local GEO-owned prison after residents voiced concerns about the company's track record…
LINK - TexasWatchDog.org
August 6, 2008
Private prisons hold on in hard times
One more profit report for you to blame on the slowing economy: The Postal Service announced today it lost $1.1 billion dollars for the quarter that ended in June. Officials blamed higher fuel costs and less mail being sent in lean economic times — it's down 5.5 percent from last year.
Even though we usually do think of it as a government operation, the post office is a private company and the same can be said for some prisons in this country. Most of them are government-run, but about 7 percent of the incarcerated population is housed in prisons run by for-profit corporations.
The biggest of those companies, Corrections Corporation of America, reports profits tomorrow. Like any other company, rising prices have raised their cost of doing business and its customers — federal, state and local governments — are facing tight budgets…
LINK - PublicRadio.org
June 16, 2008
Opinion: “Too many profiting from incarceration trend”
According to the Department of Justice Web site, approximately 2.3 million people are currently incarcerated. A recent article in the Norman (Okla.) Transcript places the cost of this incarcerate at about $49 billion dollars. This cost falls on the taxpayer. That cost is approximately $338 for each of the 144 million individual personal income tax filers this year.
It starts to become clear that the real "truth in sentencing" has nothing to do with crime and punishment, but more to do with people filling their pockets with your tax money. It's easy to see that there is money to be made in the business of incarceration; simply look at the number of private-sector enterprises that have entered into the realm. Companies like Corrections Corporation of America (www.correctionscorp.com), The GEO Group (www.thegeogroupinc.com), and the Bob Barker Company (www.bobbarker.com). They are just a few of the many companies making profits from incarcerating individuals, typically at the expense of taxpayers…
LINK - ZWire.com
May 19, 2008
Privatization Update: May 19, 2008
Privatization Update
May 12-18, 2008
California Privatization
May 13 - California's prison medical care receiver is investigating the death of an inmate who was being housed in Mississippi. 'I'm told it was an asthma-related death,' said receiver's spokesman Rich Kirkland. Corrections officials identified the inmate as Robert Washington, 41, of San Joaquin County. Washington was serving seven years for vehicle theft.
Autopsy results on Washington's death are still pending. Washington died at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility, owned and operated by CCA. Washington is the second inmate moved under California's out-of-state transfer plan to have died in custody since the program began two years ago. Anthony Keely, 48, died last May from an apparent heart attack while watching a fight involving other inmates. There are now 3,765 California inmates serving time out of state.
Overall Privatization
May 18 - The federal government is accepting bids for up to three new family detention centers that would house as many as 600 men, women and children fighting deportation cases. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a call for proposals and set June 16 as the deadline. New facilities are being considered on both coasts and on the Southwestern border. The agency calls for minimum-security residential facilities that would provide a 'least restrictive, non-secure setting' and provide schooling for children, recreational activities and access to religious services.
Aramark
May 12 - The company that feeds Florida prisoners has racked up nearly $250,00 in fines since the beginning of the year for violations including not having enough food and staffing shortages. That brings the total fines for Aramark to more than $864,000 since 2001 when the state hired private companies to take over feeding the more than 92,000 inmates in Florida prisons. More than $300,00 of Aramark fines have been rescinded by the Department of Corrections. The department let Aramark off the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines under Corrections Secretary Jimmy Crosby, now in prison for taking kickbacks from contractors. Corrections officials are questioning Aramark's ability to provide quality food in sufficient quantities. The officials also say they are concerned about the company's staffing levels.
CiviGenics
May 14 - A Texas man who smuggled marijuana into the Bowie County Correctional Center while working as a guard pleaded guilty and received a 10-year term of probation. Marquise Hunt, 21, had been working as a guard for CiviGenics for about two months when he was caught bringing three sandwich bags full of marijuana into the jail. A confidential informant
alerted jail officials to the marijuana in Hunt's possession.
May 15 - In Texas, the Grassroots Leadership organization has sent a letter to Fort Bend County Judge Robert Hebert to voice the groups concern about the plan to send Fort Bend County inmates 500 miles away to the privately run Dickens Correctional Center. 'My organization, Grassroots Leadership, is a 28 year-old southern-based organization that opposes the use of for-profit prisons, jails, and detention centers.
The Dickens County facility itself has been the site of many disturbing reports over the past year,' said Bob Libal, Texas Coordinator of Grassroots Leadership. Libal noted several serious incidents pertaining to the Dickens County Correctional facility, including: Moving prisoners hundreds of miles from family members is bad public policy. Studies show that isolation of prisoners from their family members increases recidivism and undermines public safety. Children of these inmates will suffer from lack of contact while parents and spouses have additional anxiety from not being able to see their loved ones. Conditions at the Dickens County Correctional Center are historically unsafe and unsanitary. DCC became the subject of national scrutiny last year after the suicide of Scot Noble Payne, an Idaho inmate held at the prison.
The Idaho Department of Corrections health director called the facility the worst prison he'd ever seen and 'beyond repair.' The current management of DCCC has had a string of management problems at other facilities. Management of the facility has changed ownership from the GEO Group to another private prison corporation, CiviGenics. CiviGenics has had its own record of poor jail operations in Texas. A guard at CiviGenics Texarkana facility was indicted on civil rights charges in 2005 for alleged sexual activity with a female inmate.
Similarly, at CiviGenics Waco unit, a guard was indicted for sexual contact with a female inmate. And just last month, an inmate took his own life at CiviGenics managed prison in Ector County, Texas. It is important to note that counties can retain liability for incidents which happen at private facilities.
Cornell
May 15 - Cornell has named Brantley, Georgia as one of three candidates for a 1,200 to 1,500-bed facility that would house illegal aliens awaiting deportation. Before further exploring Brandley County sites, Cornell asked for a unanimous resolution of approval and the commissioners gave it to Cornell. Chairman Terry Thomas expressed reservation, especially about Cornell's promise to house no violent offenders. 'I'm skeptical about the fact that it's to be used only for illegal aliens,' Thomas said. 'Plus, I'm cautious about it because it will be operated under contract and those are given on a competitive basis. What happens if Cornell losses the contract" The Brandley County Development Authority also endorsed the facility. 'We are contacting Cornell and saying we have met your first requirement and actually have gone a step further by having the Development Authority pass its own resolution,' County Manager Chuck Madray said. Cornell has requested that the county provide it with four possible sites. Madray said four privately owned tracts have been lined up. 'We have verbal agreements from all four of the landowners,' Madray said. 'All would be willing to sell.' The next move is up to Cornell. 'We're asking them to tell us what the next step is,' Madray said.
Corrections Corporation of America
May 13 - CCA has informed Bay County, Florida that it would be abandoning its local operations in 150 days, or Oct. 1. 'Where our path will take us, we don't know,' Bay County Commissioner Chairman Jerry Girvin said of the question left in CCA's wake. 'It's been a long-term relationship, but it's probably one that's run its course, and it's time to go separate
directions.' Girvin said the two most probable options would be to either run the jail as a county department or turn operations over to the Bay County Sheriff's Office. CCA, which has operated the area's jails for more than 20 years, citied financial concerns as the reason for pulling out of Bay County. Locally, CCA employs 290 people. Warden Joe Ponte said the average jail employee makes about $28,000. CCA entered into a new contract with Bay County in 2006 that stipulated a per-inmate rate of $46.18 per day. Last year, the company was paid $15.8 million. The six-year contract
also called for CCA to expand on the facility, which would serve as the area's only jail once the downtown location is closed. County officials said the work should be complete before CCA's October departure. At times, officials have indicated CCA's bang for the buck has not been sufficient.
Since first beginning work in Bay County in October 1985, the private correctional company has weathered a number of storms that caused local officials concern. Last November, CCA released nine inmates early by accident. In June 2007, an inmate fashioned a plastic utensil into a lock-pick and broke out of his cell. In 2005, a CCA nurse was fired after an inmate gave birth inside the jail annex four hours after complaining of labor pains. Another nurse, as well as a supervisor, was fired for having sex with an inmate. In 2004, a nurse was shot in a hostage standoff after inmates escaped from their cells. CCA said such instances were not a factor in the decision to leave town. Recently, county officials have made strong statements directed at CCA in regard to the company's mishaps.
'They're going to run it right, or we'll get somebody who will run it right,' said County Commissioner Mike Nelson, following the accidental inmate release.
May 14 - The Colorado Department of Corrections is returning 120 prisoners who have been housed in an Oklahoma prison to Colorado prisons. Many of the inmates had been housed at a private prison in Sayre, Oklahoma, since January of 2007 because of a shortage of bed space at Colorado prisons. The prisoners will be taken mostly to two private prisons run by CCA, which also runs the Oklahoma prison.
The GEO Group
May 15 - About 170 workers will be laid off at the South Florida Evaluation and Treatment Center in Florida. The center, which is a 100-bed forensic psychiatric hospital whose patients are admitted by court order, is managed by GEO Care under contract with the state Department of Children and Families. GEO spokesman Pablo Paez said the state Legislature decided to close the facility in its recently approved budget. The company hopes to accommodate 30 to 40 percent of the employees at other facilities. Because of the slowing economy, the Legislature cut $5 million from the state budget. GEO Care is a part of GEO Group.
May 16 - Guards are confirming sexual assaults claims at the South Texas Detention Complex run by the GEO Group. Guards say the sexual abuse of female immigrants there has been going on for years and that GEO is trying to cover it up. ICE is now sending a Detention Facilities Inspection Group team to review compliance with ICE detention standards and will make
recommendations based on the results of its review.
Prison Health Services
May 12 - A former nurse at the York County Prison in Pennsylvania filed a federal lawsuit alleging gender and race discrimination. Oral Marsh, who is black, alleges in the lawsuit that she was subject to a pattern of discrimination including racially themed comments and abuse. March claims that she was hired in October 2005 and fired almost a year later without warning or reason. Marsh was one of only four black nurses out of almost 70 working at the prison. She is seeking an unspecified amount of lost wages, health benefits and other compensation. The lawsuit names York County and Prison Health Services. The county contracted with PHS for medical care at the facility until 2006.
Wackenhut
May 14 - In New Hampshire, three nuclear power plant security officers were the triggermen during separate accidental shootings during the past nine months. The most recent incident involved an off-duty Seabrook Station security officer who accidentally shot a 9mm bullet through his hand and will face criminal charges after making some medical progress. The second incident occurred when a power plant officer trainer pulled the trigger of his Springfield Armory handgun and shot a .45 caliber bullet through the floor of his apartment and into the living space below. A third recent shooting occurred when a guard was holstering a 357 SigArms pistol and a round went off in the nuclear plant armory. Seabrook power plant officers are not employed by the plant, but by Wackenhut, a $3 billion global security provider.
May 16 - Metro Nashville is asking Wackenhut to reimburse the city more than $840,000 for expenses related to a break-in last year at the Davidson County Election Commission offices. Metro Law Director Sue Cain wrote a letter to Wackenhut lawyer Jim Vines, a former U.S. attorney for Middle Tennessee, requesting the reimbursement. Wackenhut was responsible for
security at the Metro Officer building in December, when thieves stole two laptop computers containing the Social Security numbers of 337,000 voters. Wackenhut subcontracted with a Mt. Juliet firm, Specialized Security Consultants, to secure the building. An audit found Wackenhut had billed Metro for some days when security guards actually didn't work at the facility. Cain asked Wackenhut to pay the city $48,387 for the audit by Kraft CPAs; $21,575 for security services that were not provided; $235,757.35 for two mailings to voters; and $534,391.75 for the cost of identity-theft protection for more than 56,000 voters who responded to the city's offer to pay for a year of protection.
May 5, 2008
Privatization Update: May 5th
Privatization Update
April 28-May 4, 2008
CiviGenics
May 1 - Columbiana County Commissioners voted to enter into a consent agreement with former jail employees to resolve a lawsuit filed earlier this year with the Ohio 7th District Court of Appeals. The lawsuit sought a court order requiring commissioners to comply with a decision by the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, which ruled last November five former employees were entitled to retirement benefits dating back to 1998, when a private company took over operating the jail. CiviGenics, the company hired by commissioners were required to continue contributing into the OPERS on their behalf even though the county no longer operated the jail. The attorney cited a state law that requires contributions continue to be made into a public employee pension plan of a public employee whose job was abolished due to privatization. This applies if the employee went to work for the private operator and continued to perform the same or similar job duties. Commissioners fought the ruling for the next several years until the OPERS board issued it's ruling six months ago. When commissioners failed to act quickly enough to suit the attorney, the lawsuit was filed with the appeals court. The agreement to resolve the lawsuit requires commissioners to pay both the employee and employer share of OPERS dating back to when the five employees were hired by CiviGenics and to continue contributing into their public employee pension plan as long as they remain employed by CiviGenics. The figure is to include penalties and interest. This would be the second largest settlement commissioners would have to pay out because of their decision to privatize the county jail. In 2002, commissioners agreed to pay $300,000 to former jail employees to resolve outstanding labor complaints arising over privatization.
May 4 - A female guard of CiviGenics who works at the Liberty County jail in Texas has resigned after being questioned by Liberty County Sheriff's Office investigators about having sex with an inmate. The case has been accepted by the District Attorney?s Office and will be presented to a grand jury. The grand jury could return an indictment for Violation of Civil Rights of a Person in Custody By Having Sex With That Person. This is a state jail felony, punishable by confinement for a period of 180 days to two years in a state jail and a fine not to exceed $10,000.
Corrections Corporation of America
May 3 - Edgar Bailey, 35, is on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's Top 10 Most Wanted List after a clerical error allowed Bailey to leave the South Central Correctional Facility. Bailey was "inadvertently released" by CCA. The error seems to have occurred because of confusion over a court ruling. Bailey was convicted of premeditated murder and felony murder for the killing of Anthony McAffee on June 19, 2001. He had appealed his case; the premeditated murder count was reversed and a new trial was to be scheduled. The felony murder count, however, remained. Bailey has been on the loose for nearly two weeks, and authorities were alerted only after Hamilton County District Attorney Boyd Patterson discovered the error and notified CCA.
May 4 - Edgar Bailey was apprehended at his father's house early this morning. Bailey surrendered to U.S. marshals and is being held in the DeKalb County jail awaiting extradition to Tennessee.
Wackenhut
April 29 - New Hampshire police are investigating an accidental shooting in the apartment of a nuclear power plant security officer, the second accidental discharge by an off-duty nuclear plant security officer this year. The most recent shooting involved a 9 mm handgun and was "contained within the apartment." The police chief said details, including the date of the incident, whether any injuries resulted and the security officer's identity, will not be immediately released due to an ongoing investigation. On Jan. 25, power plant security trainer Joshua hill pulled the trigger of his Springfield Armory handgun and shot a .45 caliber bullet through the floor of his apartment into the living space below. "He was cleaning his weapon and didn't realize it was loaded," said Seabrook Police Chief Patrick Manthorn. Both security officers are employed by Wackenhut.
April 29, 2008
Privatization Update: April 29th
California Privatization
Maranatha
April 23 - A Bakersfield businessman lost one part of a two-year legal battle with California prison officials recently when a state appellate court affirmed a lower court's rulings and ordered him to pay the state's legal fees. CDCR wrote a letter accusing Terry Moreland, a developer who previously ran a private prison in San Bernardino County, through his company Maranatha Corrections of misappropriating more than $1 million worth of phone call funds. The letter was released to the media and Moreland sued the department for libel and defamation, saying the published accusations hurt his reputation and business. Moreland's attorney, George Harris, said the appellate court's decision only affects one aspect of the case: whether the state defamed his client. The basic case alleging that the state breached it contract, Harris said, will continue at the trial court level. Moreland now owes the state more than $71,000 in legal cost for the original case and the appeal. The state lawyers invoked a statute meant to protect free speech of state government executives and others in issues of public interest. The statute can require people who sue for defamation to pay legal fees if they lose. The dispute over the phone call revenue cost Moreland the $8.1 million annual contract for his 500-bed Victor Valley Modified Community Correctional Facility, in Adelanto. Moreland resisted the state's push to audit the phone funds to see how they were being spent. He then sold the facility in 2005. Whether the state had claim to the phone money wasn't addressed by the trial or appellate courts, nor was it decided by a November 2004 report by the state Office of Inspector General. The inspector general found Maranatha and affiliates collected $1.6 million worth of the inmate phone money between 1997 and 2004. Deciding who got to keep the money was outside the scope of its investigation, the report said, but inspectors advised corrections officials to be more specific in future contracts.
Corrections Corporation of America
April 21 - Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour has signed into law a bill that gives a privately owned jail the authority to house federal and state inmates. The Adams County Correctional Center is currently under construction and is slated to be completed in December 2008. Barbour said signing "this legislation is appropriate as the state continues to find alternative housing solutions for our growing inmate population." The correctional facility is owned and operated by CCA.
April 23 - Metro Nashville's correctional facilities have had a rough few months: In February, an inmate with an escape record broke out of the Metro Detention Facility through air vents. In January, a mentally ill inmate at the same jail was found not to have left his cell for recreation, a shower or medical treatment, in nine months. After a jail worker complained to the Metro Public Health Department, the inmate was forced to come out for a shower and a mental evaluation. In the same month, another inmate at Metro Detention was charged in the beating death of his cellmate in the high-security segregation unit. Earlier this month,
Warden Brian Garner was removed and "awaiting reassignment" by CCA, which operates the jail. What is going on in CCA facilities?
April 25 - State Rep. Mike Turner is questioning Tennessee Department of Corrections Commissioner George Little about the spate of questionable practices and incidents that have landed CCA in the news. Tennessee contracts with CCA to run their prisons and jails. Turner mentioned the Time magazine story that alleges CCA counsel Gus Puryear allegedly whitewashed incident reports on escapes and unnatural deaths, so as not to alarm the company's clients. Turner also cites a news article on an inmate at an CCA-run correctional Facility who went nine months without a shower, as well as the recent Nashville Scene article that reported how guards at that same facility falsely claimed a jail-cell surveillance camera wasn't working, just one day after an inmate was found in her cell with a broken skull.
April 25 - Specimens tested have confirmed norovirus, known as the "winter vomiting disease", as the cause of an outbreak at a private Eloy Detention Center owned by CCA. Pinal County, Arizona is reporting that more than 300 detainees have become ill with symptoms of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Pinal County Public health and Environmental health officials are working with detention center staff to manage the spread of the infection. The virus is spread through fecal-oral contact and is usually cleared up in one to three days.
The GEO Group
April 24 - A riot one year ago at the New Castle Correctional Facility cost The GEO Group more than $1.1 million in police protection, repairs and improvements. Though the taxpayers of Indiana dodged this bullet, they are not out of the woods quite yet. What remains to be is the cost of ongoing legal proceedings in Henry County, where 28 inmates are charged with dozens of felony and misdemeanor crimes. Seven of the men have pleaded guilty and their cases now are complete, but 21 others are holding jury trials, and they could rack up significant costs for taxpayers. Taxpayers are already paying for the defendants' attorneys, depositions, and in at least two cases, private investigators. The April 24, 2007 riot at New Castle quickly became national news as television helicopters flew above the prison recreation yard and showed images of the melee live. Inmates burned mattresses and threw beds and other furnishings out of the windows of the housing units. Police stormed the perimeter and used tear gas to
secure the facility. Two prison guard were injured and treated at the local hospital. The riot was led by Arizona inmates, the first of whom were moved across the country a month earlier as the Arizona Department of Corrections tried to ease its overcrowded prisons by filling unused beds in Indiana. Gov. Mitch Daniels looked to the deal with Arizona as a cash cow, but it never fully developed, since Arizona called off all transfers days before the riot. Arizona's exodus from New Castle now has begun. The
first 120 inmates were flown back to their home state last week, and those transfers will continue during the next couple of months. What's left is for Arizona, Indiana, The GEO Group and Henry County Prosecutor Kit Crane to work out an agreement on how, and where, to house Arizona offenders who still face riot-related charges. New Castle remains the state's only
privatized prison.
Wackenhut
April 26 - Leaders of the Metro Public Transportation Agency in Missouri announced that Wackenhut couldn't deliver enough trained security guards to meet deadlines in a MetroLink security contract. Metro has decided to part ways. "It was around the availability of personnel," Transit agency President Robert Baer said. "Training of personnel. The certification. Licensing of personnel." Securias Security Services will finish the three-year contract and has already assumed responsibility.
January 13, 2008
Privatization Updated (January 13, 2008)
An update on the true "cost" of private prisons in the United States.
Overall Privatization Issues
Jan. 8 - An Oklahoma lawmaker wants to levy a $2-a-day fee for prisoners imported from other states to private prisons. Rep. Brian Renegar said there are 4,375 out-of-state inmates now imprisoned in Oklahoma. Renegar said the inmates come at a cost to taxpayers for food stamps and other benefits paid to families of inmates relocated to the state. His proposed legislation would raise $3.6 million, which would be earmarked for mental health and drug abuse programs in state prisons. Under the proposal, private prisons would be charged daily for each imported inmate. He said the prisons could pass on the cost to prisoners. Renegar worried about the growth of private prisons in the state, noting officials in Lindsay are currently considering a 500-bed facility that might be used to house out-of-state prisoners. "Before long, if we are not careful, we are going to be a penal colony," Renegar said. He said the Department of Corrections had to send a SWAT team to a private prison in Lawton on New Year's Eve after an inmate took a dentist and a dental assistant hostage for a brief period of time.
The GEO Group
Jan. 9 - The GEO Group announced it received a 20-year contract to house detainees at a facility in Georgia from the Office of the Federal Detention Trustee. Under the contract, which includes three five-year options, GEO will house up to 768 detainees at the Robert Deyton Detention Facility. GEO leases the facility from the county under a 20-year agreement, with two 5-year renewal options. GEO expects to start taking in detainees in February. The facility is expected to generate $16 million in annualized operating revenue with an 80 percent occupancy guarantee.
GRW
Jan. 8 - A lawsuit filed on behalf of two Hawaii female prison inmates who claimed they were sexually assaulted by a guard in a privately run prison in Colorado has been settled for an undisclosed amount of money. Lawyer Myles Breiner said the state won't have to pay any share of the settlement because Hawaii was indemnified against inmate lawsuits under its contract with GRW Corp. to hold the women inmates at the Brush Correctional Facility in Colorado. The inmates claimed guard Russell Rollison pushed one of them against a wall and threatened to write up both inmates for misconduct if they did not perform a sex act for him. One of the inmates saved semen from the encounter that was later turned over to investigators with the Colorado Department of Corrections. Rollison resigned and was charged with two counts of felony sexual contact with an inmate in a penal institution.
Wackenhut
Jan. 7 - The guard who was fired after computers with voters' Social Security numbers were stolen from the Davidson County Election Commission in Tennessee says he wasn't on duty at the time. In fact, no one was on duty at the time. Brendan Murphy notified local media after reading a story about an unnamed guard who was blamed by Metro officials for listening to Christmas music, ordering takeout food and failing to make his hourly rounds as two laptop computers were stolen. Murphy said he nor anyone else worked that night due to budget cuts, though the company is contracted and paid to provide security. The Department of General Services said there is no actual proof security guards used their access cards to get into the building on Saturdays, between October and December.
Jan. 9 - It has been discovered that uniforms and IDs belonging to ex-guards are not being returned. One employee told the local Tennessee media that he stopped working for Wackenhut almost a year ago and he still has five Wackenhut shirts and a jacket, his official patches, a brass badge, and a security identification badge that expires in 2012, and a the key that lets him "walk through gate that has a padlock on it." Wackenhut officials declined to comment.
Jan. 9 - The CEO of Wackenhut is stepping down. The change at the top came at a time when Wackenhut was facing mounting criticism in various cities, including some in South Florida where its Miami-Dade County operation is the target of a criminal probe. The county audit is examining whether Wackenhut overcharged taxpayers million of dollars.
Jan. 9 - Miami-Dade and federal investigators raided the headquarters Friday night of one of the country's largest government contractors. Wackenhut is under a criminal investigation for overbilling taxpayers millions of dollars, money for work on transit and the downtown juvenile center. Public correction investigators and police removed boxes filled with documents from Wackenhut. Investigators are nearing completion of an audit of Wackenhut's billing practices. The preliminary audit found serious discrepancies.
December 2, 2007
Privatization Updated (December 2, 2007)
An update on the true "cost" of private prisons in the United States.
CiviGenics
Nov. 27 - CiviGenics, who is due to take over a troubled privately run Texas prison in 2008 made a sales pitch to Idaho Department of Corrections officials, saying it hopes the management shake-up and $1.2 million in proposed renovations will overshadow past problems and persuade Idaho to ship more inmates to the lockup. CiviGenics will manage Dickens County Correctional Center starting Jan. 1 after winning a competitive bid. Until now, The GEO Group ran the facility. In March, Idaho prison officials called Dickens under GEO's oversight "the worst" prison they'd seen, citing what they called an abusive warden, the lack of treatment programs and squalid conditions they said may have contributed to the suicide of inmate Scot Noble Payne, who was held for months in a solitary cell. Idaho is nearly ready to move 54 prisoners who remain at Dickens at a new GEO-run facility near the Mexican border, after shifting 69 inmates elsewhere this summer. Dickens County and CiviGenics officials came to Boise, Idaho to offer assurances they'll remedy concerns over their 15-year-old prison as they aim to stay in the running to house some of the hundreds of prisoners that Idaho plans to ship elsewhere in coming months to ease overcrowding.
Cornell
Nov. 26 - The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency says it is reconsidering its July move to pull about 700 detainees from the Regional Correctional Center in New Mexico. The agency is considering moving "a limited number" of detainees back to the privately run jail early next year. ICE transferred all of its detainees from the RCC to other holding facilities around the U.S. after what it called "serous incidents," although the agency has declined to say what those incidents were. The agency also has said the center didn't meet several of its detention standards and that it has been reviewing conditions at the jail. At the time, a high-level Department of Homeland Security official said the agency had "serious doubts about their (Cornell's) ability to provide the safe and humane environment we want for out detainees." Cornell spokesman Charles Seigel said the company hadn't received word that ICE would be returning. Fewer than 200 inmates, all in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, remain at the jail, which has an official capacity of 993 prisoners. In the seven months surrounding ICE's decision to move inmates, 19 jail employees were fired. During that same period, inmates filed 218 grievances at the jail.
The GEO Group
Nov. 29 - The mother of an Idaho inmate who killed himself in a Texas prison earlier this year has filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against the private prison company, The GEO Group, that runs the lockup. In her claim, Shirley Noble says The GEO Group abused and neglected Scot Noble Payne before he slashed his throat on March 4th.
Wackenhut
Nov. 26 - SEIU wants the Exelon Corp. to terminate Wackenhut from all nuclear security detail in Exelon's 10 nuclear plants in Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The union sent out advertisements in newspapers in Illinois and Pennsylvania. In September, Exelon announced the ending of their contract with Wackenhut at the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station in York County, PA, after it was confirmed that Wackenhut guards were sleeping on the job. Now SEIU is encouraging communities surrounding the remaining Wackenhut sites to contact their congressional representatives and insist that Exelon take the same action in Illinois and Pennsylvania. "Wackenhut overworks its guards, underpays them, skimps on, and sometimes fudges training, fake drills, and then, when problems come to light, they fire scapegoats and claim to be shocked, shocked, by sleepy guards," the ad says.
November 25, 2007
Privatization Updated (November 25, 2007)
An update on the true "cost" of private prisons in the United States.
Corrections Corporation of America
Nov. 20 - Bay County Florida commissioners have fined CCA $140,000 for mistakenly releasing 10 inmates from the county jail earlier this month. The fine stems from an incident that happened Nov. 1. CCA released ten inmates enrolled in a drug rehabilitation program, before they had completed their sentences. All of the inmates surrendered after CCA discovered the mistake and notified them. A review by the county contract monitor cited poor staff judgment, broad booking procedures, inadequate staffing, and a seven-hour delay between the time the incident occurred and the time it took CCA to notify the contract monitor. Also corrective measures were taken such as notifying the county within 30 minutes of an incident and creating new booking and classification procedures.
Wackenhut
Nov. 20 - A private guard working at St. Lucie County's juvenile detention center is accused of sexually assaulting a female detention center while they were on early morning duty. Leroy Masters, an employee of Wackenhut, which provides security at the juvenile detention center for Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, was arrested. Masters faces sexual assault charges. Masters and the 25-year-old woman were talking in an office when the woman went to use the restroom. She told police Masters followed her in before she could close the door and forced himself on her. Masters followed her out of the restroom, and into the dining area. Where Masters allegedly pushed her down across a table and attempted to rape her.
