Recently in Corrections Category

Source: Kathy Barks Hoffman, Associated Press, May 12, 2012

Related:
- Guest commentary: Don't buy the push to privatize Michigan's prisons
Source: Sen Bert Johnson, Detroit Free Press, May 14, 2012
- Michigan Senate approves prison privatization plan
Source: Associated Press, March 07, 2012
- Forum: Private prisons a risky gamble
Source: Kevin McDaniel, Record Eagle, March 9, 2012

Michigan lawmakers considering use of private prison contractors to save money
Source: Melissa Anders, mlive.com, February 22, 2012

Lawmakers are considering bills that could potentially allow a shuttered youth prison near Lake County's Baldwin to reopen and house Michigan inmates of any age.

The legislation doesn't necessarily mean that would happen. But it opens up the opportunity for facility operator The GEO Group Inc. -- or any other private corrections company -- to competitively bid on contracts for housing Michigan inmates as long as it saves the state a certain amount of money.

Source: Editorial, Sentinel, May 11, 2012

Related:
N.H. officials mull private prison bids / Some have doubts over cost savings
Source: Annmarie Timmins, Concord Monitor, April 8, 2012

With four companies interested in the job, state officials are again deciding whether putting the state's prisons in private hands is a way to cut corrections costs. The idea may have more political support now than it did last time, in 2004, but serious doubts about cost savings and inmate security are as strong as ever....Three of the four companies that recently submitted bids to take over the state's prisons have two or more lobbyists in the state. And their 2011 profit margins - one bidder saw a $167 million profit, the other a $77 million profit - illustrates Lacey's main concern about privatization.

Source: Christopher Hartney & Caroline Glesmann, National Council on Crime and Delinquency, May 2012

This report describes the findings of conversations with several experts in corrections privatization, a review of the academic and legal literature on
private prisons, and a media review of newspaper and radio stories on private prisons. It also includes recommendations for responding to the expansion of private prisons.

Secure, locked facilities designed for adults are the major focus of this report, although many of the same issues and potential solutions apply to other types of privatization, in corrections and elsewhere. Federal immigration detention and contracted services, such as in-custody health care and programming or post-release supervision and services, are also briefly discussed.

Source: United Press International, May 9, 2012

The U.S. government has selected a town 30 miles south of Chicago as the location for a detention center for illegal immigrants, local officials said.

The proposal by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to build a 788-bed privately operated facility in Crete, Ill. needs approval by the village board, USA Today reported.

Village administrator Tom Durkin said the proposed detention center operated by Corrections Corporation of America is being handled as any other potential economic development project for the town of 8,259.

Source: James Ridgeway, Mother Jones, May 10, 2012

Alex Friedmann, who did time at a CCA facility, demands it get better on prison rape. And investors are listening....Friedmann's controversial resolution addresses the long-standing problem of rape in US prisons and jails. If it passes, CCA's board will have to submit twice-a-year reports to stockholders detailing the board's oversight of company efforts to curb rape and sexual abuse, and include detailed statistics on any such incidents. ...

...CCA was none too happy with Friedmann's resolution. He filed it, as required, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which must verify that corporate resolutions are relevant before the documents are attached to proxy materials and sent to shareholders for a vote. CCA's board--which includes former Clinton/Gore official Thurgood Marshall Jr. and Dennis Deconcini, the former GOP senator from Arizona--responded with a letter to the SEC, urging commissioners to kill the resolution. ...
Related:
- CCA fights sex abuse reporting proposals / More disclosure sought; firm says it's awaiting rules
Source: Duane Marsteller, Tennessean, May 10, 2012
- Private Prison Secrecy
Source: David Shapiro, Huffington Post, May 10, 2012

Source: Charles Maldonado, Best of New Orleans, May 8, 2012

Related:
- What is the going rate for a legislator's soul? Follow the Appropriations Committee's vote on prison sale to learn
Source: Louisiana Voice, April 10, 2012
- La. House backs privatizing, but not selling, Avoyelles prison
Source: Mike Hasten, Town Talk, April 18, 2012
- Jindal backs down from sale of prison
Source: Michelle Millhollon, Advocate, April 19, 2012
- Civil-rights group to La. lawmakers: Keep ownership of Avoyelles prison
Source: Mike Hasten, Town Talk, April 18, 2012
- Prison sale off the table, but hurdles remain for privatization
Source: Jeff Adelson, Times Picayune, April 18, 2012
- Avoyelles prison sale fight set for Tuesday
Source: Mike Hasten, News Star, April 9, 2012

Central Louisiana officials and supporters of the Avoyelles Correctional Center say they will fight legislation calling for selling the prison to a private operator. The House of Representatives issued a notice Thursday evening that the Appropriations Committee would debate HB850 by Rep. Henry Burns, R-Haughton, at a 9 a.m. Tuesday hearing....The Appropriations Bill for the Department of Corrections calls for selling Avoyelles Correctional Center in Cottonport, closing the J. Levy Dabadie Correctional Center in Pineville and transferring its 330 low-risk offenders to ACC. It also calls for closing the Forcht Wade residential substance-abuse facility in Caddo Parish and moving those inmates to David Wade Correctional Center in Homer.

Source: Andrew Knittle, The Oklahoman, May 4, 2012

Related:
- Inmates injured in prison riot over food quality
Source: KFOR-TV, October 11, 2011

- Calif. inmates brawl at Okla. prison; 46 injured
Source: Associated Press, October 11, 2011

Inmates were confined to their cells and their movements restricted after widespread fighting at an Oklahoma prison between black and Hispanic California inmates sent at least 46 inmates to the infirmary or hospitals before police and prison guards were able to restore order, authorities said Tuesday. The fighting began shortly before noon at the North Fork Correctional Facility, a privately run medium-security prison in Sayre that houses 2,381 inmates from California. .... Sixteen inmates were sent to hospitals and about 30 were treated on-site by prison medical staff, said officials with Corrections Corp. of America, which runs the prison.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, March 20, 2012

From the press release:
Following a comprehensive investigation, the Justice Department announced today its findings that the state of Mississippi violated the constitutional rights of youth detained at the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility (WGYCF). WGYCF is a 1,500-bed prison that houses young men aged 13-22 who were convicted as adults and are in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. WGYCF is run by the GEO group, a private prison company, under contract with the state....

...The United States conducted an in-depth investigation, including an on-site inspection of WGYCF, accompanied by expert consultants in the areas of corrections, medical care and mental health care. Evidence reveals systematic, egregious and dangerous practices at WGYCF exacerbated by a lack of accountability and controls. The Justice Department found reasonable cause to believe that a pattern or practice of unconstitutional conduct exists in several areas, including:

- Deliberate indifference to staff sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior with youth;
- Use of excessive use of force by WGYCF staff on youth;
- Inadequate protection of youth from youth-on-youth violence;
- Deliberate indifference to youth at risk of self-injurious and suicidal behaviors; and
- Deliberate indifference to the medical needs of youth.

Source: David Sherfinski, Washington Times, April 30, 2012

Virginia is considering privatizing its sole facility fully devoted to treating sexually violent predators, but the two companies in the running have a history of multimillion-dollar legal settlements and illicit behavior that includes a charge of "deliberate indifference" to sexual misconduct between staff and youths at a facility.

The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services is evaluating proposals from private prison-operating companies GEO Care Inc. and Liberty Healthcare Corp. to take over the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation in Burkeville because of an increase in the number of offenders and concerns about costs....

Source: Leonard Gilroy and Harris Kenny, Reason Foundation, April 30, 2012

Now in its 25th year of publication, Reason Foundation's Annual Privatization Report is the world's longest running and most comprehensive report on privatization news, developments and trends.

Annual Privatization Report 2011 (APR 2011) details the latest on privatization and government reform initiatives at all levels of government. The individual sections of APR 2011 include:

Federal Privatization
State Privatization
Local Privatization
Air Transportation
Surface Transportation
Education
Telecommunications
Corrections and Public Safety