In this final installment marking the 30th Anniversary of Corrections Corporation of America, we bring you a list of the bodies left in the wake of CCA’s relentless pursuit of profits.

Compiled by our friend and colleague, Alex Friedman of Prison Legal News and the Human Rights Defense Center, here are the deaths in custody (prisoners) and in the line of duty (staff) in CCA facilities from 1987 to the present. These names are the most vivid testament to the fact that 30 years of imprisoning people for money is nothing to celebrate.

Prisoners

Rosalind Bradford, 1987, Silverdale, medical

Alton Manning, 1995, HM Prison Blakenhurst (UK), death while being restrained

William Christian, 1997, HCCF, homicide

Michael Cephus, 1997, Youngstown, medical

Bill Hambly, 1998, Torrance County Jail, homicide

Derrick David, 1998, Youngstown, homicide

Paula Richardson, 1998, MWCC (Australia), suicide

Gregory Allen Pope Sr., 1998, Tulsa Jail, medical

Reginald Edmonds, 1998, HCCF, suicide

Ralph Carpenter, 1998, SCCF, medical

Stanley R. Rice, 1998, Youngstown, medical

Perry Clay, 1998, Youngstown, medical

Corey Smith, 1998, West TN Detention Facility, homicide

Bryson Chisley, 1998, Youngstown, homicide

Donnell Reed, 1999, CTF in DC, fell during escape attempt

Merlin Lee Foster, 2000, Tulsa Jail, medical

Cory Adam Morris, 2000, Tulsa Jail, suicide

Leonia Sanchez Arriaga, 2000, Tulsa Jail, medical (head injury after assault)

Tom Harris, 2001, SCCC, homicide

Jeffrey Buller, 2001, Kit Carson, medical

Shane M. Spencer, 2001, Tulsa Jail, medical

Conrado Mestas Ochoa, 2001, Eden Detention Center

Marvin Borjas Diaz-Perez, 2001, West Tennessee Detention Facility, medical

Chad Littles, 2002, Bay County Jail, homicide

Antonio Lewis Franklin, 2002, Citrus County Jail, medical

Justin Sturgis, 2002, Bay County Jail. medical

Laren Sims Jordan, 2002, Hernando County Jail, suicide

Jonathan Magbie, 2004, CTF in DC, medical

Estelle Richardson, 2004, MDF, homicide

William Henry Cantor, 2004, Bay County Jail, suicide

Sondria Allen, 2004, Tulsa Jail, unknown

James L, Kirk, Jr., 2004, WCF, suicide

Stacy Allan Tolbert, 2004, BayCounty Jail. Medical

Scott Ray Dickens, 2004, Tulsa Jail, suicide

Michael Andrew Jones, 2004, Tulsa Jail, suicide

Maria Solis-Perez, 2004, Houston Processing Center, medical

Jose Lopez-Lara, 2004, Eloy Detention Center, medical

Walter Alvarez-Esquivel, 2005 Laredo Processing Center, medical

Reinaldo Prado-Arencilia, 2005, Houston Processing Center, medical

Juan Salazar-Gomez, 2005, Eloy Detention Center, suicide

Adam Gene Lippert, 2005, Cimarron Corr. Facility, homicide

Maya Nand, 2005, Eloy Detention Center, medical

Daniel Ray Warren, 2005, Hernando County Jail, suicide

James T. Sly, 2005, Bay County Jail, suicide

Felipe Gonzalez, 2005, Tulsa Jail, suicide

Elias Lopez, 2005, Eloy Detention Center, medical

Emma Nobles, 2005, Gadsden Correctional Facility, medical

Sarah Ah Mau, 2005, Otter Creek, medical

Jose Lopez-Gregario, 2006, Eloy Detention Center, suicide

Geoffrey M. Conley, 2006, Hernando County Jail, suicide

Brian Keith Allen, 2006, Marion County Jail II (IN), medical

John T. Wells, 2006, Hernando County Jail, medical

Jose Lopez-Gregorio, 2006, Eloy Detention Center, suicide

Mario Francisco Chavez-Torres, 2006, Eloy Detention Center, medical

Truoc Tran, 2006, Hernando County Jail, suicide

Charles Repass, 2006, Marion County Jail II (IN), medical

Anthony David Bowman, 2007, SCCC, medical

Boubacar Bah, 2007, ElizabethDetentionCenter, medical

Felix Franklin Rodriguez-Torres, 2007, Eloy Detention Center, medical

Edward Duritsky, 2007, Hernando County Jail, medical

Latasha Dorean Glover, 2007, Otter Creek, medical

Rusty Hightower, 2007, Red Rock, unknown; found unresponsive in cell

Anthony Kelly, 2007, West Tennessee Detention Facility, medical

Gregory Cole, 2008, Bradshaw State Jail, suicide

David Drashner, 2008, Northfork Corr. Facility, homicide

Terry Wayne Battle, 2008, MDF, medical

Gerald Townsend, 2008, MDF, homicide

Joseph Alexie, 2008, Red Rock, medical

Ashleigh Shae Parks, 2008, Dawson State Jail, medical

Stephanie Rhaney, 2008, Gadsden Correctional Facility, unknown

Beverly Ford Murphy, 2008, Otter Creek, medical

Robert Washington, 2008, Tallahatchie Co. Corr. Facility, medical

Geoffrey A. Scheid, 2009, Bent County Correctional Facility, suicide

Roberto Medina-Martinez, 2009, Stewart Detention Center, medical

Leonard Odom, 2009, Wheeler County Corr. Facility, unknown

Thomas Detric Adderson, 2009, Willacy Unit, medical

William Williams, 2009, MDF, suicide

Bronson Nunuha, 2010, Saguaro, homicide

Clifford Medina, 2010, Saguaro, homicide

Joseph Mixon, 2010, Bay Correctional Facility, unknown

Eddie Moore, 2010, Leflore County Jail, Medical

Pam Weatherby, 2010, Dawson State Jail, medical

Terrell Griswold, 2010, Bent County Correctional Facility, medical

Clifford Medina, 2010, Saguaro Correctional Center, homicide

Andres Valdez, 2011, Kit Carson (transport van accident)

Pablo Gracida-Conte, 2011, Eloy Detention Center, suicide

Miguel Hernandez, 2011, NorthGeorgiaDetentionCenter, medical

Shebaa Green, 2012, Dawson State Jail, medical

Michael A. Nelson, 2012, Lake Erie Corr. Institution, heroin overdose

Elsa Guadalupe Gonzales, 2013, Eloy Detention Center, suicide

Jorge Garcia Mejia, 2013, Eloy Detention Center, suicide

Demond Flowers, April 2013, Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, homicide

Jorge Garcia-Mejia, 2013, Eloy Detention Center

Elsa Guadalupe-Gonzales, 2013, Eloy Detention Center

Babies that have died: Meredith Manning, Countess Clemons, Gracie Miller

Staff

Delbert Steed, January 2002 – counselor at HardemanCounty, homicide

Carla Meade, Jan. 2008, Otter Creek, suicide in the warden’s office

Catlin Carithers, May 2012 – guard at AdamsCountyCorrectionalCenter, homicide

Grace Cortez, Dec. 2011, Kit Carson Corr. Facility, preventable van accident

AFSC, along with our friends at Grassroots Leadership and the Public Safety and Justice Campaign, is participating in a week of coordinated actions to mark the 30th Anniversary of Corrections Corporation of America. We believe that 30 years of profiting from incarceration is nothing to celebrate.

As part of these coordinated actions, we’ve put together a little video birthday card for CCA. Check it out:

Birthday message to CCA

Today, at 4:00 at the Federal Court Building at Congress and Granada in downtown Tucson, we will be holding a demonstration and press conference featuring speakers from national and local organizations. We even got CCA a birthday pinata!

And stay tuned for Part III of the CCA Dirty Thirty series…

This year, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) is celebrating 30 years of profiting from incarceration. CCA was one of the pioneers in for-profit prison management, and today is the world’s largest private prison company.

A publicly-traded company, in 2010, CCA saw record revenue of $1.67 billion, up $46 million from 2009.

Here in Arizona, CCA operates 6 facilities, holding prisoners from Arizona, California, Vermont, and Hawaii as well as federal prisoners. CCA is one of the main beneficiaries of harsh immigrant enforcement and detention policies, such as Operation Streamline. And recently CCA was awarded its first contract to run an Arizona state prison. The first 1,000 beds are set to come online in 2014.

Next week, at its shareholder meeting in Nashville, TN, CCA will be toasting itself with lavish parties hosting rich investors and well-connected lobbyists.

Meanwhile, people around the country say, 30 years of abuse, mismanagement, and political influence peddling is nothing to celebrate.

There will be protests to accompany the shareholder meeting in Nashville, as well as solidarity actions in Washington DC, Ohio, and and here in Tucson, where the AFSC is organizing a rally and press conference on Monday, May 13^th from 4:00-5:00pm at the aptly-named DeConcini Federal Courthouse, 405 W. Congress.

As part of the lead-up to this event, we at Cell-Out Arizona offer our readers a three-part retrospective of CCA’s Dirty 30: Thirty Reasons to Kick CCA Out of Arizona. Enjoy!

CCA’s Dirty Thirty, Part I: The All-Arizona Edition

30. CCA Pays to Play in AZ.

CCA employs Highground Public Affairs Consultants whose president is Governor Jan Brewer’s top political advisor Chuck Coughin. Governor Brewer’s former spokesman, Paul Senseman, was previously employed by CCA, then returned to his lobbying job after leaving the Governor’s office. His wife is currently employed as a lobbyist for the corporation (‘Ties that Bind’ In These Times 6/21/10).

CCA has given money to Governor Brewers past campaigns such as Prop.100 and stands to benefit greatly from SB1070. As more undocumented people are turned over to ICE it is likely that they will be sent to one of CCA’s three detention facilities in Arizona (‘Governor Brewer’s CCA Ties Burn Like Neon’ Phoenix New Times 7/29/10).

And let’s not forget former Senator Dennis DeConcini, a member of the Arizona Board of Regents (which oversees state universities) who also sits on CCA’s Board of Directors. Despite his claims of being a friend to the immigrant community, DeConcini owns upwards of 8,700 shares in CCA or roughly $222,268. Dennis has come under fire from community groups pointing out his own hypocrisy as well as the conflict of interest posed by the competition for state funds between prisons and universities.

29. CCA Greases Palms in Pinal County

CCA pays the Pinal county government based on the number of inmates in one of its prisons in Pinal, as part of an agreement to operate in the county. Last year that amounted to roughly $1.4 million, according to county budget documents. The payments increase as more beds are filled — under the agreement, the county receives two dollars per day for each inmate held in the facility.

The money in part funds the county sheriff’s office, whose enforcement actions have influence over the size of the prisoner population: Under an agreement with the federal government, the office acts as an enforcement agent on immigration law, arresting violators and referring them to federal authorities, who make the ultimate decision on detention. (“Private Prisons Profit From Immigration Crackdown,” Huffington Post, 6/7/12).

28. CCA Guards Participate in Drug Raids on Public High Schools

Guards from Corrections Corporation of America recently assisted local and state law enforcement in two drug raids on public high schools. CCA operates a total of six prisons and detention centers in Pinal County, where the schools are located.

According to an article by Beau Hodai in PR Watch, it was not the first time CCA guards were used in this way, despite the fact that CCA staff are not considered ‘peace officers’ and have no training or certification to allow them to participate in law enforcement activities in Arizona.

After the first incident raised a huge public outcry, the corporation issued a statement that read:

“Our company strives to be a good community partner, and it was in that spirit that local staff responded to the request. Decisions like this are usually made at the facility level. CCA has since reviewed this practice and decided that facilities can no longer provide this type of assistance, for reasons such as liability. Unfortunately, many of the communities where we operate lack these types of resources, but we think this is the appropriate corporate level policy. We’ll continue to support our communities in many other ways.”

However, just a few months later, CCA guards just participated in ANOTHER drug raid on a high school in Pinal County, even after they publicly announced they would not do this. This time, astonishingly, they called it a “teaching lockdown.” After the first report of the raid surfaced, the website quickly removed CCA from the list of participating agencies.

27. More Immigrant Deaths at CCA’s Eloy Detention Center

The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is currently investigating two suicides that occurred in the space of three days at the Eloy Detention Center.

CCA’s Eloy Detention Center, which houses immigrant detainees, had the most deaths of any immigration detention center in the country. According to the ACLU, nine deaths have taken place in Eloy Detention Center–most were caused by inadequate or delayed medical attention (‘Lost and Ignored’ Tucson Weekly 2/11/10).

26. Who’s the Criminal?

A CCA employee pled guilty to drug charges in April 2010 for attempting to give prison inmates cocaine at the Central Arizona Detention Center in Florence (‘Arizona corrections officer caught buying cocaine for inmate’ ABC15 4/21/10).

25. Dead-End Jobs

While correctional officers working for state prisons receive $18-$20 an hour, CCA employees are paid less to do the same job, earning only $10-$12 an hour. CCA employees also receive 240 less hours of training than those employed by ADOC (‘CCA criticized by union, praised by Florence officials’ The Daily Currier 12/18/09)

24. What a Riot!

A prison employee suffered a broken nose and cheekbones as well as eye socket damage during a 30 inmate brawl over an Xbox owned by an inmate at Saguaro Correctional Center (‘Prison Employee seriously injured’ KITV4 7/30/10)

23. Deaths in Custody

A prisoner in CCA’s Saguaro Correctional Center strangled his cellmate while the prison was in lockdown in June 2010. Saguaro houses Hawaiian prisoners in Arizona and was also the site of the stabbing death by two inmates who now face the death penalty in Arizona although Hawaii has no death penalty. Prisoners claim the prison is ‘greatly understaffed.’ (‘HI inmates complain about CCA’ Hawaii News Now 6/17/10).

22. Widespread Prisoner Abuse

A lawsuit filed on behalf of Hawaiian prisoners in CCA’s Saguaro Correctional Center argued that officers stripped and beat prisoners, in some cases hitting their heads against tables while their hands were cuffed behind their backs.  Officers and even the warden threatened the prisoners and their families.  The officials then destroyed the evidence of the beatings, including videotapes, and faslified reports.  An additional suit was filed claiming that beatings and threats have continued in retaliation for prisoners filing the suit (“Private Prison Beatings Continue, Men Say,” Courthouse News, 7/27/11).

21. Unsafe Facilities

The Inspector General for the State of California (which houses prisoners in CCA’s Red Rock, LaPalma, and Florence Correctional Center in Arizona) slammed CCA for serious security flaws and improper treatment of inmates.  Inspectors found faulty alarms and malfunctioning security cameras, prisoners evading metal detectors, and discovered that CCA was not checking the arrest records of employees or screening out those with gang affiliations  (“Prison firm optimistic about Arizona bid despite incidents,” The Arizona Republic, 8/8/11).

Stay tuned for Parts II and III of CCA’s Dirty Thirty!

State Legislator Chad Campbell (D-14) sent a letter two weeks ago to Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne requesting an investigation into the state’s current contracts with private, for-profit prison corporations. The letter relies heavily on the findings in AFSC’s recent report on the for-profit prison industry in Arizona, Private Prisons: The Public’s Problem.

In the letter, Campbell cites alleged violations of:

• State law and individual contract provisions requiring proposed private prisons to demonstrate cost savings to the state
• State law requiring private prisons to provide the same or better quality than state prisons
• Contract provisions requiring private prisons to maintain safety standards and rehabilitate prisoners
• State uniform contract provisions requiring private prisons to provide adequate staffing levels

A more recent Cell Out Arizona investigation revealed that the state has known for some time that its private prisons are not saving money, so it recently repealed a state law requiring the corporations to demonstrate cost savings in their bids for new contracts. The legislature also repealed another section of the same law that requires the state to conduct a Biennial Comparison Review of the quality of the state’s private prisons every two years.

Rep. Campbell is a member of the Joint Committee on Capitol Review. The objectives and major products of the staff of the JCCR are to:

• Review the scope, purpose and cost of projects before releasing appropriations.
• Approve corrections facilities expenditures from the Corrections Fund.

Rep. Campbell asserts that he and other members of the JCCR cannot achieve these objectives without the data provided by the Biennial Comparison Reports.  He states in the letter,

“Recent investigations have uncovered troubling evidence that state-contracted private prisons are not providing cost savings to the state and are not providing the same or better level of quality services.  Therefore, it is necessary and prudent for the Attorney General to conduct an investigation in order to provide lawmakers with the information they need to make decisions about prison expenditures.”

The situation is particularly urgent because the state of Arizona is poised to award a new contract for 2,000 more medium-security prison beds to a for-profit prison corporation. The legislature has mandated that the contract be signed by September 1st. The legislature appropriated $16 million for the prison in FY 2015.

Both Managment and Training Corporation (MTC) and GEO Group are bidding on the proposed prison. Both currently operate state prisons and would therefore be the subjects of the investigation. In addition, Corrections Corporation of America, Emerald Corrections, and LaSalle have also submitted proposals.

Arizona Department of Corrections Director Chuck Ryan was asked about the investigation last night at a public hearing for one of these prison proposals, submitted by Corrections Corporation of America for the town of Eloy. When asked whether he would suspend the procurement to await the results of the Attorney General’s investigation, he stated flatly, “no.” When asked if he would confirm, on the record, that the Department was willing to give a multi-million dollar contract to a corporation that may be violating state law and/or the terms of its current contract, he replied that he would need to consult an attorney before responding.

In Part I, we revealed that state officials have known for some time that proposed for-profit prisons will not save the state money. We referred to a state law, now partially repealed, that requires for-profit prison corporations to demonstrate cost savings during the competitive bidding process before a contract is awarded.

But once they’re built, the law does not provide any penalty for failure to actually save the state money. So in essence, the for-profit prison corporations can promise us the moon, but there’s nothing to ensure that they will deliver on those promises.

And indeed, they haven’t. Cost comparison studies have consistently shown that Arizona is losing money on private prisons—an average of $3.5 million per year, according to an AFSC analysis.

The cost of a private prison contract is calculated through the “per-diem payment.” This is the amount that Arizona agrees to pay the corporation to house one prisoner for one day. But contracts with for-profit prison operators are renegotiated or amended regularly, often annually. And those per-diem rates invariably increase.

An analysis of the state’s three oldest private prison contracts, (1) With GEO Group for Florence West, (2) With GEO Group for Phoenix West, and (3) with Management and Training Corporation (MTC) for Marana Community Correctional Treatment Facility, shows that the per diem rates for regular (non-emergency) beds in these facilities increased an average of 13.9% since the contracts were awarded, as demonstrated in the chart below. 

These records, obtained through a public records request, also show that these contracts were more recently amended to promise 100% occupancy of these private prisons.

Beginning in 2008 with Phoenix West, the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) began working out new agreements in which the corporations agreed to a lower per-diem payment for ‘emergency beds’ (intended to temporarily absorb system overflow), from an average of $30.46 to $10.00 for Florence West and Phoenix West and from $25.10 to $12.60 for Marana.

In exchange for this concession, Arizona agreed to a guaranteed 100% occupancy for all the beds in all three facilities, including the much more expensive “rated beds.” The average per diem rate for these beds is $49.07.

In the cases of the two GEO prisons (Phoenix and Florence West), a 2010 amendment later lowered the guaranteed occupancy for the emergency beds to 95%, but left in place the 100% occupancy rate for the more expensive rated beds.

Amendment 14 for Marana (signed on June 6, 2011) has an additional, more interesting provision. The documents refer to a “dispute” between the Department of Corrections and for-profit operator MTC as to whether or not the 5-year contract renewal was done in a timely manner (ADC says yes, MTC apparently said no). The negotiated settlement of this dispute consolidates 450 rated beds with 50 emergency beds into a total of 500 rated beds. These 500 beds will carry a guaranteed occupancy of 100% at a rate of $49.03 per prisoner, per day.

What’s more, this agreement was applied retroactively to October 6, 2010, effectively erasing all but three months of the reduced emergency bed per diem in the previous amendment (from July 2010). It also guaranteed that Arizona would continue to pay about three times as much for the emergency beds. In essence, ADC is handing over four years’ worth of extra money to keep MTC happy.

How much money? In the July 2010 contract amendment for the facility, the state had bargained the emergency beds down to a $12.60 per diem. Now they will be paying $49.03 per diem for the same beds. Which means that MTC is raking in an extra $36.43 per prisoner, per day. Multiply by 50 such beds, and MTC will make additional profits of $664,847.50 per year– a total of $2,659,390 through the remainder of the contract, which expires in October of 2013. Not bad!

Allow us to pause here to remember that MTC is the corporation whose negligence led to the horrific escapes from the Kingman prison in the summer of 2010, resulting in the murder of a couple vacationing in New Mexico. Yeah, that MTC.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it appears that Arizona is looking to cut MTC loose, at least from managing the Marana prison (they still manage two units at Kingman, for which they have a guaranteed occupancy rate of 97%). The final component of this contract amendment is an agreement that Arizona will buy the Marana prison back from MTC in October of 2013 for the tidy sum of $150,000. You can insert your own jokes about ‘short sales’ here.

Documents recently obtained by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) show that the state of Arizona deliberately circumvented and ultimately repealed a state law requiring private for-profit prison corporations to demonstrate cost savings in their bids on new prison contracts. These records reveal that the state was aware that existing private prison contracts were not saving the state money–despite state laws requiring private prison contractors to deliver such savings.

One such statute, ARS 41-1609.01 (G), previously stated:

“A proposal shall not be accepted unless the proposal offers cost savings to this state.  Cost savings shall be determined based upon the standard cost comparison model for privatization established by the Director.”

In response to a public records request, the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) has confirmed that the “standard cost comparison model” referred to in the statute is the Department of Corrections Operating Per Capita Cost Report (Per Capita Cost Report).

For the past six years, these reports have consistently found that private prisons are not saving the state money, and in many cases, the private beds cost more than equivalent public beds. In fact, an AFSC analysis of ADC Per Capita Cost Reports revealed that between 2008-2010, Arizona overpaid for its private prison beds by $10 million.

Therefore, it would be impossible for a for-profit prison corporation to claim that its proposed prison would save the state money using this data as the basis of the assessment.  But instead of holding the for-profit prison corporations accountable or changing course, the Arizona State Legislature simply began circumventing the law.

The two most recent private prison contracts that have been awarded in Arizona— 1,000 additional beds at Geo Group-operated Central Arizona Correctional Facility (in 2003), and 2,000 additional beds at Management and Training Corporation (MTC)-operated Kingman Cerbat Unit (in 2007)—were deliberately exempted from the both the cost savings and quality review requirements.

The Department of Corrections itself provides the evidence:

“Laws 2003, 2nd Special Session, Chapter 5, Section 15, which authorized the one thousand beds awarded to Central Arizona Correctional Facility (GEO), stated that “Notwithstanding section 41-1609.01, subsections G and K and section 41- 1609.02, subsection B, Arizona Revised Statutes, the director of the department of corrections shall negotiate contracts or amendments to existing contracts for the construction of a total of 1,000 new private prison beds not previously authorized by the legislature, as soon as practicable…”

Similarly, Laws 2007, 1st Regular Session, Chapter 261, Section 8, which authorized the two thousand private beds awarded by contract to ASP-Kingman (MTC) – Cerbat Unit, stated that “…notwithstanding section 41-1609.01, subsections G and K and section 41-1609.02, subsection B, Arizona Revised Statutes, the department of administration shall reissue the revised request for proposals to contract for two thousand private prison beds.”

That one quaint little word, “notwithstanding,” means that the state legislature gave a green light to new private prison contracts without any accountability or expectation that they save money, run safe prisons, or provide a quality of service to the taxpayers footing the bill.

Rather than having to go to the trouble of inserting this exemption into the authorization language of future for-profit prison contracts, the state legislature recently decided to eliminate the cost savings requirement law altogether.

In the 2012 legislative session, the Criminal Justice Budget Reconciliation Act (CJBRA) repealed the sentence in the statute referring to the standard cost comparison model.

But they didn’t stop there.  The bill also repealed a requirement for the state to conduct a quality comparison assessment of public and private prisons.

This statute was the basis of a 2011 lawsuit filed by AFSC seeking to halt the award of a contract for 5,000 new for-profit private prison beds.  AFSC argued that the statute had been on the books since the late 1980’s, but that the statutorily-required assessment had never been completed. While the lawsuit was dismissed on a technical issue of ‘standing,’ the Department of Corrections was compelled to release the first-ever Biennial Comparison Review and cancel the 5,000-bed procurement.

Such a significant concession was deeply embarrassing for the Governor and the Department of Corrections.  The negative press generated by the lawsuit, on top of the scandal generated by the escapes from the Kingman private prison in 2010, amounted to a public relations nightmare.  And the delays and eventual cancellation of the RFP had to be infuriating for the prison corporations, who are investing serious money in their bids for a contract in Arizona.  The removal of the statute was not only necessary to prevent such hiccups in the future, it was also a demonstration of the power of these corporations and state government actors.  The message:  We’re not just above the law, we make the law.

In repealing these requirements, the state legislature has all but admitted that it simply does not care if private prisons are safe, saving money, or providing a quality service. This has only added to the growing pile of evidence that elected officials in Arizona are beholden to the for-profit prison industry. Over the past few years, it has been widely reported that for-profit prison corporations like Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), GEO Group, and Management and Training Corporation (MTC) pour millions of dollars into lobbying and campaign contributions annually in order to secure contracts at the state and federal level.

Several of the key players in the Arizona budget process have accepted contributions from lobbyists, political action committees (PACs) and other individuals/entities associated with for-profit prison corporations. For example:

• Governor Brewer’s campaign manager and top advisor, Chuck Coughlin. Coughlin runs Highground Consulting, which lobbies for CCA in Arizona.
• Paul Senseman, a CCA lobbyist, is also the “spokesman” for Brewer’s PAC
• John Kavanagh, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, has accepted numerous campaign contributions from lobbyists associated with the for-profit prison industry.  Kavanagh was instrumental in the passage of the 2012 CJBRA.
• House Speaker Andy Tobin has raked in thousands of dollars from lobbyists and others associated with three of the for-profit prison corporations currently bidding on contracts in Arizona. This includes donations from the CEO’s of both GEO Group and GEO Care, as well as the MTC PAC.

Suspecting that the “invisible hand of the market” was behind the effort to remove the cost and quality assessment requirements, muckraking journalist extraordinaire, Beau Hodai, sent a public records request to Kavanagh’s office seeking documents related to the drafting and passage of the budget bill.  [Mr. Hodai, you may recall, was responsible for first revealing the links between CCA and the Governor’s office in relationship to SB1070 for In These Times.]

In response, Hodai received a two-paragraph letter, denying access to records relating to the bill and invoking “legislative privilege.” Because, after all, what good will it do to remove all accountability from the for-profit prison industry if snooping reporters can uncover records relating to influence working behind the scenes through public records law?

The timing of the repeal coincides with plans to award a new contract for 1,000 more for-profit prison beds. The contract for these beds is expected to be signed by September 1, 2012. Funding for the beds was approved in the same budget that removed the accountability provisions.  Many have questioned the wisdom of building prisons we don’t need (the state’s prison population is decreasing) and can’t afford.  After all, the state is barely beginning to come back from a crippling budget deficit.  And where was Arizona supposed to find the funds for a massive prison expansion, anyway?

Soon after the budget passed, the answer was revealed:  The legislature planned to pay for new prison beds by sweeping $50 million from a housing trust containing money from a settlement the federal government negotiated with big banks in the wake of the mortgage crisis.  The monetary aid was intended for states to assist people impacted by foreclosures.  So, essentially the legislature planned to pay for overpriced prisons we don’t need by stealing the money from victims of the housing crisis.  Classy.

On May 24, 2012, The Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest and the William E Morris Institute for Justice filed a lawsuit on behalf of distressed homeowners to prevent the transfer.

So, to recap, private prisons are a waste of money and everybody knows it. But because the corporations pour millions into lobbying and campaign donations, Arizona politicians have adjusted state law to “look the other way”– thus paving the way for future contracts unencumbered by pesky accountability measures and ensuring that the state budget will continue to bleed millions into corrections at the expense of education, health care and social services.

Tune in next week for Part Deux, in which we reveal that the per diem rates for the state’s three oldest private prisons have increased an average of 14 % over 5 years and were recently renegotiated to guarantee 100% occupancy.

This week The Nation features an editorial focused on the folly of private prisons in our infamous state of Arizona.  Sasha Abramsky, who has written extensively on criminal justice and prison privatization issues, exposes the hypocrisy of our legislators:  They say they want to save money and keep the public safe, but when faced with overwhelming evidence that our private prisons do neither of these things, their response is to eliminate the evidence.  Once again, Arizona is a national embarrassment and an example of wasteful and capricious government hubris.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

“One might think that, faced with evidence that the state isn’t getting enough bang for its buck, Arizona legislators would rethink their commitment to putting ever more prisoners into private facilities. Instead, in a move Orwellian even by the gutter standards of Arizona politics, they’ve simply tried to bar the state from collecting the evidence. On February 27 the legislature proposed a budget bill eliminating the requirement for a cost and quality review of private prison contracts. According to the AFSC, “The move would ensure that the public would have no way of knowing whether the state’s private prisons are saving money, rehabilitating prisoners, or ensuring public safety.”

That’s right, the state legislature has just said, “We don’t care.”  They don’t care if these prisons are safe and they don’t care if they are wasting millions of dollars of your money.  BUT YOU SHOULD CARE.

Recent reports have revealed that private prisons in Arizona cost more overall than equivalent state-operated prison units.   Safety inspection data has revealed widespread safety problems, including malfunctioning cameras and alarms—the same kinds of problems that led to the escapes from Kingman in 2010.  The people of this state simply can’t afford the legislature’s willful ignorance on this issue.

Besides, why wouldn’t they want to know if private prisons are actually saving money?

Why wouldn’t they want to know if these facilities are safe?

Why wouldn’t they want to know if people are being rehabilitated?

We sincerely hope that the voters and taxpayers of Arizona will let the legislators who drafted this “Don’t Bother Me with the Facts” Budget know how they feel about it.

In an unprecedented move, the American Friends Service Committee has filed a protest with the State Procurement Office over the Request for Proposals (RFP) issued by the Department of Corrections for 2,000 private, for-profit prison beds.

The AFSC was joined by the NAACP of Maricopa County in filing the protest.

The protest letter, sent to the Department of Corrections’ Chief Procurement Officer as well as the head of the Arizona State Procurement Office, argues that the state of Arizona does not need and cannot afford more prison beds, and that the existing prison contracts violate state statutes requiring  private prisons to cost less and provide the same or better quality of service as state prisons.

 The groups cite Arizona Department of Corrections cost studies that show that some private prisons are more expensive than equivalent state units.  They also point to a host of security inspections, Auditor General Investigations, and other published data that reveal that private prisons have inferior safety standards, including faulty alarms.

The group also argues that the private, for-profit prison corporations are in violation of their contracts with Arizona.  They specifically cite Uniform Contract Terms and Conditions that require the private prisons have adequate staffing levels. 

The state has fined both Management and Training Corporation (which operates prisons in Kingman and Marana) and GEO Group (which runs Florence West, Phoenix West, and the Central Arizona Correctional Facility) for failing to fill staff vacancies quickly enough.  The state’s Biennial Comparison Review, completed in December of 2011, also showed that all the state-contracted private prisons have high staff vacancy and turnover rates. 

The current prison contract terms also specifically cite recidivism rates as an “outcome measure,” yet none of the private, for-profit prison corporations even measure recidivism. 

Caroline Isaacs, the Director of the American Friends Service Committee’s Arizona office, says that the group’s research clearly shows that private prisons are not making good on the promises they made to state taxpayers.  “They do not save money, they are not safe, and they are not rehabilitating prisoners.  If those were the justifications for privatization, it’s clear this experiment has been a failure.”  She cites a 100-page report on private prisons in Arizona the group released in February. 

The groups are asking the State Procurement Office to immediately halt the prison RFP process while the SPO Administrator reviews the protest.  They then have requested that the state formally and permanently cancel the RFP and award no contracts for new private prisons.

 In the midst of a statewide controversy over private prisons, the Arizona State Legislature’s budget bill released last week eliminates the requirement for a cost and quality review of private prison contracts.  The move would ensure that the public would have no way of knowing whether the state’s private prisons are saving money, rehabilitating prisoners, or ensuring public safety.

The state recently came under fire for not complying with state statute requiring a quality comparison review of the state’s public and private prisons.  After battling a lawsuit over the issue and taking heat from the press, the Arizona Department of Corrections finally issued the first such review in December of 2011.

Cost comparison reviews, also required by statute, have been done every year since 2005 and consistently showed that overall, the state is paying more for private prisons.  A report issued in February by the American Friends Service Committee revealed that the state overpaid for private prisons by more than $10 million between 2008 and 2010.

The report also revealed widespread safety problems in private prisons, including malfunctioning cameras and alarms, holes under fences, and staff who were unable or unwilling to follow procedures.

“It is utterly shocking that when faced with overwhelming evidence of the failure of these prisons, our elected representatives chose not to address the problem, but to eliminate the evidence,” said Caroline Isaacs, Program Director of the American Friends Service Committee’s Arizona office and author of the report.  “It is a disgraceful abdication of their responsibility to safeguard Arizona communities and be good stewards of our tax dollars.”

The move raises further questions about the influence of the private prison industry on Arizona’s elected officials.  Recent investigations, including the one released by AFSC last week, revealed that private prison corporations spend millions of dollars on lobbying and campaign contributions to federal and state officials.

For example, Rep. John Kavanagh, Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, has accepted numerous contributions from people associated with GEO Group, which operates three prisons in Arizona and was bidding on the 5,000 bed prison RFP.  Kavanagh is also a member of ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, which came under fire recently for its connection to private prison corporations and its role in SB1070.   Kavanagh reported gifts from ALEC over $500 to the Secretary Of State in 2011 (the exact amount was not specified).

Stay tuned to Cell Out AZ for more dirt on campaign contributions from private prisons to the legislators deciding the budget.

Isaacs offered that this “pay to play” system is the most likely explanation of the legislature’s actions.  “They’ve just said to the people of Arizona, ‘we don’t care if you are safe and we don’t care if we waste your money.’”

The Arizona Department of Corrections has given a green light to four private, for-profit correctional management corporations for the construction and management of an additional 5,000 state prison beds.

The Department of Corrections will be holding public hearings in each of the towns under consideration for a new prison or prisons.  The public is encouraged to attend and voice their concerns about having a private prison as a neighbor. 

Here is the schedule of the hearings:

1.   Eloy:  Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) has proposed two prisons for Eloy—1,500 beds and 3,000 beds. 

The Eloy public hearing will be held Tuesday, August 9^th, 6-8pm at the Curiel Annex School, 304 West Alsdorf Rd., Eloy. 

2.   Goodyear:  GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut) has proposed a prison that could be anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 beds. 

The Goodyear public hearing will be held Wednesday, August 10^th, 6-8 pm at the Desert Edge High School Auditorium, 15778 West Yuma Rd., Goodyear.

3.   Winslow:  LaSalle/Southwest Corrections has proposed a 1,000-bed prison for Winslow. 

The Winslow public hearing will be held Thursday, August 11^th, 6-8pm at the Winslow High School Performing Arts Center, 600 E. Cherry St., Winslow.

4.   San Luis (Yuma):  There are two proposed prisons for Yuma.  Management and Training Corporation (MTC) has proposed to build a 3,000-bed prison and GEO Group seeks to build one with 2,000-3,000 beds. 

The San Luis public hearing  for both proposed prisons will be held Tuesday, August 16^th, 6-10pm at the San Luis City Council Chambers, 1090 East Union St., San Luis.

5.   Coolidge:  Management and Training Corporation (MTC) has proposed a prison of 3,000 or 5,000 beds. 

The Coolidge public hearing will be held Thursday, August 18^th, 6-8pm at the Coolidge City Council Chambers, 911 S. Arizona Blvd., Coolidge.

This will be the one and only opportunity that the public will have to give input on these proposed prisons.  Thus far, the only publicity for them has been a statutorily-required posting in the “legal notices” section of the local papers. 

If you know anyone who lives in these communities, please encourage them to attend the hearings.  AFSC will be organizing carpools from Tucson.  Please contact us at:  cisaacs@afsc.org.