AZ Republic: Why do we need more prisons?

Arizona prison contract will go to private firm

Corrections Department will award 1,000-bed deal to 1 of 5 contenders

Craig Harris / AZ Republic (AUG 26, 2012)


The state Department of Corrections plans Friday to award a private prison contract for 1,000 medium-security beds for men, citing a lack of beds for violent offenders and a projected increase in the overall inmate population.

Five out-of-state companies are vying for the contract. The value of the deal has not been disclosed while the state reviews the bids, but it likely will be worth millions of dollars annually. Sites being considered are in Coolidge, Eloy, Florence, San Luis and Winslow.

PDF: A look at the bids



The contract comes even though the state's overall prison population is expected to remain flat the next two years and increase only slightly thereafter. State records also show it's more costly for taxpayers to have private businesses run prisons.

According to state records, there currently are about 2,000 empty beds in Arizona's prison system, which houses 39,876 male and female inmates. Critics of the prison expansion point to those empty beds as a key reason why the state doesn't need to spend more money on beds.

State Corrections Director Charles Ryan acknowledged the empty beds but said the state has a shortage of permanent medium-security beds -- an 11-bed deficit as of Friday. Most of the empty beds are in minimum-security or women's facilities, and the populations cannot be mixed.

Ryan said the shortage will get worse by 2016, when the total prison population is projected to increase by about 600 more inmates, to 40,477 prisoners. Ryan said the increased projections are based on historical growth trends from the past five fiscal years. He added that the state doesn't foresee a significant decline in sex offenders or violent criminals, who would be housed in medium-security prisons.

"We need the medium (security) beds," Ryan said. "This is an issue of preparing and planning for the future."
The contract calls for up to 2,000 medium-security beds. The first 500 would come online in January 2014. The next 500 would be in place in January 2015. The Legislature has not determined when, or if, the remaining 1,000 beds would be added, but their decision would be based on increases in the medium-security population.

The state also plans to build a 500-bed maximum-security facility in Buckeye that's scheduled to open July 1, 2015. The cost for that facility is projected at $50 million. The Legislature allocated $20 million toward the new facility this budget year, which began July 1.

Corrections records also show that in fiscal 2011 there were 296 fewer prisoners than the previous year, and this past fiscal year that ended June 30, there were 304 fewer inmates for a total of 39,877.

Ryan attributed the overall decline to fewer parole revocations, fewer illegal immigrants being placed in state custody and an overall downturn in crime, but he still contends the additional beds are needed.

He said 735 of the empty beds are in women's facilities, where men can't be housed. There are another 1,127 empty beds at minimum-security prisons for men, but male inmates at medium-security sites can't be transferred there because the sites are not as secure, and there would be safety risks to other inmates, officers and the public. It would be cost-prohibitive, he said, to retrofit a minimum-security facility for more serious offenders.

"You can't mix and match," Ryan said. "You have to keep them separate."

Ryan said the 15,500-plus medium-security inmates are not allowed to work outside a prison's secured perimeter, and they typically are serving sentences that average 9.7 years. Just more than half of them have been sentenced for violent crimes, including assaults, sex offenses and robbery. The rest are serving time for drug offenses, drunken driving, forgery, theft and burglary, according to Corrections records.

Business model criticized

Records show it's more expensive to have private companies operate prisons.

The most recent information available shows the average daily cost per inmate in a state-run medium-custody facility in 2010 was $48.42, while the average daily cost for an inmate in a similar private facility was $53.02. That translates into a 9.5 percent higher cost per inmate for a private prison.

If the new private 1,000-bed facility operates at just 90 percent capacity, the annual cost for taxpayers would be $17.4 million, based on 2010 figures. A state-run facility, under the same scenario, would cost taxpayers $15.9 million annually.

Ryan countered that Arizona saves up-front construction costs by having a private company build the facility. The coming contract also calls for the state to assume ownership of the facility in 20 years.
Rep. Cecil Ash, R-Mesa, disagrees with Ryan's conclusions.

"Private prisons are the wrong business model," Ash said. "They are in the business for profit. The problem is most legislators just don't pay attention to this issue. Inmates don't vote, and the public doesn't see the inmates. They are out of sight, out of mind."

Ash, who is running for a justice of the peace position and will not return to the 2013 Legislature, is one of the few Republicans who have publicly opposed adding private prison beds, saying they waste taxpayers' money. Other outspoken opponents include the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker group and watchdog organization.

"For-profit prison corporations are not accountable to Arizona taxpayers," said Caroline Isaacs, American Friends Service Committee program director.

She also contends they are not subject to the same transparency, reporting or oversight requirements as government agencies, and she believes the for-profit prison industry is getting a contract because it has exercised its political muscle in Arizona by hiring a cadre of lobbyists and made campaign contributions to influential legislators.

At least one of the companies, Corrections Corporation of America, employs one of Gov. Jan Brewer's key advisers as a lobbyist, and former Arizona U.S. Sen. Dennis DeConcini serves on the company's board.

Who's bidding

Arizona got into the private prison business in 1993, with a facility in Marana in southern Arizona.

Today, about 6,500 Arizona inmates or about 16 percent of the inmate population are in private prisons. The state houses roughly 33,000 inmates in 10 complexes across Arizona. The overall Corrections budget is about $1 billion.

Management & Training Corporation and the GEO Group Inc. currently have contracts at five prisons in Phoenix, Florence, Kingman and Marana. Both are bidding for the additional medium-security beds. The other bidders are Corrections Corporation of America, Emerald Correctional Management and LaSalle Corrections. All five are headquartered outside Arizona.

Following steady growth in the inmate population, the Department of Corrections in 2009 sought bids from private prison operators for an additional 5,000 beds in Arizona.

During the bidding process, three inmates escaped July 30, 2010, from Management & Training Corporation's private prison in Kingman. Two of the escapees are accused of murdering an Oklahoma couple who were vacationing in New Mexico.

An Arizona Department of Corrections review of the Kingman facility after the escape found numerous deficiencies with training and equipment, including an alarm system that issued false alarms so frequently that staff members began to ignore them.

The state suspended the bidding process after the escape and revised a bid for 5,000 beds. That bid was canceled and a new request for up to 2,000 beds was issued after the prison population forecast changed. The Legislature most recently authorized funding for 1,000 of the 2,000 beds.

Local debate

While the American Friends Service Committee and ACLU have adamantly opposed the addition of private prison beds, many residents in communities that may house the inmates have been very supportive, Ryan said.

That was the case earlier this month at a public hearing in Florence, known as Arizona's prison capital for its state-operated and private prisons.

Florence's mayor, town officials and the schools superintendent all voiced support for more inmate beds, after they were told by GEO Group that the company's proposal to build a new 1,000-bed prison would create 200 construction jobs, 260 jobs at the facility and a $12 million annual payroll. The company, however, would not say how much the company pays its guards.

"We are proud of our institutions, and proud to have a much-needed service to the state," Florence Mayor Tom Rankin said during the hearing. "It will create more jobs, and more jobs means more people will shop here."

Rankin also took a shot at critics of the proposed prison, saying they didn't live in his community and shouldn't try to derail a jobs creator.

But opponents, including Isaacs, countered that any new prison was a waste of money for all Arizona taxpayers.

A GEO executive had to correct himself during the hearing for saying the company had never had an escape at one of its facilities after an opponent pointed out that an escape had occurred in 2006 at a GEO facility in Florence. Last year, when The Republic was examining the bidders for new private prisons, the newspaper found that at least 27 escapes have been reported from GEO facilities over the previous seven years, including one in Texas that led to a murder.

Pablo Paez, a GEO spokesman, said the Florence escape occurred at a low-security DUI-offender facility shortly after the company took over from a prior operator. He added the other escapes predominantly occurred at low-security facilities, such as halfway houses where offenders are placed in the months nearing their release.

During other questions from opponents, GEO officials at least twice attempted to take control of the meeting from Corrections Director Ryan by telling the critics that their allotted time to speak had ended, when it had not. Ryan allowed the critics to continue.

"It was evident that the representatives from the local community are very supportive of the proposed facility," Paez later said. "Unfortunately, during any public hearing, outside interest groups which are not related to the local community can at times overtake a meeting and bring up issues that are not related to the community's views on the proposed project. This can lead to spontaneous exchanges which unfortunately can take away from the central purpose of these public hearings, which should be for the local community to express its views on the proposed project."

GEO officials did not attempt to cut short comments from supporters of its proposal.

Reach the reporter at craig.harris@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8478.

Private Prison hearings coming up fast...

PRISON PUBLIC HEARING ALERT 

from our Friends at  AFSC-TUSCON

URGENT! Hearings scheduled for proposed for-profit prisons.

Folks,

 

We just learned that a new round of hearings has been scheduled for proposed private prisons in AZ. The first hearing was last night in Coolidge. The second is scheduled for Thursday IN ELOY. Details below.

 

We desperately need people to attend these meetings and speak out against the prisons. It is always preferable for these to be local people who live in the community. But since these prisons “belong” to everyone in AZ (and will be paid for with your tax dollars), anyone has the right to give their input.

 

We will be organizing carpools to the next two hearings (Eloy and Florence), so please contact me ASAP if you can go. The last two are in Yuma and Winslow, and I doubt we can get people together to go from Tucson, so if you know ANYONE who lives in these towns, please send them the info and encourage them to speak out.

 

Finally, if you are not able to physically attend, please consider submitting written testimony to the Department of Corrections. Please explicitly state that you are submitting formal testimony and you want it included in the record.  Also be sure to reference the solicitation in your letter or email: 

 

 

 Proposal No.: ADOC12-00001388 / ADC No. 120088DC - Medium Security Prison Beds, up to 2000

 

And send to:

 Denel Pickering, Chief Procurement Officer, ADC

1601 W. Jefferson

Phoenix, AZ 85007

 

Email: Dpicker@azcorrections.gov

 

We need your help! Thanks,

Caroline

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

August 9, 2012

 

Contact:  Caroline Isaacs, 520.256.4146; cisaacs@afsc.org

 

 

Public Hearings Scheduled for Proposed For-Profit Prisons in

Coolidge, Eloy, Florence, San Luis/Yuma, and Winslow

 

The Arizona Department of Corrections is considering final bids from five private, for-profit correctional management corporations for the construction and management of an additional 2,000 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.   Coolidge:  Management and Training Corporation (MTC).  The public hearing will be held Thursday, August 6^th, 5-7pm at the Coolidge City Council Chambers, 911 S. Arizona Blvd., Coolidge. *

 

2.   Eloy:  Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).  The public hearing will be held Thursday, August 9^th, 5-7pm at the Eloy Junior High School Auditorium, 404E. Phoenix Ave., Eloy. 

 

3.   Florence: GEO Group. The public hearing will be held Monday, August 13^th, 5-7pm, at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Grand Ballroom, 240 W. Hwy 287, Florence.

 

4.   San Luis (Yuma):  There are three corporations vying for a contract for Yuma: 

 Management and Training Corporation (MTC), GEO Group, and Emerald Corrections.  The public hearing will be held Tuesday, August 14^th, 5-9pm at the City of San Luis City Parks and Rec Cesar Chavez Cultural Center, 1015 N. Main St., San Luis.

 

5.   Winslow:  LaSalle/Southwest Corrections.  The public hearing will be held Thursday, August 16^th, 5-7pm at the Winslow High School Performing Arts Center, 600 E. Cherry St., Winslow.

 

* Our apologies for the late notice, but the Department of Corrections announced the hearings on August 6, the day of the first hearing.

 

The American Friends Service Committee condemns the decision to build more private prisons as unnecessary and deeply irresponsible given the state’s economic crisis and the dismal safety records of all of the corporations involved. 

 

Arizona’s prison population is decreasing, and the Department of Corrections projects negative growth for the next few years. Yet, the Governor and state legislature appropriated $16 million for new prison beds. Arizona’s annual corrections budget is over $1 billion, consuming 11% of the state general fund.  The Department of Corrections was the only state agency whose budget saw an increase this year, even as education, social services, and health care funding was slashed. 

 

In February of 2012, AFSC of Arizona released Private Prisons: The Public’s Problem, a comprehensive report on the for-profit prison industry in Arizona that presented damning evidence that these facilities do not save the state money, have serious safety problems, and are not accountable to the taxpayers of Arizona: http://afsc.org/resource/arizona-prison-report. 

 

 

 

####

 

The American Friends Service Committee is a non-profit organization that works for justice and human rights both nationally and internationally.  The Arizona office, based in Tucson, advocates for criminal justice reform.

 

 

 

Caroline Isaacs,

Program Director,

American Friends Service Committee, Arizona Area Program

103 N. Park Ave., Ste. 111

Tucson, AZ  85719

520.623.9141

www.afsc.org/tucson

 

Check out our blog:  www.tucsoncitizen.com/cell-out-arizona

And join us on facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=177122610652&ref=ts

 

Cell-Out Arizona: Corrupt politicians knew private prisons would cost AZ more...

Is it any wonder that the Republicans who espouse efficiency, effectiveness, cost-savings, etc. in privatization debates knew full well that these private prison contracts would cost the state MORE, not LESS money than public prisons do? Kavanaugh's motives are especially suspect - his job at Scottsdale Community College is to train criminal justice para-professionals, so you know he has a stake in more crime and punishment. He sure isn't going to lose customers soon.

And what's with the occupancy guarantee? Wake up all you crime prevention and victims' rights advocates: Arizona legislators and law enforcement never plan to actually reduce crime or victimization in this state, because that would put the SOBs who profit from it out of business, and they're invested in keeping prison doors open now for sure.

Thanks to the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in Tucson for staying on top of all this, and to the Tucson Citizen for hosting so many voices of the People...

Social Commentary at a Liquor Drive-thru

Indian School Rd, Phoenix

August 7, 2012

 -------from the Tucson Citizen----

Cell-Out Arizona Exclusive: Documents Show

Arizona Officials Knew Private Prisons Weren’t Saving Money

PART I published in the Tucson Citizen (July 24, 2012)

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.

CELL-OUT ARIZONA:

Arizona For-Profit Prison Costs Rose14%; Now Guarantee 100% Occupancy

which means TAXPAYERS pay the prison operators even if they aren't full - 

so go ahead and criminalize more people, Arizona!!!

PART II: Published in the Tucson Citizen by Cell Out Arizona August 3, 2012

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.

Facility/Unit Initial Per Diem Current Per Diem Increase, in Dollars Percent Increase
Phoenix West $43.77 $49.28 $7.49 17.9%
Florence West, DUI $49.55 $55.79 $6.24 12.6%
Florence West, RTC $39.95 $44.98 $5.03 12.5%
Marana $43.54 $49.03 $5.49 12.6%
AVERAGE    INCREASE $6.06 13.9%



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.

AZ Private Prison Watch: RFP Finalists.

The Arizona Department of Corrections has named their finalists in their quest to add more private prison beds to our massive inventory of human storage pods here. Any town who invites these snakes into their economic development plan deserves what they have coming to them - they'll end up with abusers and rapists wearing badges in their communities, and lose their collective souls like Eloy did when it was bought by CCA. It's just a shame that it's the kids who end up having to pay for the decline of their community once it becomes a prison town.

Globe lucked out here, by the way - Congrats to the Town of Hospitality; no plans for a prison there in all this. Our condolences to those of you still in the running for a prison in your backyard, however. There will be public hearings in your community, though, so it's theoretically not too late to stop it.

Here are the rap sheets from Private Corrections Working Group on each of these prison profiteers:

Geo Group
Corrections Corporation of America
Emerald Correctional Management
LaSalle Southwest Corrections (not much of a track record yet, I guess...)
Management & Training Corp

-----------------from the AZ Republic--------------

Arizona to expand private prisons
Bob Ortega
July 11, 2011
Arizona Republic

This month, and possibly as early as next week, the Arizona Department of Corrections is expected to recommend what company or companies should be awarded a contract to provide 5,000 new minimum- and medium-security prison beds.

That contract, put out to bid last January, is moving forward even though, after years of steady growth, Arizona's state-prison population has leveled off for the past year and a half - and even though all five bidders have checkered records of managing other private prisons.

Plans to add 5,000 new prison beds first surfaced last year as part of an unprecedented and massive bill legislators passed to privatize the entire state prison system. That ambitious privatization plan fizzled when no corporations showed any interest in a wholesale takeover. The proposal for 5,000 new private-prison beds survived, however.
Growth projected

At the time, based on growth rates, the Department of Corrections projected that Arizona would need another 8,500 prison beds by 2017. But since the end of 2009, when there were 40,585 inmates in the state prison system (including five private-contract prisons), the daily inmate count has fallen 1 percent to 40,181 at the end of June.

The Department of Corrections was the only major state agency to avoid a budget cut for the 2012 fiscal year, which began Friday. Its budget rose $10 million from last fiscal year, to $1.06 billion.

Some observers say that, given tight economic times, the state should reconsider paying to build more prisons.

"I don't think there's a need for it," said Rep. Cecil Ash, R-Mesa, who tried unsuccessfully last legislative session to promote sentencing reforms.

Ash noted that Texas, Missouri, South Carolina and other states have managed in recent years to reduce their prison populations and their crime rates at the same time.

He says Arizona should move in that direction instead of expanding private prisons.

A variety of federal and state studies have shown that Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Kansas, Michigan and other states have managed to reduce both their crime rates and their prison populations by increasing alternatives to prison for some drug and nonviolent offenders, and creating more flexible sentencing practices.

The plan for the new beds was part of Gov. Jan Brewer's executive budget in 2010. The Governor's Office did not return calls seeking comment on the need for the contract.
Over capacity

Corrections Director Charles Ryan said that even with prison population growth tailing off, essentially all the state prisons are over capacity.

"There are temporary beds that have been there 30 years," he said recently, at the state prison at Florence. The new beds would allow the state to eliminate many double bunks in cells or overcrowding in dorms that weren't built for the number of prisoners they now hold, he said.

Ryan also said he doesn't expect the number of inmates to stay level indefinitely.

The department didn't offer any theories as to why the inmate population has stayed level of late.

In any event, Ryan noted, the state's request for proposals would phase in the beds, with 2,000 to be filled by April 2013, and the remaining 3,000 to be completed by April 2015. The request notes that everything is subject to the legislative appropriations process.

All five companies that bid on the project have experienced escapes and other issues at other prisons they operate. All of the companies are supposed to disclose, in their bids, any escapes, homicides, assaults on staff or inmates, riots or other disturbances, and various other issues at any prisons they operate. That history, however, accounts for less than five percent of the point total in the criteria used to evaluate the bids.
The bidders

Those companies are:

- Geo Group Inc., of Boca Raton, Fla. A publicly-traded company, Geo operates about 80,000 prison beds at 116 federal, state and local prisons and treatment facilities in the U.S. and three other countries. It reported $62.8 million in net income on $1.27 billion in revenues for its most recent fiscal year ending Jan. 2. It operates three prisons under contract with the Arizona Department of Corrections: the Central Arizona Correctional Facility (medium security) in Florence, and the minimum-security Phoenix West and Florence West prisons.

Geo has had at least 27 escapes in the past seven years, according to press accounts, including one three years ago that led to a murder in a convenience store in Houston. In 2007, Texas canceled an $8 million contract with Geo and closed the Coke County Juvenile Justice Center, citing filthy conditions. The company is currently fighting a suit by the American Civil Liberties Union alleging the use of excessive force, and unconstitutional and barbaric conditions at its Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in Walnut Grove, Miss. Meanwhile, the FBI and a federal grand jury are investigating alleged illegalities in the appropriations and the construction of Geo's $120 million Blackwater River Correctional Facility in Florida. The company did not respond to calls and e-mails seeking comment.

- Management & Training Corp., of Centerville, Utah. A privately-held company, MTC operates 20 prisons in seven states, with a capacity of 26,000 prisoners. It does not publicly release financial data. It began in 1981 operating federal Job Corps centers. MTC operates two prisons under contract with the Arizona Department of Corrections, a medium/minimum security facility in Kingman and a minimum-security facility at Marana.

MTC currently faces lawsuits over the deaths of an Oklahoma couple killed after three inmates escaped from its Kingman prison last year. The company has also had escapes from prisons it operates in Texas and Utah. In two separate instances, it has been ordered by the U.S. Department of Labor to repay a total of more than $650,000 in back wages to officers from whom it withheld overtime pay in Texas and four other states. MTC spokeswoman Issa Arnita noted that the Utah escapees were inmates working outside the prison. And she said MTC added razor wire - not then required by Texas at minimum-security facilities - after the Texas escapes. She said that after the Department of Labor determination, MTC voluntarily audited all its facilities and compensated any employees who were due back wages.

- Correctional Corp. of America, of Nashville, Tenn. CCA is the largest private-prison company in the U.S., housing about 80,000 federal and state prisoners in 66 facilities across 19 states and the District of Columbia. A publicly-traded company, CCA reported net income of $157 million on $1.67 billion in revenues for 2010. It has no contracts with the Arizona Department of Corrections, but houses federal inmates and inmates from Hawaii, California and Washington at six prisons in Eloy and Florence.

CCA has had at least 21 escapes at various facilities over the past decade, including several that have led to assaults and other crimes. CCA also faces several lawsuits over its Idaho Correctional Center, dubbed the "Gladiator School" for allegations that guards and supervisors there regularly allowed violent inmates to assault and beat other inmates during 2009 and 2010. In January 2010, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear ordered hundreds of female prisoners removed from CCA's Otter Creek Correctional Complex after a series of charges that guards regularly sexually assaulted female inmates there. CCA did not respond to calls and e-mails seeking comment.

- Emerald Correctional Management, of Lafayette, La. A privately-held company, Emerald operates about 3,800 beds at six federal, state and local prisons. It has no contracts with the Arizona Department of Corrections, but operates the San Luis Regional Detention Center south of Yuma in partnership with the U.S. Marshals Service and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It has had at least five escapes in the past decade.

Last year, the Houston Chronicle, reporting on the death of a Cuban immigrant, investigated the company's Rolling Plains Regional Jail and Detention Center in Texas. It noted that the company had no doctors to care for more than 500 immigration detainees at the facility, using only poorly supervised vocational nurses. Emerald did not respond to calls for comment.

- LaSalle Southwest Corrections, of Ruston, La. A privately-held company, LaSalle operates about 7,700 beds at 12 prisons in Texas and Louisiana. It has no contracts with the Arizona Department of Corrections. It has had eight escapes in the past six years, including three of minimum-security prisoners who walked away while on work crews outside the prisons.

Billy McConnell, a managing director of LaSalle, said that the company has never had an injury to a citizen or staff member as a result of an escape. "Anytime something like that happens we review our policies and procedure to make sure we know what went wrong, and we try to eliminate the possibility of that happening again," he said.

WELLS FARGO: Invest in Humanity/Dump the Prison Stock!

Today was a national day of action to pressure Wells Fargo to Divest from GEO Group...this was my contribution at their AZ HQ in downtown Phoenix. I also handed out fliers. It took less than an hour to pull off; and anyone can do something like this. The Homeland Security people would probably call me a "lone wolf". That's much better than being a sheep, as far as I'm concerned.



















the bus stop cleaner guy was really cool.
He was extra-careful not to disturb my work.

This is also where Sheriff Joe's office is...
they probably thought he was my target.

this deputy just walked on by like I had good reason to be there.
See why I get confused about the seriousness of my crimes?

National Prison Industry Divestment Campaign

Enlace is working in partnership with organizations across the US on the Prison Industry Divestment Campaign that is targeting major shareholders of the private prisons corporations The GEO Group, Inc. and Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) because of their roles in lobbying for anti-immigrant legislation like SB1070.

Anti-immigrant legislation is sweeping the country. Harsh Arizona-style laws are being introduced in more than 20 states.

The private prison industry, including Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and the Geo Group (Geo), is the force behind lobbying efforts that increase penalties and incarcerations by the federal government and by states such as Arizona and Georgia. Their current business plans push for harsher immigrant incarceration policies.


Such policies drive up prison populations and put added strains on state and federal budgets. Increasing prison costs cause cuts in funding for education and health care.

A report prepared on March 7, 2011 by the US Department of Homeland Security reveals that 39% of immigrants detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency between October 2010 and February 2011 were categorized as “non-criminal.” Another 22% were charged with infractions deemed less serious than traffic violations. These detentions of harmless people are set to cost taxpayers over $10 billion a year while profiting Manhattan-based hedge fund managers and other finance industry moguls.

The United States has the highest population of prisoners in the world. 2.3 million people are behind bars in the US. Our federal prisons are at 136% capacity. State and local prisons and jails are at 92% capacity. In fact, the United States has only 5% of the world’s population and 23.6% of the world’s prisoners.

The number of crimes committed annually in the US decreased by over 4% over the past 10 years while the number of prisoners has grown more than 19%. During the same period the private prison industry’s share of the prisoner population increased 24%.

A number of court cases have confirmed that children have been abused, women have been raped, and men have died from lack of basic medical attention in facilities run by GEO and CCA.

Both CCA and GEO rely on financing and other assistance from major investors to employ the powerful lobbying efforts in Congress and Federal agencies, as well as lobbying in state capitols across the country. These major investors include Wells Fargo, General Electric, and others.The respected studies on the subject show that privatized prisons do not save taxpayers any money.

What can we do?

First, we must convince shareholders in these two private prison corporations to dump their stock. The major investors in the private prison industry include Wells Fargo Bank, General Electric, Fidelity, and Scopia Management .

Second, many of us are customers of Wells Fargo or General Electric. As customers, we should demand that these two companies stop investing in CCA and GEO.

Third, a great deal of taxpayer money is invested in major shareholders of CCA and GEO stock, such as Wellington Management, BlackRock, Fidelity Management, Lazard Asset Management, Capital Research Global Investors, Vanguard, and Wells Fargo. We can insist that our city councils, county boards of supervisors, school districts, and state governments demand that these finance corporations divest their CCA and GEO holdings or move our tax dollars to investment companies that do not own stock in CCA or GEO.

Fourth, we can tell our pension and retirement funds that we want them to divest completely from CCA and GEO.

Fifth, we can demand that our local, state and federal government stop contracting with CCA, GEO, or other private prison companies and not build more prisons.

Sixth, contact Enlace to learn how you can participate in the campaign.

Sign up to receive Email Alerts about the Campaign

Contact us at 213-284-3802 or info@enlaceintl.org

Visit http://enlaceintl.org/ for more information.

RSVP on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=232781060079533

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Below is an email I received about GEO Group today from my friend, Frank Smith, an expert on the private prison industry. His site is a great resource : Private Corrections Working Group



"Because of today's noontime rallies across the country, opposing Wells Fargo's major investment in GEO Group, I thought it might be helpful to get a better idea of how taxpayer money is being spent, thanks to millions in campaign contributions and millions more in lobbying.

I ran these executive compensation numbers in the attached document last night, drawn from SEC filings.

When GEO Group-operated Indiana state prison in New Castle had a riot on April 24, 2007, I found the prison was seriously understaffed and undertrained, with guards making $8 an hour with marginal benefits.

To give you an idea of why prisons that pay so poorly don't save the taxpayers any money, it took substantial state and local law enforcement, correctional and emergency services to deal with the assaults, injuries and fires at the prison. Such intervention is commonplace, around the nation. Often, perhaps usually, the high-turnover, for-profit guards flee at the first sign of trouble.

GEO had a contract with the state of Arizona, but Dora Schriro, head of the Arizona corrections department, had received such disturbing information about the staffing problems that she had halted new exports of inmates to New Castle weeks before the riot.

A much more salient reason that the for-profits don't save money is because of the astronomical sums received by the industry's top executives. I'm attaching a chart showing compensation for GEO's top two last year.

In Kansas, in 2006, GEO Group, desperate to get the state law banning new for-profit prisons repealed, lobbied to pass a "bundled" bill, combining repeal with passage of Jessica's Law. The state's Sentencing Commission determined that the law would necessitate 1,000 additional beds by 2012, and GEO contended that it could provide them with repeal. Then-Senator Derek Schmidt, now Attorney General, called the bundled bill, "a complete package."

In Michigan, GEO expanded their spec prison in hopes of importing immigrant detainees. According to Reuters New Agency on March 10, 2010,

"Prison operator Geo Group Inc (GEO.N) said it is "disappointed" by the Federal Bureau of Prisons' decision to cancel a solicitation for a facility to house illegal aliens convicted of crimes, sending its shares down as much as 8 percent. Geo blamed a funding shortfall for the BOP withdrawing its proposal, which the company expected would fill its Baldwin, Michigan correctional facility. A 1,225-bed expansion of the existing 530-bed facility is scheduled to be completed in 2010."

Desperate to fill its long-empty prison, GEO attempted to get a contract to import California violent offenders such as murderers and rapists to Baldwin. The corporation and the industry contributed to Arnold Schwartzenegger's election and he repaid the support by appointing GEO insider Donna Arduin as his Finance Director. GEO gave him $48,000 a few days after his election to pay down his own loans to his own campaign.

GEO is not the only corporation that seeks to increase inmate population. Last November 11th, in a community meeting in Bangor, Pennsylvania, Wayne Calabrese said that GEO had left the American Legislative Exchange Council because they felt it was inappropriate to belong to an organization dedicated to increasing the prison population in the U.S. GEO's major competitor, the Corrections Corporation of America, has employed chairs of ALEC's criminal justice committee that wrote ever more draconian "model" legislation to be introduced around the nation by its very conservative legislative membership. CCA also was a sponsor of Ballot Proposition Six in California which would have created new "gang" crime laws and substantially increased sentences for vaguely defined gang-related offenses. Such legislation provides a powerful incentive for the innocent to plead guilty in exchange for dropping the prospects of decades-long prison terms. CCA is a major sponsor of ALEC, as is Koch Industries, which has long been in the forefront of prison privatization initiatives.


For GEO and CCA, more prisoners and detainees means more market, and more market share.

Frank Smith
Private prison researcher
Bluff City, KS
620-441-8882

More prisoners bound for Kingman; no legislative oversight in place.

I hope the ADC does a better job of monitoring their contract than they have been - people seem to forget that this place fell apart after nearly two years of business-as-usual under Ryan before those escapes. I think Central Office fell down on the job as much as the people of Kingman running that place did. The legislature didn't have the courage to put better oversight mechanisms in place, either, despite the escape.

WHAT is wrong with those people, anyway?

The next family who sues the state after the Haas' are done with us will have a whole body of people to blame, now, who were willfully indifferent to the safety of both the surrounding community and the staff and prisoners inside these places. Looking at how the rest of Arizona's private prisons are running, the next suit will probably be the survivor of a prisoner who gets murdered by another prisoner, or raped and beaten by guards, like what's been happening in CCA's Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy.

Of course, they aren't doing that much better in the state prisons, either. They need some serious legislative oversight, folks.

Chuck Ryan's tone in this press release is a little self-righteous: the ADC just had their own escape attempt at ASPC-Tucson on Christmas Day that no one likes to talk about. One guy was on the roof and the other was cutting through a fence when they got caught. We didn't see a big public investigation of their security protocol there.

It doesn't bode well that the only people we can really market to private prisons anymore are non-violent offenders and immigrants. That means CCA, GEO et al - as well as all these private prison towns that will need a constant supply of warm bodies to fill their cells -- will be lobbying for more punitive sentencing laws for drug, property and immigration offenses, so we can fill all the new beds we're giving the industry. Doesn't it alarm folks that no one has any incentive to actually bring down crime rates in this state?

Our government is getter bigger and badder in all the wrong places. At $20,000 a prisoner, those 5,000 new beds are going to cost us another $100,000,000 per year, increasing the corrections' base budget by at least 10%. That's staggering. We'll need more police and prosecutors, too. The profit-motive embedded in the punishment end of our criminal justice system supports continued victimization and progressive criminalization, and these prisons are sucking precious resources from areas where crime could actually be prevented. The public's interests are not being well-represented in this legislature.

Needless to say, a whole lot of people would be working more productively in our communities if their health and mental health needs were taken care of on the front end, and a good many lives could be salvaged if our corrections' funds went into rehabilitation and treatment. Sadly, Arizona's priorities are inverted. For the sake of boosting a few rural economies with prison jobs - and padding their legislative districts with non-voting bodies - we're about to lock up a whole bunch more people like Shannon Palmer and Marcia Powell - as well as Good Samaritans - as dangerous criminals and throw away the key.

--------------------

ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

1601 W. JEFFERSON
PHOENIX, ARIZONA 85007
(602) 542-3133
www.azcorrections.gov

JANICE K. BREWER GOVERNOR CHARLES L. RYAN DIRECTOR

NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release

For more information contact:

Barrett Marson
bmarson@azcorrections.gov

Bill Lamoreaux
blamorea@azcorrections.gov

March 24, 2011

ADC to restart loading Kingman prison

Phoenix, AZ. - Following an extensive security review, the Arizona Department of Corrections next week will resume sending prisoners to a privately-operated facility in Kingman.

ADC ordered significant security and operational improvements after a July 30, 2010, escape of three inmates from the 3,400-bed facility. ADC conducted several security inspections of the Management and Training Corp.-operated prison and has determined the company is prepared to securely house inmates in accordance with ADC policies.

“The prison is now adhering to ADC security policies and is ready to house more inmates,” ADC Director Charles L. Ryan said.

Ryan said he will keep in place restrictions that prevent the Kingman prison from receiving inmates convicted of murder or attempted murder, or those who have a history of escape attempts. Additionally, a seasoned ADC deputy warden has been assigned to oversee daily operations at the MTC facility.

“The security failures that led to the escape cannot be allowed to occur again,” Ryan said. “The state will insist that MTC continue following ADC policies.”

Private Prison Watchdogs and AZ Department of Corrections: Oversight Needed.

Here's my best resource on the private prison industry. Contact these guys if you have any questions about what's really going on here in Arizona. If you want, Ken will put you on alist-serve he runs with news on prison privatization around the world.

----------------------------------

PRESS RELEASE

August 25, 2010 – Private Corrections Working Group

For Immediate Release

Watchdog Group Calls for Major Overhaul of Private Prison Oversight After Audit Finds “Serious Security Lapses” Led to Escape from Private Prison in Arizona

“A door to a dormitory that was supposed to be locked had been propped open with a rock, helping the inmates escape.”

Phoeniz, AZ – Today, the Private Corrections Working Group (PCWG), a not-for-profit organization that exposes the problems of and educates the public about for-profit private corrections, called for overhaul of the Arizona Department of Corrections’ (ADOC) oversight of the for-profit prison industry, including:

• An immediate halt to all bidding processes involving private prison operators and a moratorium on new private prison beds

• Hold public hearings during the special session to address the problems with for-profit prisons in Arizona

• Enact other cost-cutting measures that not only save money but enhance public safety, like earned release credits, amending truth in sentencing, and restoring judicial discretion.

This action came about after the ADOC released a security audit on August 19^th concerning the July 30 escape of three dangerous prisoners from a private prison in Kingman operated by Management and Training Corp. (MTC) (Coincidentally, that same day the last escapee and an accomplice, John McCluskey and Casslyn Mae Welch, were captured without incident at a campground in eastern Arizona. The other two escaped prisoners, Tracy Province and Daniel Renwick, had been caught previously in Wyoming and Colorado).\

Ken Kopczynski, executive director of PCWG, condemned MTC for the numerous security failures that led to the July 30 escape.

“If MTC had properly staffed the facility, properly trained their employees and properly maintained security at the Kingman prison, this escape would not have occurred. But because MTC is a private company that needs to generate profit, and therefore cut costs related to staffing, training and security, three dangerous inmates were able to escape and at least two innocent victims are dead as a result,” Kopczynski observed.

“That is part of the cost of prison privatization that MTC and other private prison firms don’t want to talk about.”

The murders of an Oklahoma couple, Gary and Linda Hass, whose burned bodies were found in New Mexico on August 4, were tied to McCluskey, Welch and Province.

While MTC said it took responsibility for the escape, vice-president Odie Washington acknowledged the company could not prevent future escapes. “Escapes occur at both public and private” prisons, he stated, ignoring the fact that most secure facilities do not experience any escapes – particularly escapes as preventable as the one at MTC’s Kingman prison.

According to the ADOC security audit, the prison’s perimeter fence registered 89 alarms over a 16-hour period on the day the escape occurred, most of them false. MTC staff failed to promptly check the alarms – sometimes taking over an hour to respond – and light bulbs on a control panel that showed the status of the perimeter fence were burned out. “The system was not maintained or calibrated,” said ADOC Director Charles Ryan.

Further, a perimeter patrol post was not staffed by MTC, and according to a news report from the Arizona Daily Star, “a door to a dormitory that was supposed to be locked had been propped open with a rock, helping the inmates escape.”

Additionally, MTC officials did not promptly notify state corrections officials following the escape and high staff turnover at the facility had resulted in inexperienced employees who were ill-equipped to detect and prevent the break-out. According to MTC warden Lori Lieder, 80 percent of staff at the Kingman prison were new or newly promoted.

Although the ADOC was supposed to be monitoring its contract with MTC to house state prisoners, the security flaws cited in the audit went undetected for years. Ryan faulted human error and “serious security lapses” at the private prison.

Arizona corrections officials removed 148 state prisoners from the MTC facility after the escape due to security concerns. “I lacked confidence in this company’s ability,” said ADOC Director Ryan.

Although it’s a small corporation, since 1995 over a dozen prisoners have escaped from MTC facilities in Utah, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and Eagle Mountain, California –where two inmates were murdered during a riot in 2003.

__________________________

The Private Corrections Working Group (www.privateci.org) is a non-profit citizen watch-dog organization that educates the public about the significant dangers and pitfalls associated with the privatization of correctional services. PCI maintains an online collection of news reports and other resources related to the private prison industry, and believes that for-profit prisons have no place in a free and democratic society.

For further information, please contact:

Ken Kopczynski, Executive Director Alex Friedmann, President

Private Corrections Working Group Private Corrections Institute

1114 Brandt Drive 5331 Mt. View Road #130

Tallahassee, FL 32308 Antioch, TN 37013

850-980-0887 802-257-1342 / 615-495-6568

kenk@privateci.org stein919@gmail.com

Frank Smith, Field Organizer

Private Corrections Working Group

390 SE 110 Avenue

Bluff City, Kansas
620-967-4616 620-441-8882 (cell)

fsmith@kanokla.net