The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) of Arizona is a non-profit social change organization. Our office works primarily on matters of criminal justice, prisons, and alternatives to mass incarceration. For more information please visit www.afsc.org/tucson.
US Representative Raul Grijalva was interviewed by Keith Olbermann on Countdown last night on the recent stories that have finally surfaced of the financial ties between Russell Pearce, Corrections Corporation of America, and Jan Brewer’s signing into law SB1070:
“And the fact of the matter is, Russell Pearce and Jan Brewer made a decision to put this law in effect [and it] had nothing to do with border security, had nothing to do with the security of the state – it had to do with the profit line.”
Part II of Laura Sullivan’s exposé aired this morning on NPR. In it she details the inner workings of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC was responsible for drafting the bill language for what became Arizona’s anti-immigrant bill SB1070 as well as several others just like it. Arizona was the only state that “successfully” passed the bill, but states like Pennsylvania and Michigan still have active legislation similar to SB1070. When private organizations can cloak the actions and efforts of companies like the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) it’s no wonder we can end up with anti-democratic racist laws being passed into law.
Shaping State Laws With Little Scrutiny
Laura Sullivan, October 29, 2010, NPR
When you walk into the offices of the American Legislative Exchange Council, it’s hard to imagine it is the birthplace of a thousand pieces of legislation introduced in statehouses across the county.
Only 28 people work in ALEC’s dark, quiet headquarters in Washington, D.C. And Michael Bowman, senior director of policy, explains that the little-known organization’s staff is not the ones writing the bills. The real authors are the group’s members — a mix of state legislators and some of the biggest corporations in the country.
“Most of the bills are written by outside sources and companies, attorneys, [and legislative] counsels,” Bowman says.
Here’s how it works: ALEC is a membership organization. State legislators pay $50 a year to belong. Private corporations can join, too. The tobacco company Reynolds American Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp. and drug-maker Pfizer Inc. are among the members. They pay tens of thousands of dollars a year. Tax records show that corporations collectively pay as much as $6 million a year. (More…)
Stephen Nathan, the Editor of Prison Privatisation Report International and all the way from London, England for this public hearing, started the evening off with his expert testimony on the failure of private prisons throughout the world. Representative Nancy Young-Wright reminded the standing room only crowd that Arizona had recently accomplished some very dubious distinctions – specifically that “Arizona is now second in the US for poverty, 50th in spending on education for public school students, and fourth in the nation on our prison costs,” and thus placed the focus on the (in)ability of private prisons to educate and rehabilitate prisoners while incarcerated. Later, Tucson City Councilman Steve Kovachik raised the question as to whether incarceration – public or private – is the best way to respond to crime in the first place, citing alternatives to prison that have been used in other states.
The conveners of the hearing were Representative Phil Lopes, Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias, Assistant Tucson City Manager Richard Miranda, Tucson City Councilman Steve Kovachik, Representative Nancy Young-Wright, and former Tucson Citizen Editor Mark Kimble. Other speakers of note were Victoria Lopez from the ACLU of Arizona, Susan Maurer formerly of the New Jersey Corrections Department, and Jim Sanders. Soon we will have video of the highlights from the hearing, but for now we have an assortment of photos from last night. Thanks to all who showed up and participated last night! It was a tremendous success. Press release here.
Slide 1 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - Mari Herreras Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSCSlide 2 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - media Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSCSlide 3 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - Stephen Nathan Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSCSlide 4 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - AFSC Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSCSlide 5 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - Susan Maurer Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSCSlide 6 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - Steve Kozachik Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSCSlide 7 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - crowd Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSCSlide 8 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - Mark Kimble Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSCSlide 9 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - Jim Sanders Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSCSlide 10 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - public comment Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSCSlide 11 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - public comment Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSCSlide 12 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - crowd Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSCSlide 13 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - public comment Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSCSlide 14 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - public comment Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSCSlide 15 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - public comment Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSCSlide 16 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - ADC empty chair Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSCSlide 17 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - Phil Lopes Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSCSlide 18 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - Richard Elias Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSCSlide 19 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - MTC empty chair Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSCSlide 20 of 20. Tucson Public Hearing - CCA empty chair Source: Matthew Lowen/AFSC
Still not sure that private prison companies hold sway over Arizona law making and state legislators? It’s even worse than that. Meet the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. As Laura Sullivan of NPR shows in her article below, SB1070 was drafted at an ALEC meeting with the specific idea of creating more immigrant detainees to be held in private prison facilities such as those of Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) who is one of many member organizations to ALEC. Another Arizona notable is Russel Pearce, who was the original sponsor of SB1070 even though what was eventually passed was “almost word for word” that which was drafted at a previous ALEC meeting. For all the sordid details read Sullivan’s piece below.
Prison Economics Help Drive Arizona Immigration Law
Laura Sullivan, October 28, 2010, NPR
Last year, two men showed up in Benson, Arizona a small desert town 60 miles from the Mexico border, offering a deal.
Glenn Nichols, the Benson city manager, remembers the pitch.
“The gentleman that’s the main thrust of this thing has a huge turquoise ring on his finger,” Nichols said. ”He’s a great big huge guy and I equated him to a car salesman.”
What he was selling was a prison for women and children who were illegal immigrants. (More…)
Well the elections are drawing ever closer and with them comes the pain of corners littered with candidate signs, mailboxes filled with hateful propaganda, and commercials that all look the same never stop and bring about emotions of laughter and anger all at once all rising to a fever pitch of political farse. With all this agonizing noise being thrown at us and only a whimper of a response available come election day, the American Friends Service Committee and Private Corrections Working Group are providing a well needed opportunity to actually interact with the very important issue of prison privatization in Arizona.
Public Forum on Prison Privatization in Arizona: Risks and Benefits
Wednesday, 10/27/10 from 6-8pm at Pima Community College Downtown Campus in the Amethyst Room
With the state budget more dismal than ever and important educational and social service funding being slashed the state prison budget remains ever bloated to support the exploded prison population of Arizona. Spending more money on prisons is not the answer no matter how you slice that pie. Even if private prison companies claims that their services are cheaper and more efficient than state run systems were true (which history proves they are not), it would still be MORE MONEY on prisons that we don’t have. So come out on Wednesday evening and hear some different perspectives on prison privatization in Arizona, or come prepared to give testimony or ask questions. This Public Hearing is open to all.
The good people of the Phoenix New Times have done it again and provided some stellar in-depth analysis of immigration rhetoric and the role that private prison companies play in the incarceration of undocumented migrants found crossing the border. Proving once again that you can’t talk about immigration without discussing prison privatization.
Grinding Justice: Operation Streamline Costs Millions, Tramples the Constitution, Treats Migrants Like Cattle, and Doesn’t Work
By Stephen Lemons, Thursday, Oct 21 2010
In the border town of Nogales, Sonora, where buses drop off the newly deported every few hours on the American side, almost everyone seems to have been through Operation Streamline, a U.S. Border Patrol program that aims to hit all migrants entering the United States illegally with a criminal conviction.
There’s the street peddler, Gary, selling multicolored balloons and pinwheels to the cars lining up to cross into Arizona at the main port of entry. He was on his way to San Francisco when he was caught near Sasabe and put through Streamline’s wringer.
“It was a bad experience,” he says (all the Streamline defendants interviewed in this story spoke Spanish). He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of entering the United States without permission, a conviction the Border Patrol believes operates as a deterrent to illegal immigration. (Read more…)
At the City Council meeting Tuesday (10/19/10), Council Member Steve Kozachik initiated a very thoughtful discussion about the high cost of jail incarceration and what the City might do to bring jail costs down while promoting better public safety outcomes.
High points included an excellent presentation from Adult Probation on the use of Evidence-Based Practices in sentencing, Council Member Ulich’s suggestion to bring together a collaborative planning body that could iron out differences between the City and County, and Council Member Romero’s heartfelt plea that the discussion not overlook the importance of alternative courts, such as the Veteran’s Court.
Unfortunately, one of the options placed on the table by TPD’s Assistant Chief John Leavitt was a “Private Prison RFQ.”
Apparently, this had been under serious discussion in the past, in this case, the management of a DUI facility (a favorite gateway drug for the for-profits). The fly in the ointment at the time was the fact that the private operator wanted a gender-segregated facility for men only. Women are simply too expensive to incarcerate, and for-profit prisons rarely take them.
While Leavitt acknowledged the for-profit’s propensity to cherry pick, he still touted the projected cost savings such a facility could generate.
We would suggest that our friends at the City Council talk with their counterparts in Brooksville, Florida. They recently took the Hernando County Jail back from Corrections Corporation of America, because they discovered that the county could run it more cheaply. (more…)
These hearings are a response to 5,000 new private prison beds that have been proposed and will be located throughout Arizona, and an attempt to get serious questioned answered. These hearings are a great opportunity to hear arguments from all sides and to get YOUR VOICE HEARD! If you are interested in speaking, it is requested that you bring written testimony, comments, and questions. It is important for everyone in Arizona communities to attend these public hearings to make a statement to Arizona and the prison corporations that we care about this issue.
As the election draws nearer this investigation into the ties between Governor Jan Brewer and the Corrections Corporation of America is more and more pertinent to Arizona and it’s taxpayers even if it aired a few weeks ago. With the RFP for 5,000 beds recently removed by Arizona, but very likely to be replaced with another in the very near future, there is even more haste to understand exactly what role CCA and potentially other private prison companies have played in supporting legislation that they stand to benefit from. Clearly the Brewer camp is concerned that you as voters may know this, as High Ground canceled all of its advertisements on CBS 5 as a result of the investigative reporting. Watch below:
