Recently in Corrections Category

Source: Palm Beach Post Editorial, Monday, May 19, 2008

After nearly $1 million in fines for contract violations, among them having too little food and too few staff, why is Florida still contracting with Philadelphia-based Aramark Correctional Services to feed state prisoners?

The state pays Aramark $71 million per year to feed most of the state's 92,000 inmates. But since 2001, Aramark has been fined more than $864,000 - nearly $250,000 this year. When is enough enough?

..... The audit also found that Aramark repeatedly changed the menu, substituting less expensive meats (ground turkey instead of beef, for example; "turkey ends and pieces" instead of turkey breasts), but didn't pass on the savings to the state. In other words, Aramark was getting paid more for less.

Source: NOW on PBS, Week of 5.9.08

Corporations are running many Americans prisons, but will they put profits before prisoners?

A grim new statistic: One in every hundred Americans is now locked behind bars. As the prison population grows faster than the government can build prisons, private companies see an opportunity for profit.

This week, NOW on PBS investigates the government's trend to outsource prisons and prisoners to the private sector. Critics accuse private prisons of standing in the way of sentencing reform and sacrificing public safety to maximize profits.

Source: South Florida Business Journal, Friday, May 9, 2008 - 9:11 AM EDT

An audit claims Wackenhut Corp. billed Miami-Dade Transit about $6.02 million over three years for work its security officers did not do.

Wackenhut said it disagreed with the methodology used by the auditor.

...... Wackenhut is currently responsible for three contracts with the county -- the care and custody of juvenile detainees at the Juvenile Assessment Center, security services for Miami-Dade Transit and security services for a Public Works Special Taxing District.

Miami Dade Audit & Management Services

Source: by Cecilia Chan, The Arizona Republic, May. 7, 2008 10:50 AM

With the cost to put people in county jails on the increase each year, Peoria is taking a look at the private sector to do the job. Maricopa County is predicting an 8 percent increase in the jail incarceration fee in fiscal year 2009 for Peoria, a $108,000 jump to $383,000. Also, new DUI laws have increased the number of booking days for first- and second-offenders.

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, Fri, May. 2, 2008

Too many inmates are dying at Delaware County's jail.

Since 2005, at least eight inmates have died at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Thornton, the only privately run jail in Pennsylvania. The latest fatality is Kenneth Kallenbach, 39, who died April 24 after contracting pneumonia at the lockup. He had been held there awaiting trial since mid-March.

.........GEO Group, which operates the facility, has faced lawsuits over these deaths. It has problems elsewhere. In Texas, where GEO runs more than a dozen prisons, it has come under criticism for alleged mismanagement and foul conditions. One inspector called an adult facility in Texas operated by GEO the worst he'd ever seen.

........Delaware County has been paying GEO more than $30 million annually to run its jail. County officials have boasted that they were saving $1 million per year by outsourcing the prison operation. They should be asking whether another outfit could do a better job, or whether this for-profit model is even working.

Source: Associated Press (TX), Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Law enforcement officials are trying to understand how a convicted felon managed to escape from jail without anyone noticing his absence for a full day.

.......... Pena was being held at the privately operated Central Texas Detention Facility for violating terms of his supervised release.

.......... The facility is operated by The GEO Group. A company spokesman did not immediately respond to a phone message left By The Associated Press early Tuesday morning.

Source: By KATE HOWARD, Tennessean (TN), March 24, 2008

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.

The situation raises questions about the treatment of inmates at the 1,200-bed prison where many of Nashville's convicted felons serve their time.

...... Under Metro's contract with CCA, the Davidson County Sheriff's Office oversees the policies of the prison. The health department monitors the health records of its prisoners, as it does at the county jails.

According to Hall, the state of Tennessee pays the sheriff's office about $17 million a year that is used to pay CCA for operating the prison.

Source: Associated Press (PA), 03.21.08, 12:52 PM ET

The state has decided not to privatize and merge its mental-health services for inmates after negotiating an alternative plan with unions that opposed the idea.

...... The Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association, which represents about 220 security employees in the forensic units, was among the unions that resisted the plan. Union officials feared the move would lead to the privatization of state prisons and said it would compromise public safety.

Source: Tucson Citizen (AZ), 03.24.2008

For awhile, Senate Bill 1142 appeared to have a chance. The bill, which would have brought government oversight of private prisons in Arizona up to the standards set by other states, doesn't hamstring the industry

...... Blendu said that one benefit of the legislation would be to ban the housing of out-of-state sex offenders in Arizona, not an outrageous restriction.

..... That's unfortunate. The state should have the power to regulate private prisons within its borders.

..... Perhaps the demise of the bills is an indication of how the private-prison industry is strengthening its grip in Arizona.

Source: By Al Sullivan, Hudson Reporter (NJ), 03/20/2008

Prompted by members from two unions, Hudson County Freeholders agreed at a recent meeting to look into possibly re-bidding a contract to supply food services to the Hudson County Correctional Facility.

Aramark, the nation's largest food service contractor, currently supplies the service.

Members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and UNITE-HERE Union told freeholders at the Feb. 24 meeting that the county was paying significantly more than nearby New Jersey counties for the same services.

"Why is Aramark charging Hudson County taxpayers more for its jail food service than it's charging taxpayers in Essex and Union counties?" asked Kevin Brown, Local 32BJ New Jersey director. "The food is the same, the work is the same, so why the price difference?"