OK, nobody’s pretending that Arizona State Legislators listen to NPR.  But if they did, they might learn that they are about to make a $65 million mistake in awarding contracts for 5,000 more private prison beds in Arizona.  

The reports both focus on the exploits of the GEO Group, the nation’s second largest private prison company and one of the bidders for a lucrative new contract here in Arizona.  Sadly, these problems are not limited to one corporation—there are similar examples on the rap sheets of every for-profit prison operator.  That’s because they all have the same problem:  They are in the business of making money first, and they will always prioritize profits over protecting the public or rehabilitating prisoners.

A two-part expose aired last month lays out two of the inherent risks in handing over corrections to for-profit corporations:

1.  The profit motive trumps rehabilitation
2. Small towns can get left holding the bag for empty prisons when the prison corporations go after more lucrative contracts

The first installment, “Town Relies on Troubled Youth Prison for Profit,” details how a small town became so financially dependent on the Walnut Grove juvenile prison that elected officials, monitors, and other government actors have repeatedly turned a blind eye to rampant abuses against incarcerated youth.  NPR found that the prison is paying the town $15,000 in lieu of taxes, paying $4,500/month to the Correctional Authority, and even “reimbursing” the salary of the corrections employee whose job is to monitor how the prison is run.

Who’s going to let a little sexual abuse, drug trafficking, or medical neglect in comparison get in the way of such a cash cow?  

In the second part of the expose (the amusingly alliterative, “Private Prison Promises Leave Texas Towns in Trouble”), NPR reveals how a small rural town was left on the verge of bankruptcy after GEO Group pulled out of a contract to run their detention center.  To avoid defaulting on the loan they took out to build the prison, the city has “raised property taxes, increased water and sewer fees, laid off workers and held off on buying a new police car.” 

Citizens of towns like Globe, Eloy, Sahuarita, and Benson would do well to study this report.  The story and even the actors may be uncomfortably familiar.  Here’s how it goes:

1.  A guy by the name of James Parkey comes to your town representing a company named Corplan
2. He makes a sales pitch to your Mayor and Council promising a brand-spanking new prison for immigrants, or state inmates, or inmates from another state that won’t cost you a cent to build.  The private operator will finance, construct, and operate the prison and pay off the costs with the money generated by the contracts they get to put inmates in the facility 
3. Your town elders, desperate for jobs and economic development sign on the dotted line
4. Everything is swell until you can’t find any inmates
5. The town is left scrambling to keep from defaulting on the bonds for the prison; the town’s credit rating is down graded making it hard for the town to borrow money for new schools or hospitals;  and drastic measures are taken like raising taxes, laying off workers, and putting off other important projects or purchases

Think it can’t happen here?  Prisoners aren’t as easy to come by as they once were.  Crime is down, and many cash-strapped states turn to sentencing reform to reduce prison populations and save money. 

In some cases, horrendous abuses and lawsuits against the prison corporations have led states to cancel contracts.  This is the case in Hawaii:  That state’s Governor has pledged to pull their prisoners out of a CCA prison in Eloy, Arizona after abuses and deaths in that company’s Saguaro Detention Center came to light.  CCA is currently the largest employer in Pinal County, and is most likely one of the bidders on those 5,000 new beds.     

It’s pretty clear that our state legislators are not listening to the warning signs.  Maybe it was those steak dinners that CCA paid for at the ALEC meeting or the donation checks they got during the last election cycle.  So, that means it’s up to the voters and taxpayers to get the facts and make our voices heard.  Private prisons aren’t good economic development.  They’re a short-sighted boondoggle that could leave our children on the hook for our leader’s poor decisions.

Yesterday, AFSC representatives gathered at the Capitol to deliver testimonies, along with pages and pages of independent research and published works that make the incontrovertible case against the practice of for-profit incarceration.  The event was covered by KPHO’s crack reporter, Morgan Loew.  Loew has long been a thorn in the side of for-profit prisons, exposing their influence-peddling in Arizona state government.

That same day, the Arizona Republic announced that several bills to impose oversight and reporting requirements on private prisons were effectively dead because the Chair of Judiciary refuses to allow them a hearing.

The Arizona Auditor General reports that Arizona is set to add 6,500 private beds at an estimated cost of $640 million through 2017.  This year, our corrections budget is over $1 billion, consuming 11% of the state general fund.

In the midst of a crippling budget crisis, as devastating cuts are continuing in the areas of health care and K-12 education, Arizona is poised to award more multi-million dollar contracts to these corporations with absolutely no guarantee that they save money or are safe for our communities.

In fact, a review of the available research data, from Arizona and nationally, presents compelling evidence to the contrary.

FACT: Private prisons in Arizona are not cheaper than public prisons. In fact, they cost more on average.  The Arizona Department of Corrections has done a cost comparison analysis every year since 2005, and the results are consistent.  The most recent of these, from 2009, shows that the State paid private prisons $55.89 for each medium-custody inmate per day compared to a daily cost of $48.13 per medium-custody inmate in state facilities. The State also paid private prisons slightly more for each minimum-custody prisoner.

FACT: Private Prisons are less safe. If the Kingman escapes did not prove this point sufficiently, there is a host of federal research data and published media accounts to verify it.  Private prison operators make their money through securing contracts with governments (county, state, federal) to house their prisoners.  These contracts go to the lowest bidder, so in order to make a profit, these corporations cut corners, most often in the areas of staff pay and training and Research and Development (R&D).  This results in facilities that are short staffed, with high turnover rates, and inexperienced staff.  This combination is a recipe for unsafe facilities.

FACT:  For-profit prison corporations are not accountable to the taxpayers of Arizona. While it can be very difficult to obtain information from state-run prisons, it is ultimately possible to do so because these are government institutions and thus are subject to laws requiring disclosure of public information.  However, private prison companies are not currently subject to the same laws, and therefore are immune to the normal checks and balances that protect people from abuse by such institutions.

This is particularly true in the case of prisons that do not contract with the state.  These prisons are accepting prisoners from other states and the federal government, yet are not required to report to local law enforcement or state entities who they are holding, what crimes they were convicted of, what their population numbers are, what their staffing levels are, or what programs they offer to prisoners.  They do not have to disclose their budgets or other financial matters.  They are not required to report disturbances or assaults.

This is precisely the problem that Representative Campbell is addressing in his bills.  These bills are perfectly in line with our recommendations for increased oversight and monitoring of private prisons, and we thank Rep. Campbell for his efforts.  To read the text of each bill, click on the number:

HB2298 General, Private Prison Monitoring

HB2299 Private Prisons; Regulation

HB2300 Private Prison Contractors; Public Records

HB2589 Legislative Hearings; Private Prison Escape

HB2590 Prisons; Security Monitoring Systems; Notification

Unfortunately, Senator Gould, Chair of Judiciary Committee was quoted as saying that he “did not believe these bills are necessary.”

So, just to be clear, Sen. Gould believes it is not necessary for you to know if a private prison is importing murderers or sex offenders into Arizona from other states.  Sen. Gould also believes it is not necessary for you to know if those inmates escape.  And, Sen. Gould believes it is not necessary for you to know whether or not the alarms work in a prison.

Sen. Gould represents a district that includes Kingman, site of the infamous prison operated by MTC from which three murders escaped last summer.  Of all people, you’d think he would understand the risks inherent in for-profit incarceration.  How on earth could he want to block legislation that simply holds these facilities to the same standards as other prisons?

We are left with two possible conclusions:

1.       That Se. Gould is so ideologically wedded to the idea of privatization that he is unable or unwilling to face reality, or;

2.      That, like Governor Brewer, he has been bought by the for-profit prison industry.

Recent media reports have revealed the influence of the for-profit prison industry in the Governor’s office and have suggested that these corporations were behind SB1070, Arizona’s controversial immigration bill, which, if fully implemented, would likely have led to an increase in the number of immigrants held in ICE detention facilities in Arizona, the majority of which are operated by Corrections Corporation of America.

For decades, for-profit prison interests (usually lobbyists) have contributed heavily to Arizona politicians.  Lobbyists and former employees of prison corporations have moved on to positions of power in Arizona where they have influence over decisions impacting the growth of prison populations, awarding of contracts, and other policy matters.  For example:

• Paul Senseman, Gov. Brewer’s Chief of Staff is a former lobbyist for CCA and his wife is currently lobbying for them
• Chuck Coughlin, the Governor’s campaign manager, runs a public relations firm that lobbies for CCA
• Mark Brnovich, Chair of the Governor’s Commission on Privatization and Efficiency, served as a Senior Director of State and Customer Relations for Corrections Corporation of America from 2005-2006 and was a lobbyist for them in 2007

Dem blog AZ Blue Meanie has suggested that perhaps Sen. Gould has taken such a strident position because he, like the Governor, has been bought by the for-profit prison industry.  His district includes the city of Kingman, home of the infamous MTC prison.  You’d think of all people, he would know the risks involved in privatization by now.  Then again, maybe he’s been talking to MTC’s high-powered lobbyists.

AFSC has made all their research on the issue available via their webpage.  This includes the testimonies received for the public hearing on prison privatization held in Tucson on October 27, 2010.  There are links to national coverage, published reports, and government studies all showing that private prisons are more costly, less safe, and less accountable to taxpayers.

AFSC is making all of this public in an effort to encourage voters to do the due diligence on prison privatization that our lawmakers, like Sen. Gould, refuse to do.

If you are outraged by the actions of Sen. Gould, AFSC has also put out an action alert, encouraging people to contact the Senate President and Speaker of the house.  If you are interested in making your voice heard, please do so IMMEDIATELY.  The deadline for bills to be heard in committee is this FRIDAY, 2/18.

Only six months have passed since violent criminals escaped the private prison in Kingman, but our legislature has re-issued the request for proposals for a new private prison. Back in August of 2010, killers were literally on the loose while Arizona slept. Gary & Linda Haas were brutally murdered. Private prisons let that happen.

Perhaps our legislature thinks we’ve forgotten due to recent events. But it adds insult to injury to assume that Arizonans are uninterested about decisions affecting our safety.

In fact, Arizonans are saturated with law-and-order and tough-on-crime rhetoric. Gov. Brewer & Senator Pearce won their offices last election by touting SB 1070, even though In These Times and NPR revealed that the law was conceived in the right-wing belly of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), with influence from Corrections Corporation of America – a private company that houses immigrant detainees in Arizona.

But it seems our legislators are confused. The message surrounding SB 1070 was to discourage “criminals” from entering and staying in Arizona. However, the influence of private prison companies creates the exact opposite result: because these companies are paid per prisoner/day, they want to bring more criminals to Arizona and keep them here longer. Because land is cheap, private prison companies look at Arizona like England viewed Australia in the 1800′s – one big prison.

These corporations say they save states money, but they never guarantee it. In fact, the company’s profits/expense to the taxpayers can be increased by lockdowns, giving undeserved disciplinary tickets, resulting in loss of good-time credits. Also, because companies like CCA are involved in drafting laws, they can influence profits by supporting laws that create new crimes, and longer sentences. Cha-ching!

Legislators are galloping down this dangerous road, even though they’ve known for years that privatization will cost more and deplete our already devastated budget. Every year since 2005, our Dept. of Corrections has released an independent study comparing private and public prisons showing that some private prisons are actually more expensive than public prisons. In the 2009 criminal budget bill, there was a provision that required the state to split any savings generated with the for-profit operator! Clearly, some legislators are more interested in benefiting their corporate backers than with saving money.

Arizona laws provide that private prisons under contract with the state must notify the state of any transfers, and compensate any costs associated with escapes. Putting aside the fact that no one can ever fully compensate the people who loved Gary and Linda Haas, this is the only power Arizonans have over these companies. But CCA has six prisons in Arizona that are not under contract with the state, meaning they are not subject to even those modest regulations.

Our state government is putting our lives in danger by handing control of our prisons to the lowest bidder. Corners were cut in Kingman: maximum security prisoners were housed with medium and minimum, the alarms didn’t work, and there weren’t enough guards to watch the entire prison.  Hours elapsed before Management and Training Corporation (MTC) notified the state of the escapes. The public wasn’t warned for over twelve hours.

Arizona needs to decide whether we want to reduce crime, or turn our state into the Botany Bay of America. If we get serious about crime prevention and education, we won’t need to expand our prisons… indeed, we may shrink them, save money, and make Arizona safer for everyone.

Governor Jan Brewer’s Commission on Privatization and Efficiency (COPE) announced it will be releasing a report recommending increased use of private prisons in Arizona as a way to address the budget crisis.

That’s right, a group of people handpicked by the Governor, whose top advisors are lobbyists for the for-profit prison industry, just recommended that we give more of our tax money to private prison companies.

And who are the “experts” the Governor has chosen for the task?

The Chair of the Commission is Mark Brnovich.  Mr. Brnovich served as a Senior Director of State and Customer Relations for Corrections Corporation of America from 2005-2006 and was a lobbyist for them in 2007.

Also on the Commission are Robert Burns, outgoing President of the Senate, and Kirk Adams, Speaker of the House.  Between 2008 and 2010, Adams received multiple campaign contributions from individuals associated with the GEO Group, and one donation from a person associated with CCA.

Burns is the Arizona Public Sector Chair of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and oversees ALEC’s Scholarship Fund, which “reimburses” legislators for the travel expenses incurred in attending ALEC’s events.  At these events, the legislators are wined and dined by corporate lobbyists and are given a sales pitch on ALEC’s “model legislation,” such as SB1070.

Many of these same corporations make huge donations to the Scholarship Fund.  This is how ALEC is able to disburse on average over a million dollars in travel, lodging and other expenses annually to state lawmakers, while simultaneously reporting zero expenditures for “payments of travel or entertainment expenses for any federal, state, or local public officials.”  The donors to the Scholarship Fund are likewise able to remain anonymous and do not have to report this money as gifts to elected officials.  Is it just me, or does this smell a lot like money laundering?

For more background on ALEC, see Beau Hodai’s piece for In These Times and the two-part series from NPR’s Laura Sullivan on ALEC’s ties to CCA and its influence on Arizona legislation.

Yet another member of the Commission is Glenn Hamer, President and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry.  Corrections Corporation of America is listed as a corporate member of the Arizona Chamber at the “Board Level.”  According to the Chamber’s website, “Corporate membership provides varying levels of packaged benefits for membership within the Arizona Chamber.”  The Board Level requires dues and other fees upwards of $10,000.  This payoff entitles the corporation “higher levels of participation” and access to Chamber events.

It should be no surprise to anyone that this commission’s recommendations are to privatize everything.  Its members are clearly beholden to these industries and have personally profited from them.

What is shocking is that anyone in the state of Arizona would take their recommendations seriously or view them as anything but a thinly veiled attempt to further enrich themselves and their corporate sponsors.  The people of this state should be outraged that Brewer, Adams, Burns and their ilk would have the audacity to throw away millions more of our scarce tax dollars on an industry that has failed so spectacularly.

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.”

Here is the link to the 7 minute video on MSNBC - Private Prisons See Gold in Immigration Cases

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…)

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…)