Recently in Corrections Category

Source: AFSCME Works Online Xtras, January 11, 2009

In a major victory in AFSCME's fight against privatization, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) will shut down its Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton on Feb. 1. It housed fewer than 250 inmates last year, in part because Minnesota is placing more offenders in state-run facilities. Prisoners from the privately-owned 1,600-bed jail will be transferred to a public detention complex in Faribault.

Source: by Alex Friedmann, Prison Legal News, December 2009

 

..... The same day that the APPF contract was announced, PLN began preliminary background research into the company. Within a matter of hours it was learned that APPF had been incorporated in California in March 2009 and its website went up two months later; the firm's Washington, D.C. address was at a location that provides "virtual office" services, but APPF didn't have an account there; the company was not registered to do business in D.C. or Montana; and APPF was not listed in a database of federal contractors.

Source: By Paul Davenport, The Associated Press, 11.07.2009

 

Arizona's plan to turn over its prisons to private companies in exchange for a $100 million upfront payment is having trouble getting off the drawing board, with the plan behind schedule and private prison operators showing little, if any, interest.

Source: By Stephenie Steitzer, The Courier-Journal (KY), November 6, 2009

 

A Northpoint Training Center corrections officer testified Friday that inmates rioted at the prison in August because they weren't being fed enough and the food they did receive was of poor quality.

... The department has said it is satisfied with the quality of food provided to inmates by Aramark Services, a private food service company in Pennsylvania.

..... Hughes was among about 25 members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees who appeared at Friday's hearing. AFSCME officials are pushing the state to improve safety measures for corrections officers. Hughes and Yonts testified that food portions are often small and that about 20 percent of the inmates can't afford to buy food from the inmate canteen to supplement what they get in the cafeteria.

Source: Corrections.com, 10/15/2009

DENVER -- The operators of a Colorado private prison have agreed to pay $1.3 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that male officers forced female workers to perform sex acts to keep their jobs.

The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced the settlement with the Dominion Correctional Services LLC and Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America on Tuesday.

Source:  By IAN URBINA, New York Times, August 26, 2009

 

Hawaii prison officials said Tuesday that all of the state's 168 female inmates at a privately run Kentucky prison will be removed by the end of September because of charges of sexual abuse by guards. Forty inmates were returned to Hawaii on Aug. 17. .... Otter Creek is run by the Corrections Corporation of America and is one of a spate of private, for-profit prisons, mainly in the South, that have been the focus of investigations over issues like abusive conditions and wrongful deaths.

Source:  By Rich Duprey, Motley Fool, August 25, 2009

 

..... Crime remains a growth industry, but the correction industry has enjoyed some phenomenal growth, too, which ought to seize investors' enthusiasm. CCA shares have almost doubled over the past six months, while Geo is up 44% and Cornell 43%..... A difficult recession; budgetary constraints by local, state, and federal authorities; no end to the supply of "guests;" and cost savings offered by the for-profit proprietors all point to the possibility that investors could lock up good, long-term returns with these companies.

 

Source: Linda Casey, National Institute on Money in State Politics, 2008-11-06

Since the mid-1990s - through six legislative sessions and three gubernatorial administrations - Alaska's lawmakers have made more than a half dozen attempts to privatize prisons. These attempts have met with unfavorable public opinion. To date, the strength of public opposition has prevailed, and all private prison proposals have been defeated.

Link to report

Source: Harald Bergsteiner, Macquarie Graduate School of Management; Gayle C. Avery, Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory Advance Access originally published online on May 7, 2008
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 2009 19(3):631-660


Public and private sector organizations and their constituents are subject to numerous, often competing, accountability pressures. Guidelines are lacking on how to identify and depict the extent and nature of multiple constituency (MC) relationships. This article identifies limitations of five existing MC schemas. A proposed new MC matrix integrates seven accountability dimensions identified from the literature. The new matrix depicts potential accountability relationships and their nature and functions as a normative and diagnostic tool. The utility of this matrix for normatively depicting multiple accountability relationships and diagnostically monitoring accountability performance is illustrated by reference to prisons run by private operators.

Source: Emma Perez-Treviño, The Brownsville Herald, July 6, 2009 - 8:31 PM

BROWNSVILLE -- An appellate court is weighing claims against The GEO Group, formerly known as Wackenhut Corrections Corp., to determine if the private prison business lied when it claimed to have been exonerated of any responsibility in the beating death of an inmate and if it should be sanctioned.