The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

November 07, 2009

KY: Disgusting & inedible food from Aramark was cause of riot at Northpoint

Food caused Northpoint riot, guard says
By Valarie Honeycutt Spears
November 7, 2009

FRANKFORT — A corrections officer at Northpoint Training Center told lawmakers Friday that an August riot at the prison near Danville was caused by inmate anger over bad food and was planned.

"It's over the food," corrections officer Matt Hughes told the Interim Judiciary Committee. "The food was slop."

State corrections officials did not speak at Friday's meeting but have said that as early as next week they will issue a report based on a Kentucky State Police investigation.

State Rep. Kelly Flood, D-Lexington, said that corrections officers at Northpoint said they doubt officials will admit it in the official report but that "it was about the food."

State Rep. Brent Yonts — who has filed a bill that would cancel the $12 million annual contract of Philadelphia-based Aramark Correctional Services, food provider for Kentucky prisons — said the General Assembly should launch its own investigation. He wants lawmakers to go to Northpoint to interview inmates.

Yonts, D-Greenville, said the problems exist at state prisons all over Kentucky. He told the committee of lawmakers that a corrections officer at Green River Correctional Complex in Central City told him about "a very large body of worms that boiled to the top of a pot of soup" that had to be removed from a serving line.

Yonts said human feces was found in a burrito at the Kentucky State Penitentiary at Eddyville and just this week he received information that an Aramark supervisor allowed inmates at Blackburn Correctional Complex in Lexington to eat brownies containing human feces.

Citing numbers showing the state might not be getting its money's worth in the contract from Aramark because fewer inmates were eating in prison cafeterias, Yonts said that the state needed to take back food service operations.

"It's not working," Yonts said.

Aramark spokeswoman Kristine Grow said Friday that the company "had received no official complaints regarding our food before the riot occurred" and had no "absolute proof" of the allegations that Yonts made.

"We stand by the quality of our service and our food, and we look forward to the state's official report," Grow said.

Aramark officials have previously said that there's no evidence that anything but gang violence and anger over yard restrictions caused the riot.

Hughes, however, told lawmakers that the explanation about yard restrictions was "bogus." He said that inmates were betting over high-priced packaged food from the Northpoint canteen because they couldn't eat the cafeteria food.

Hughes also said the gambling was leading to fights and security problems for corrections officers.

In the riot at Northpoint on Aug. 21, inmates burned and damaged buildings, several of which were a total loss. Eight guards and eight inmates suffered minor injuries.

Hughes was one of three corrections officers from various prisons who appeared at Friday's meeting. All said they were members of the union American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Union officials also attended.

Yonts acknowledged he is supportive of unions and of labor, but he said "that has nothing to do with the validity of this bill."

If the bill is passed by the Kentucky General Assembly in 2010, food service to inmates at state prisons could be provided only by state employees, inmates or volunteers. That was the case until January 2005, when the state contracted with Aramark.

The contract was renewed in January 2009 and expires in 2011. State corrections officials have said that with the savings from the Aramark contract, they were able to give corrections officers a nearly 7 percent raise in 2005.

Jennifer Brislin, a spokeswoman for the state Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, said that in October 2005, corrections officers' hours were increased from 37.5 to 40 hours a week, resulting in a 6.67 percent increase.

Meanwhile, lawmakers who heard the testimony said they wanted a special meeting with Department of Corrections officials and representatives of Aramark to find out the truth.

"It's only one side," state Rep. Harry Moberly, D-Richmond, said of the allegations raised Friday. He said that lawmakers could have a "direct impact" on fixing the situation if the complaints were valid.

Rep. Stan Lee, R-Lexington, said he had doubts about the allegations: "I find it amazing that the riot would be based on food."

But Hughes, the Northpoint corrections officer, was adamant: "The reason that it happened was poor food," he said.
http://www.kentucky.com/news/local/story/1008801.html

Posted by lois at 07:45 PM | Comments (0)

November 06, 2009

Grants NM: Chamber of Commerce and Prison work to keep CCA prison for women open

Community works to keep women’s prison open
By Donald Jaramillo
Beacon publisher/managing editor
November 5, 2009

GRANTS - An emergency community relations meeting organized by the New Mexico Women's Correction Facility and supported by the Grants/Cibola County Chamber of Commerce in effort to keep the facility open was held on Nov. 5 at La Ventana Steak House. Area prisons and law enforcement agencies regularly meet monthly, however, because of the possible closure of the women's facility in Grants, this month's meeting was identified as an emergency meeting in effort to keep the women's correctional facility open.

New Mexico Secretary of Corrections Joe Williams recently announced that if Governor Bill Richardson approves and signs the proposed budget cuts, his department would be forced to close two prisons, one being the women's facility in Grants. The other prison is located in Roswell.

The facility employs approximately 150 people and its closure could make a substantial effect on the local economy. The facility currently houses 590 women and is managed by Corrections Corporation of America.

NMWCF Warden Assistant Lisa Riley said the meeting was to update the community on the possible closure and to organize efforts to fight back in order to keep the facility open. Contact numbers of area legislators were handed out at the meeting along with copies of a letter published in today's Beacon on page 4. A group is also being organized to visit the governor soon.

The budget cuts proposed were passed by the New Mexico State Legislature during the recent special session called by the governor.

For more information on the effort call the chamber at 287-4802 or the women's prison at 287-2941.
http://www.cibolabeacon.com/articles/2009/11/05/news/doc4af367fc9522e854703147.txt

Posted by lois at 04:09 PM | Comments (0)

MI: Former Youth Prison Owned by GEO Bids for BOP for immigrants

Hearing on Lake County prison set
Contract with U.S. could bring 327 jobs to Baldwin

Kevin Braciszeski - Daily News Staff Writer

Friday, November 6, 2009
BALDWIN — The closed — and recently expanded — prison near Baldwin is being considered as a possible home for low-security federal prisoners from foreign countries.

That designation would create an estimated 327 jobs, with most paying $20 an hour or more.

There is competition for that role, however, coming from Lake City, Fla., where a company has proposed building a prison if it receives a contract from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

Area residents will have a chance Tuesday, Nov. 24 to comment on the issue during a public hearing scheduled for 5 p.m.

Paul Griffith estimated 135 people attended the BOP’s July 7 public scoping hearing on the issue at Baldwin and he expects many people will also attend the public hearing Nov. 24.

“This community of Baldwin realizes what 220 jobs mean and what it means when they are taken away,” Griffith said about the prison, which closed in 2005.

About 22 percent of those employees lived in Lake County with the other 78 percent living in neighboring communities in Mason, Manistee, Oceana, Newaygo, Mecosta, Osceola and Wexford counties.

Baldwin prison history

The Geo Group owns the currently empty prison and is spending about $60 million to expand the facility by 1,225 beds to potentially attract contracts to house prisoners from different states or the federal government. It now has 1,725 beds.

Construction of the facility — which was formerly known as the Michigan Youth Correctional Facility and originally operated by what was then known at Wackenhut Corrections of Florida — began in 1998 and it opened as a “punk prison” for up to 480 13- to 19-year-old boys and young men.

It closed in 2005 and about 220 people had to find new jobs.

The corporation changed its name to The GEO Group and is calls the Lake County prison building the North Lake Correctional Facility. GEO is seeking a contract for housing federal government prisoners.

Baldwin vs. Lake City Fla.

The federal government is now seeking a new, privately owned prison to house 900 to 2,500 low-security male prisoners who are not American citizens.

The BOP will choose between the existing North Lake Correctional Facility near Baldwin, which has the capacity to house 1,889 inmates, according to the BOP’s draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) on the issue, and an as-yet unbuilt prison near Lake City, Fla., that would house up to 1,268 inmates.

If the contract is awarded to Lake City, the contractor would have one year to construct the facility.

Among the findings listed in the DEIS are:

• locating the prisoners at either site would not result in significant adverse impacts to the environment.

• beneficial economic impacts are expected in the Baldwin area with the creation of 327 permanent jobs; and are expected in Lake City with new permanent jobs there and the short-term gains from construction activities.

• neither alternative is expected to cause significant negative impacts on community services, including emergency services, hospitals and schools.

• roads at both sites would be able to handle traffic increases associated with the prisons.

• neither alternative would cause a significant impact on air quality.

• neither alternative would cause a significant impact on noise levels.

• no historic properties near the Baldwin facility would be impacted by the contract, and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians concurred. The southern half of the Lake City site was identified as a prehistoric site, but it is not eligible for listing on the National Register of Historical Places due to prior extensive disturbances.

• the contract would not cause impact on the geology, topography, soils or vegetation at the Baldwin site because the facility already exists. There would be minor impacts to the topography and soils at the Lake City site as it is cleared for construction of a prison. Wetlands are also present at the Lake City site.

• an excess level of lead was found in a groundwater sample taken about 800 feet north of the Baldwin facility and a potential exists for the contaminated groundwater to migrate. The Lake City site does not have an environmental condition that would indicate the presence of hazardous contaminants or petroleum products.

Next

The BOP is accepting comments on the DEIS and people can make them in person during the 5 p.m. Nov. 24 public hearing at Webber Township Hall or send them in writing to Richard A. Cohn, Chief, Capacity Planning and Site Selection Branch, Federal Bureau of Prisons, 320 First St. NW, Washington, DC, 20534.

Cohn’s telephone number is (202) 514-6470.

The public comment period on the issue began Oct. 30 and is scheduled to end Dec. 14.
http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news.php?story_id=46485

Posted by lois at 03:53 PM | Comments (0)

November 05, 2009

Focus on “Criminal Aliens” Increases Demand for Private Immigrant Detention Business – According to New Profit Reports

Focus on “Criminal Aliens” Increases Demand for Private Immigrant Detention Business – According to New Profit Reports
5 November 2009

From the Business of Detention http://www.businessofdetention.com/
In earnings reports released this week the nation’s two largest private prison operators cited “significant growth opportunities” for detaining immigrants, driven largely by the Obama administration’s emphasis on detaining “criminal aliens.”

The GEO Group – an international private prison operator that draws about 75 percent of its revenue from controlling a quarter of the U.S. private prison industry – said it believes that “this federal initiative to target, detain, and deport “criminal aliens” throughout the country will continue to drive the need for immigration detention beds over the next several years.”

A Third Quarter earnings report released on Monday shows The GEO Group is adding another 1,100 beds to its Aurora, Colorado, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center for a total of 1,532 beds. As part of its renewed contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the continued management of our Northwest Detention Center, capacity there will be increased from 1,030 to 1,575 beds.

Today Corrections Corporation of America – which manages more than 50 percent of all prison beds under private contract in the United States – said in its Third Quarter earnings report that revenue from its federal customers increased 4.9 percent, “primarily driven by the commencement of our new management contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons at our newly constructed Adams County Correctional Center.” This facility in Natchez, Mississippi houses 2,567 “criminal alien offenders – low-security illegal immigrants who committed offenses in the United States and will be returned to their country of origin upon completion of their sentence.”

The company’s newly appointed CEO, Damon Hininger, told investors during a conference call that the company continues to focus on filling vacant capacity. He said he was pleased with an increase of 1,300 detainees in CCA’s U.S. Marshall’s facilities since January 2009. The company recently completed renovations of its 502-bed North Georgia Detention Center. It began receiving detainees from ICE in October and currently houses about 100 detainees there.

Hininger said CCA has its eye on an ICE contract to build and operate a 2,200-bed detention center in Los Angeles, and expects a procurement as early as December, though the company is not listed among the interested vendors on a government website listing the request for proposals for the contract.

Funding for expanded immigrant detention is provided in the FY2010 budget for the Department of Homeland Security, of which ICE is a member agency. President Obama signed the budget into law on October 29. It includes $5.4 for ICE, about half a billion more than in FY2009. From this amount, $2.5 million is allocated for detention and removal operations, including $1.5 million for the identification and removal of “criminal aliens” who are at large or already incarcerated. At least $200 million is provided for the Secure Communities program, which began in 2008 to screen for undocumented immigrants by taking the fingerprints of anyone booked into a local jail and checking for a match in ICE’s database.

Critics like Joan Friedland, Immigration Policy Director for the National Immigration Law Center, have noted that as of March 22, 2009, “19,495 individuals were identified as undocumented through the Secure Communities program. Of these, only 1,436 were identified as ‘Level 1 criminals.’ The rest were arrested for lesser crimes, which include minor traffic offenses like driving without a license.”
http://www.businessofdetention.com/2009/11/05/secure-communities-increases-demand-for-private-detention-business/

Posted by lois at 05:06 PM | Comments (0)

Corrections Corporation of America Announces Third Quarter 2009 Financials

Corrections Corporation of America Announces Third Quarter 2009 Financial Results
Marketwire
Third Quarter EPS of $0.39, or $0.33 Excluding Special Items
November 04, 2009: 04:05 PM ET

Corrections Corporation of America (NYSE: CXW) (the "Company" or "CCA"), the nation's largest provider of corrections management services to government agencies, announced today its financial results for the third quarter and nine-month period ended September 30, 2009.
extensive financial review at:
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0555368.htm

Posted by lois at 09:43 AM | Comments (0)

November 04, 2009

CA to send 1,300 prisoners to CCA Prison in OK

California sending inmates to Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY, Nov 04, 2009 (Tulsa World - McClatchy-Tribune California officials plan to send more than 1,300 inmates to a private prison in Sayre.

Corrections Corporation of America, which runs the North Fork Correctional Facility in Sayre, says the move will create about 200 jobs, company spokesman Steve Owen said.

CCA houses 7,900 California inmates in its facilities in various states.

Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, said moving California prisoners to the Sayre prison "should lessen some of the political pressure at the Capitol to fill the empty private beds with Department of Corrections inmates."

He said that area of the state needs jobs and that the added prisoners will create jobs with benefits.

Terrill is chairman of the House Public Safety and Judiciary Subcommittee, which oversees the budget of the Department of Corrections.

The California prisoners will be housed in medium-security space, said Renee Watkins, administrator of private prisons and jails for the DOC.

The inmates are expected to arrive in December or January, she said.

Private prisons in Oklahoma now house 4,849 out-of-state inmates from California and Arizona, Watkins said.

The Sayre prison holds 1,036 California inmates. The Diamondback Correctional Facility in Watonga, which is also run by CCA, holds 2,053 Arizona inmates, she said.

The Great Plains Correctional Facility in Hinton holds 1,760 Arizona inmates, she said. That prison is run by Cornell Cos.

Private prisons in the state also hold 4,725 Oklahoma offenders, Watkins said.

Posted by lois at 04:23 PM | Comments (0)

" Missouri Department of Corrections calls prison population boom no problem" and scroll down for a link to the blog National Public Service Council to Abolish Private Prisons

Missouri Department of Corrections calls prison population boom no problem
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 | 12:01 a.m. CST
BY Cheston McGuire

JEFFERSON CITY — An all-time high number of inmates in Missouri prisons has officials searching for the reasons.

Corrections Department spokeswoman Jacqueline Lapine said three factors are probably leading to the prison population growth: more crimes being committed, more stringent sentencing and, in some areas such as St. Louis, an attempt to push cases through the courts more quickly.

The high of 30,720 inmates has dropped off by about a dozen since originally announced at the end of September by the Corrections Department. Corrections officials said the number does not worry the department. No matter what, officials said, they are more than ready to handle the large number of prisoners.

One Missouri legislator disagreed, however, with the department's statement that the high number is "not a problem."

Rep. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, said Missouri prisons have "severe overcrowding" that creates many problems, such as safety concerns.

For one thing, it is harder to manage the large number of prisoners, Hoskins said. Because of that, the safety of the prisoners, guards and staff comes into question.

"These people have a dangerous enough job as it is; we need to make sure they're safe," Hoskins said.

Between July 2008 and the record high in September, the state's prison population rose 2.3 percent, adding 687 inmates.

These numbers, while high for Missouri, do not pose a problem of forcing early release for some prisoners because of overcrowding, Lapine said.

As of Monday, about 500 vacancies were available for prisoners. If necessary, certain facilities, such as the women's facility in Chillicothe, can be opened for more prisoners.

One factor contributing to the high prison population is a 39 percent increase since July 2008 in incoming inmates who have been sentenced for a new or first offense, Lapine said.

The sentence length tends to be longer for this type of offender. Their average sentence is three years, while parole returnees, for example, average a one-year sentence. The number of parole violators has risen only 5 percent, said David Oldfield, Corrections Department director of research and evaluation.

Hoskins said an increased prison population is "a problem we have to take in the legislature," and he said Missouri lawmakers should further research other options, like private prisons.

Missouri has two private prisons, in Holden and Bethany. Hoskins said there may need to be more. Creating more private prisons is "a viable option," he said, but first he would like to make sure that the two Missouri has are being used efficiently.

Hoskins represents Missouri's 121st House District, which includes Holden.

The two private prisons house inmates moved as a result of overcrowding in Missouri and other states.

Another option that could decrease the number or people sentenced to prison would be alternative sentencing for minor drug offenses, said Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia.

"Treatment through drug court is a more cost-effective method for some drug offenders, rather than prison," he said.

Oldfield said the prison population increase from last year is relatively low compared to the past 30 years.

Since July 2008, 1.9 prisoners have been added each day, Oldfield said, but over the past 30 years, the average daily increase was more than 2.5 prisoners.

"While our numbers are high — and granted it's not a huge spike — we have plenty of room to accommodate those intakes," Lapine said.
---------------
Comments
William Thomas November 3, 2009 | 1:26 p.m.

INCARCERATING PEOPLE "FOR PROFIT" IS IN A WORD....WRONG!
Even if one does not ask or pretends not to see the rope and the flashing red flag draped around the philosophical question standing solemnly at attention in the middle of the room, it remains apparent that the mere presence of a private “for profit” driven prison business in our country undermines the U.S Constitution and subsequently the credibility of the American criminal justice system. In fact, until all private prisons in America have been abolished and outlawed, “the promise” of fairness and justice at every level of this country’s judicial system will remain unattainable. We must restore the principles and the vacant promise of our judicial system. Our government cannot continue to "job-out" its obligation and neglect its duty to the individuals confined in the correctional and rehabilitation facilities throughout this nation, nor can it ignore the will of the people that it was designed to serve and protect. There is urgent need for the good people of this country to emerge from the shadows of indifference, apathy, cynicism, fear, and those other dark places that we migrate to when we are overwhelmed by frustration and the loss of hope.
My hope is that you will support the National Public Service Council to Abolish Private Prisons (NPSCTAPP) with a show of solidarity by signing "The Single Voice Petition"
http://www.petitiononline.com/gufree2/petition.html

Please visit our website for further information: http://www.npsctapp.blogspot.com

Posted by lois at 04:12 PM | Comments (0)

November 02, 2009

NYC: Varick Street jail for detained immigrants run by Alaska Native Corporation bills ICE $227.68 for each prisoner

Immigrant Jail Tests U.S. View of Legal Access
By NINA BERNSTEIN
Published: November 1, 2009- NY Times

A startling petition arrived at the New York City Bar Association in October 2008, signed by 100 men, all locked up without criminal charges in the middle of Manhattan.

Daniel I. Miller, a former detainee at the Varick Street center, complained of abuses there. “These people have no rules,” he said.

In vivid if flawed English, it described cramped, filthy quarters where dire medical needs were ignored and hungry prisoners were put to work for $1 a day.

The petitioners were among 250 detainees imprisoned in an immigration jail that few New Yorkers know exists. Above a post office, on the fourth floor of a federal office building in Greenwich Village, the Varick Street Detention Facility takes in 11,000 men a year, most of them longtime New Yorkers facing deportation without a lawyer.

Galvanized by the petition, the bar association sent volunteers into the jail to offer legal counsel to detainees — a strategy the Obama administration has embraced as it tries to fix the entire detention system.

“Immigration and Customs Enforcement considers the access to legal services at Varick Street as a good model,” said Sean Smith, a spokesman for Janet Napolitano, secretary of homeland security, who oversees immigration enforcement.

But the lawyers doing the work have reached a different conclusion, after finding that most detainees with a legal claim to stay in the United States are routinely transferred to more remote jails before they can be helped. The lawyers say their effort has laid bare the fundamental unfairness of a system where immigrant detainees, unlike criminal defendants, can be held without legal representation and moved from state to state without notice.

In a report to be issued on Monday, the association’s City Bar Justice Center is calling for all immigrant detainees to be provided with counsel. And an article to be published this month in The Fordham Law Review treats the Varick jail as a case study in the systemic barriers to legal representation.

The new focus on Varick highlights the conflict between two forces: the administration’s plans to revamp detention, and current policies that feed the flow of detainees through the system as it is now. A disjointed mix of county jails and privately run prisons, where mistreatment and medical neglect have been widely documented, the detention network churns roughly 400,000 detainees through 32,000 beds each year.

“Any attempt to get support or services for them is stymied because you don’t know where they’re going to end up,” said Lynn M. Kelly, the director of the Justice Center.

When she asked that the lawyers’ letters of legal advice be forwarded to detainees who had been transferred from Varick, she said the warden balked, saying he had to consider the financial interests of his private shareholders: 1,200 members of a central Alaskan tribe whose dividends are linked to Varick’s profits under a $79 million, three-year federal contract.

Federal officials would not discuss their transfer policies, but asked for patience as they try to make the detention system more humane and cost-effective.

“We inherited an inadequate detention system from the previous administration that does not meet ICE’s current priorities or needs,” said Matthew Chandler, a Homeland Security spokesman. Officials say they are committed to a complete overhaul, including less-penal detention centers with better access to lawyers.

The volunteer lawyers and the petition’s author, an ailing refugee from torture in Romania who spent eight months inside Varick, say many problems persist there, though the added scrutiny has led to improvements. Detainees who want a Gideon Bible no longer have to pay the commissary $7. Immigration officials are more responsive when a lawyer complains that a detainee in pain is not getting treatment.

But most detainees do not have a lawyer, and the few who do include men who have fallen prey to incompetent or fraudulent practitioners. Recurrent complaints include frigid temperatures, mildew and meals that leave detainees hungry and willing to clean for $1 a day to pay for commissary food. That wage is specified in the contract with the Alaskan company, which budgeted 23,000 days of such work the first year, and collects a daily rate of $227.68 for each detainee.

The Alaska connection is one of the stranger twists in the jail’s fitful history. Opened as a federal immigration detention center in 1984, Varick became chronically overcrowded after 1998, when new laws mandated the detention of all noncitizens who had ever committed a crime on a list of deportable offenses, expanded to include misdemeanors like drug possession.

A Dominican man there died of untreated pneumonia in 1999 — the first reported death in the nationwide detention system, which now counts 106 since October 2003.

The Varick facility, which is on the corner of Houston Street, fell short of national detention standards adopted in 2000, because it lacks any outdoor recreation space. But under a grandfather clause, it was allowed to remain open until 9/11, when the terror attack, blocks away, forced its evacuation. For years, it was shuttered. It quietly reopened in February 2008, operated by Ahtna Technical Services Inc., a subsidiary of Ahtna Inc. — still with no access to fresh air.

As an Alaska Native corporation, Ahtna has won numerous federal contracts without having to compete with other companies; last year it paid its tribal shareholders about $500 each in dividends. It hires a Texas subcontractor to supply guards and transportation, along with the shackles and belly chains routinely used on detainees being moved in or out.

Varick’s population includes illegal immigrants, asylum-seekers and legal immigrants who face deportation because they have past criminal convictions. Almost half of those screened by the volunteer lawyers have already been in detention for four to six months, according to the bar association report, and nearly 40 percent have legal grounds to contest deportation.

A few, the report says, have a possible claim to citizenship, which would make their detention unlawful. But the volunteers, including lawyers from 16 corporate firms, say they can offer only rudimentary legal triage to a handful of detainees a week.

The Department of Justice is asking Congress for money to expand the law project, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement invites Washington officials to visit the weekly triage sessions. The agency allowed a reporter to observe a session, but not to tour the jail. On a recent Thursday, only 11 of 35 detainees who had signed up made it into one of five glassed-in booths where they could consult with pairs of legal volunteers.

One, a 25-year-old Mexican, had been delivering food for an Italian restaurant on Madison Avenue until his detention. After a week in Varick, the government had not served him with a “notice to appear” telling why he was detained and setting the date and place where he would be heard by an immigration judge.

Volunteers were researching his case a week later when he was transferred to Atlanta. It could just as easily have been Louisiana or Texas, far from any free legal help, said Maria Navarro, a Legal Aid lawyer who supervises the volunteers. Even in cities, she said, lawyers are reluctant to represent detainees who may be suddenly moved far away.

Another 25-year-old, who had come to New York as a legal immigrant from Belize at age 2, told lawyers he had worked at Kentucky Fried Chicken to support his 5-year-old daughter, a citizen, when his sickle-cell anemia permitted. After a standing huddle, the lawyers told him that because his notice listed old convictions for possession of marijuana, he was ineligible for release on bond or with an electronic monitoring bracelet.

A Haitian, who had served time for at least one drug-related offense, had a lawyer but wanted a second opinion after being held in Varick for 16 months. He described himself as a barber, interpreter and legal resident of Brooklyn for 23 years.

“It is double jeopardy,” he protested, nursing a swollen jaw with teeth missing. “I become a diabetic here, because of anxiety, stress and suicidal conditions.”

Yet a detainee from the former Soviet Union praised the jail. “Varick is heaven” compared with some county jails in New Jersey (Bergen and Monmouth) and Florida, he said, citing abuse by anti-immigrant guards.

A century-long line of Supreme Court decisions holds that immigration detention is not a punishment or deprivation of liberty, and does not require legal counsel for fundamental fairness.

But Daniel I. Miller, 39, the Romanian whose petition reached the bar association, said his own case showed how high the stakes can be. Mr. Miller, a chef, fled his native land in 1994 after the secret police mutilated him for advocating gay rights. In New York, he had already been paroled for a criminal conviction — for signing his partner’s name on a contract — when immigration authorities detained him.

To no avail, records show, his lawyer and an outraged doctor at St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan urged his release from Varick for treatment of tumors on his liver. Instead, he was transferred in April to the Orange County Jail in Goshen, N.Y., where he said he also circulated a petition. The authorities there accused him of trying to start a riot and sent him to segregation with a murder defendant.

“These people have no rules, that’s the main problem,” Mr. Miller said, speaking from the Midtown office where he is starting an organic catering business. He credits his lawyer, Howard Brill, for that turnaround: On Sept. 2, after almost a year in custody, an immigration judge granted him the right to stay in the United States.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/nyregion/02detain.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion

Posted by lois at 09:01 PM | Comments (0)

October 31, 2009

Standish MI: Prison Being Considered for Guantanamo or PA prisoners to be closed for now

Michigan to Close Prison Considered for Gitmo Detainees
By ALEX P. KELLOGG
Wall Street Journal- Oct 31, 2009
A state prison in Michigan that is being considered as a potential location for holding terror detainees from Guantanamo Bay is expected to close Saturday, a state Department of corrections spokesman said. The 600-bed maximum-security prison is a victim of the state's financial troubles.

The closure of the Standish prison will eliminate 340 jobs. Residents and politicians in Standish, a town of 1,600 near the coast along Saginaw Bay, first embraced the possibility of housing Guantanamo detainees before cooling to the idea. But a number of local and county officials continue to be in favor of the move.

President Barack Obama committed earlier this year to closing the prison at Guantanamo, but it isn't clear where all the detainees will go. An administration official said in an email Thursday that a decision on the matter would be made in the "coming weeks," one of the first clear indications the White House is close to a decision.

Federal officials toured Standish in April to assess its suitability to house Guantanamo detainees. A military penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., was also among sites considered.

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, had expressed concerns about taking the detainees, saying she would need assurances from the White House that moving terrorist suspects to Michigan wouldn't pose a risk to the state.

Ms. Granholm had hoped to keep the Standish prison open by offering space there to a state in need of additional capacity, and Michigan kept the prison open months longer than expected with this in mind.

Michigan is one of six states Pennsylvania is considering to help with overcrowding in its prisons. Pennsylvania is considering relocating as many as 1,500 inmates out of state.

"Quite frankly…we are still hopeful that we'll be able to find another use for that facility," said Liz Boyd, a spokeswoman for Ms. Granholm, this week. "The bottom line is we have a budget to handle."

The state has closed more than a half-dozen prisons this year alone. The move is part of an effort to slash roughly $100 million from its prison budget and help the state address a multibillion-dollar budget deficit. The last prisoners were moved out of the facility Wednesday, a state Department of Corrections spokesman said.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra, a Republican and a candidate for governor in next year's election, is in favor of bringing prisoners from other states but is opposed to Guantanamo detainees being housed in the state.

"It'll be a danger," he said Thursday. Standish "will become a potential target."

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A10

Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Posted by lois at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)

Navajo Reservation: LA Times Story Celebrating Building New Jails with Federal Stimulus Money

Navajo hope stimulus cash closes a revolving prison door

Criminals at Navajo holding facilities like this one in Kayenta, Ariz., are usually released within a day of being booked. Kayenta and two other towns will get new jails next year, thanks to a grant from the Justice Department.

October 31, 2009-- LA Times

Reporting from Tuba City, Ariz. - More than 50,000 people are arrested across the Navajo reservation each year -- yet there are only 59 jail beds here.

Officials say the lack of jail space has led to a revolving door for criminals, most of whom are released within a day of being booked, and few of whom serve out an entire sentence.

"It's been a horrendous situation," said Hope MacDonald-Lonetree, a Navajo council delegate. "You can't assure the safety of the police and judges and the prosecutors when you have the perpetrators running around. And it affects the courts because people aren't willing to be witnesses."

Tribal leaders are hoping that may change soon, thanks to a $224-million Justice Department stimulus grant that has been set aside to build and repair jails on Indian land. The Navajo Nation, the country's largest tribe, received the biggest share of the money -- more than $74 million for the construction of three new jails.

The jails will add 144 beds to the Navajo reservation and will house alcohol counseling programs to help curb the high rate of repeat alcohol-related arrests, which corrections officials say is the main cause of overcrowding.

The money comes after years of unsuccessful Navajo lobbying for more federal help with law and order.

The federal government is required to fund jails on reservations as part of its trust responsibility to the nation's tribes. The Bureau of Indian Affairs pays to run jails on Indian land, and the Justice Department pays to build them.

But the BIA has a bad track record with tribal jails -- a 2004 Interior Department Inspector General report of Indian detention facilities found that some "were egregiously unsafe, unsanitary, and a hazard to both inmates and staff alike."

The Justice Department has for the last several years had an annual budget of less than $10 million to construct facilities and fund repairs for the 80 or so existing jails on reservations across the country.

Indian advocates say overcrowded and underfunded tribal jails have contributed to disproportionately high rates of crime in Indian country. According to a Justice Department survey, Indians experience almost twice as much violence as the rest of America.

On the Navajo reservation, which straddles 27,000 square miles of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, tribal officials say gang activity is at an all-time high, and chronic alcoholism and substance abuse have helped make domestic violence and drunk driving common.

There have been no jail facilities constructed here since a juvenile facility was built in the 1980s.

Two years ago, two of the tribe's main jails were condemned and closed, leaving just three jails, in the towns of Shiprock, Window Rock and Crownpoint. Those facilities -- cinder-block structures built in the 1950s and 1960s -- are barely habitable, corrections officials say, and are so overcrowded that jail workers are frequently forced to release prisoners early to make room for new ones.

"We're always playing musical chairs -- or musical jail beds," said Delores Greyeyes, who heads the Navajo Nation Department of Corrections. "We just pump [prisoners] through."

Navajo courts are responsible for prosecuting only misdemeanor crimes -- such as burglary, battery and drunk driving -- and the maximum punishment for a conviction is one year in jail and a $5,000 fine. Inmates accused of committing felonies are transferred to prisons off the reservation and are prosecuted federally.

Peterson Wilson, the prosecutor for the Tuba City District, one of nine judicial districts on the Navajo Nation, said, "A lot of crimes go unreported because there's an impression that we won't hold the criminal." And prosecutors and judges are disinclined to push for harsh sentences when they know there's no place to house criminals, he said.

He hopes the new jails, which will be built next year in Tuba City; Kayenta, Ariz.; and Ramah, N.M., will help fix that.

Tuba City, the biggest town on the reservation, received the largest single Justice Department grant -- $38 million for a 62-bed jail. It will offer inmates mental health and alcohol rehabilitation counseling.

Although alcohol is illegal on the Navajo Nation, alcoholism is widespread, and the vast majority of inmates are booked for public intoxication. Jails have become a catch-all for people who need help, McDonald-Lonetree said. She hopes the rehab programs will help stop that.

"We don't want to have to build another 100-bed facility in the future. We don't want to go into the business of warehousing individuals like the rest of America does," she said. "We want to rehabilitate people."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-navajo-jails31-2009oct31,0,7038957.story

Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times

Posted by lois at 10:58 AM | Comments (0)

IA: Possible layoffs unsettle prison guards and workers

Possible layoffs unsettle prison officers, workers

Posted By William Petroski On October 30, 2009

Newton, Ia. — The mood was tense and somber at the Newton Correctional Facility during Thursday’s first shift change, as rank-and-file prison workers await the outcome of union negotiations that could determine their fates.

The Newton prison, which houses 1,100 inmates, is among nine state prisons and eight community corrections districts where 515 Department of Corrections workers face layoffs if budget-cut negotiations falter between union leaders and Gov. Chet Culver.

As correctional officers and other workers streamed into the Newton facility in the pre-dawn darkness Thursday, some employees were openly critical of Culver and other politicians and voiced opposition to reopening union contracts. Twenty-six jobs are in jeopardy here among 321 employees, and 28 vacant jobs won’t be filled.Employees also expressed worries about prison security if more employees lose their jobs. The budget cuts, which would hit the Department of Corrections harder than any other state agency, would include elimination of 262 jobs now vacant.

“People feel disappointed. They feel like the governor hasn’t supported us,” said correctional officer Edwin Dean, who has worked at Newton’s medium-security unit since it opened in May 1997. The prison also houses a minimum-security facility for inmates nearing release from prison.

“I think the state of Iowa should honor the contract that we have,” Dean said. “I don’t think they should have layoffs.”

Dale Higgins, who has been a correctional officer for four and a half years, doesn’t think prison employees will be willing to give up previously negotiated pay raises. Prison workers have made contract concessions in the past, he said, and he opposes doing it again.

“It’s time for the public to pay for the services that they want. Not on our backs this time,” Higgins said.

However, another worker, John Guthrie, said he is resigned to having union officials make some sacrifices at the bargaining table.

“Nobody is going to like it, but everybody is going to have to do their part,” Guthrie said. “You can’t have a recovery if you are laying people off.”

Guthrie described the mood inside the institution as “very tense.”

“Everybody is waiting for the ax to fall,” he said. “It affects everybody. Not only seeing your co-workers go through this, but also for the added risk that is there when you are short-staffed.”

Corrections spending relatively low in Iowa

Culver has set a deadline of Nov. 6 for unions to agree to concessions to avoid layoffs for the final $45 million in a package of $565 million in budget reductions throughout state government, a 10percent cut in general fund spending.

Danny Homan, president of the Iowa council of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents most Iowa prison employees, has agreed to meet privately with the governor to discuss reducing layoffs. “We are unsure of where these talks will lead, other than to say AFSCME will do its part to consider all options that are put on the table,” he said in a statement.

Culver is also asking the Iowa United Professionals and the State Police Officers Council to amend their contracts. The Iowa Department of Public Safety faces layoffs of 53 state workers, including 20 state troopers.

Those arguing against layoffs in the corrections system can point to data showing Iowa ranks low on prison spending, compared with other states. Iowa ranked second-lowest in the nation in per-capita spending on corrections, at $121, as of 2006, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. The only state lower was North Dakota, at $116. The national average was $210.

Iowa has the 11th-lowest incarceration rate in the nation, putting 291 people behind bars for every 100,000 residents, a federal report shows. The report, based on June 2008 prison populations, shows the average state puts away 450.

The Department of Corrections had an annual budget of about $357 million from the state’s general fund before Culver ordered the 10 percent budget cut. The Department of Public Safety had a pre-cut budget of $89 million from the state’s general fund.

Workers rank security among top worries

Some of workers’ biggest concerns center on security, and some of the biggest security concerns in Iowa’s system center on the Iowa State Penitentiary at Fort Madison, where Iowa’s most dangerous inmates are housed.

Four towers used to monitor the prison yard would be left unstaffed by proposed cuts, although towers would still be staffed in critical areas, state officials say. Two inmates escaped from the Fort Madison prison in November 2005 by climbing over a wall where a tower was left unstaffed because of budget cuts. Both inmates were eventually recaptured.

Newton prison officials have said in budget documents that proposed spending cuts would reduce essential security duties, such as searches of cells, to below acceptable levels.

Assaults by inmates on prison staffers are routine in Iowa’s prisons; they happened 29 times statewide during the four months ending June 30, ranging from punching correctional officers to throwing food or spitting on them. Officers are worried that assaults could intensify or become more difficult to stop if fewer of them are in cellhouses.

Staff and inmates are also worried about the impact on rehabilitation efforts.

Budget documents say the layoffs will lead to reductions in substance abuse treatment, delaying the release of convicts or decreasing the number of inmates who obtain treatment before they are released from prison.

“We try to do a good job here,” said Michelle Gonzales, a correctional counselor the past 16 years. “We try to keep everybody safe and rehabilitate people. We don’t want to lose any of that.”

Frustration sets in for veteran officers

Correctional officer Roger Filson, who has spent nearly 30 years working in Iowa’s prison system, said he isn’t worried about losing his job. But he knows plenty about state government layoffs, having seen them four or five times during his career. In addition, his wife lost a job of more than 20 years when Maytag Corp. closed its appliance plant in Newton.

“It is sad to see programs eliminated and people’s livelihoods eliminated,” Filson said. “I don’t know why the state waited so long to cut its budget. With the private sector suffering, they had to know it was going to come.”

The prospect of reopening a previously approved labor contract doesn’t thrill Kim Richardson, a correctional officer for 16 years. But if the union takes that step, “I would like to see that from the top down, from all the wardens, all the directors, with everybody taking their pay cuts,” Richardson said. “It is not fair to balance it just on the backs of AFSCME members.”

Culver has said that he and his state agency heads have agreed to accept 10percent pay cuts. In addition, he has ordered 3,258 nonunion employees, including many managers, to take seven days off work without pay between now and the end of the budget year, on June 30.

Part of workers’ frustration stems from the sense that poor decision-making on many fronts — within state and federal government, on Wall Street and in corporate offices of big businesses — have combined to hurt workers.

“It started with the George Bush administration, and I don’t think it is getting any better under Obama right now,” said correctional officer John Hutchins. “Once again, the working man is taking it, and is going to pay for the mistakes of the privileged. When is it going to end?”

Article printed from Des Moines Register Staff Blogs: http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr

URL to article: http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2009/10/30/possible-layoffs-unsettle-prison-officers-workers/

Posted by lois at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)

October 30, 2009

PA Supreme Court Overturns Thousands Convictions By Judge Who Received $2.6 million in Kickbacks Who Sent Teenagers to Private Youth Jails

Pennsylvania Overturns Many Youths’ Convictions
By IAN URBINA - NY Times
Published: October 29, 2009

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday overturned thousands of juvenile-offender convictions handed down by a judge now charged in a corruption scandal.

The judge, Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. of the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas, and Michael T. Conahan, a fellow judge who for a time was the chief of that court, are charged with taking more than $2.6 million in kickbacks from the owner of two privately run youth detention centers in exchange for their sending teenagers there.

The Supreme Court said the conviction of any juvenile who appeared before Judge Ciavarella after Jan. 1, 2003, was invalid. The justices barred the retrial of all but an estimated 100 of those cases.

The decision followed advice the court received from Arthur Grim, a Berks County judge whom it appointed in February to review juvenile cases involving Judges Ciavarella and Conahan.

Judge Ciavarella, who along with Judge Conahan awaits federal trial on charges of income-tax and wire fraud, routinely held juvenile hearings that lasted just minutes, failing to ask the youths before him whether they understood the consequences of waiving their right to a lawyer and pleading guilty.

“We concluded,” the justices wrote Thursday, “that the record supports Judge Grim’s determination that Ciavarella knew he was violating both the law and the procedural rules promulgated by this court applicable when adjudicating the merits of juvenile cases without the knowing, intelligent and voluntary waiver of counsel by the juveniles.”

Under the justices’ ruling, the only cases that will be eligible for retrial are those in which youths are still under court supervision. The district attorney’s office has been directed to notify Judge Grim of those cases it wishes to prosecute again. He will then make a determination on each case.
A version of this article appeared in print on October 30, 2009, on page A18 of the New York edition.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/us/30judges.html?_r=1&ref=us

Posted by lois at 05:41 PM | Comments (0)

October 28, 2009

CA: Three Private Run Prisons to Close

State plans to close two community correctional facilities in Kern
BY JAMES BURGER, Californian staff writer
Monday, Oct 26 2009

Two privately run prisons in Kern County were issued 60-day closure notices Monday by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
McFarland Community Correctional Facility in McFarland and Mesa Verde Correctional Facility in Bakersfield now face closure.
Wardens at both facilities declined to discuss the situation Monday afternoon.

The decision was made because downward trends in the minimum-security inmate population have reduced demand for the services the private prisons provide, said Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
"We just don't have enough inmates to fill these kinds of beds," she said.

According to Monday's announcement, California's 13 community correctional facilities have more than 5,900 beds. But 1,200 of them are not currently used.

Much of the cause can be traced to recent parole reforms that have reduced the state's on-parole population and, as a result, reduced the number of people who violate parole and are sent back to prison, Thornton said.

The state has more than 13,000 fewer people on parole this October than it did in October 2008, she said.

Mesa Verde, located on Golden State Avenue, has a contract to keep 360 minimum-security adult male prisoners, she said. It employs 66 staff, according to an online facility profile and is operated by Cornell Companies, Inc.

McFarland Community is run by The GEO Group and is contracted to take 200 minimum-security male inmates from the state.
Inmates in both facilities will be moved to existing minimum-security state facilities, Thornton said.

Closing the two local facilities -- and a third community prison in Baker -- will save the state $12.7 million in closed contracts and an additional $2.5 million in salaries of the 22 state workers who will be transferred or laid off because of the move, according to the announcement from the Department of Corrections.
Thornton said all three of the closed prisons will have a shot to recreate themselves and serve a state inmate population that is currently underserved.

The department will issue a request for bids next month to open female correctional facilities.
"We only have one community correctional facility for women (in the state)," Thornton said.

Posted by lois at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)

October 24, 2009

Arizona May Put State Prisons in Private Hands

Arizona May Put State Prisons in Private Hands
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
Published: October 23, 2009
The New York Times

FLORENCE, Ariz. — One of the newest residents on Arizona’s death row, a convicted serial killer named Dale Hausner, poked his head up from his television to look at several visitors strolling by, each of whom wore face masks and vests to protect against the sharp homemade objects that often are propelled from the cells of the condemned.

It is a dangerous place to patrol, and Arizona spends $4.7 million each year to house inmates like Mr. Hausner in a super-maximum-security prison. But in a first in the criminal justice world, the state’s death row inmates could become the responsibility of a private company.

State officials will soon seek bids from private companies for 9 of the state’s 10 prison complexes that house roughly 40,000 inmates, including the 127 here on death row. It is the first effort by a state to put its entire prison system under private control.

The privatization effort, both in its breadth and its financial goals, demonstrates what states around the country — broke, desperate and often overburdened with prisoners and their associated costs — are willing to do to balance the books. Arizona officials hope the effort will put a $100 million dent in the state’s roughly $2 billion budget shortfall.

“Let’s not kid ourselves,” said State Representative Andy Biggs, a Republican who supports private prisons. “If we were not in this economic environment, I don’t think we’d be talking about this with the same sense of urgency.”

Private prison companies generally build facilities for a state, then charge them per prisoner to run them. But under the Arizona legislation, a vendor would pay $100 million up front to operate one or more prison complexes. Assuming the company could operate the prisons more cheaply or efficiently than the state, any savings would be equally divided between the state and the private firm.

The privatization move has raised questions — including among some people who work for private prison companies — about the private sector’s ability to handle the state’s most hardened criminals. While executions would still be performed by the state, officials said, the Department of Corrections would relinquish all other day-to-day operations to the private operator and pay a per-diem fee for each prisoner.

“I would not want to be the warden of death row,” said Todd Thomas, the warden of a prison in Eloy, Ariz., run by the Corrections Corporation of America. The company, the country’s largest private prison operator, has six prisons in Arizona with inmates from other states.

“That’s not to say we couldn’t,” Mr. Thomas said. “But the liability is too great. I don’t think any private entity would ever want to do that.”

James Austin, a co-author of a Department of Justice study in 2001 on prison privatization and president of the JFA Institute, a corrections consulting firm, said private companies tended to oversee minimum- and medium-security inmates and had little experience with the most dangerous prisoners.

“As for death row,” Mr. Austin said, “it is a very visible entity, and if something bad happens there, you will have a pretty big news story for the Legislature and governor to explain.”

Arizona is no stranger to private prisons or, for that matter, aggressive privatization efforts (recently, the state put up for sale several government buildings housing executive branch offices in Phoenix). Nearly 30 percent of the state’s prisoners are being held in prisons operated by private companies outside the state’s 10 complexes.

In addition, other states, including Alaska and Hawaii, have contracts with private companies like Corrections Corporation of America to house their prisoners in Arizona.

For advocates of prison privatization, the push here breathes a bit of life into a movement that has been on the decline across the country as cost savings from prison privatizations have often failed to materialize, corrections officers unions have resisted the efforts and high-profile problems in privately run facilities have drawn unwanted publicity

“We have private prisons in Arizona already, and we are very happy with the performance and the savings we get from them,” said Representative John Kavanagh, a Republican who is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and an architect of the new legislation authorizing the privatization. “I think that they are the future of corrections in Arizona.”

Under the legislation, any bidder would have to take an entire complex — many of them mazes of multiple levels of security risks and complexity — and would not be permitted to pick off the cheapest or easiest buildings and inmates. The state also wants to privatize prisoners’ medical care.

Louise Grant, a spokeswoman for Corrections Corporation of America, said the high-security prisoners would be well within the company’s management capabilities. “We expect we will be there to make a proposal to the state” for at least some of its complexes up for bid, Ms. Grant said.

In pure financial terms, it is not clear how well the state would make out with the privatization. The 2001 study for the Department of Justice found that private prisons saved most states little money (there has been no equivalent study since). Indeed, many states, struggling to keep up with the cost of corrections, have closed prisons when possible, and sought changes in sentencing to reduce crowding in the last two years.

As tough sentencing laws and the ensuing increase in prisoners began to press on state resources in the 1980s, private prison companies attracted some states with promises of lower costs. The private prison boom lasted into the 1990s. Throughout the years, there have been high-profile riots, escapes and other violent incidents. The companies also do not generally provide the same wages and benefits as states, which has resulted in resistance from unions and concerns that the private prisons attract less-qualified workers.

Then the federal government stepped in, with a surge of new immigrant prisoners, and began to contract with the private companies. The number of federal prisoners in private prisons in the United States has more than doubled, to 32,712 in 2008 from 15,524 in 2000. The number of state prisoners in privately run prisons has increased to 93,500 from 75,000 in that time.

With bad economic times again driving many decisions about state resources, other states are sure to watch Arizona’s experiment closely.

“There simply isn’t the money to keep these people incarcerated, and the alternative is to free many of them or lower cost,” said Ron Utt, a senior research fellow for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative group whose work for privatization was cited by one Arizona lawmaker.
A version of this article appeared in print on October 24, 2009, on page A1 of the New York edition.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/24/us/24prison.html?_r=1&hpw

Posted by lois at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)

October 23, 2009

Risks and Returns: Exploiting the Immigrant Detention Industry

Risks and Returns: Exploiting the Immigrant Detention Industry
In These Times
October 23, 2009
By Michelle Chen

Last winter, a remote Texas prison convulsed in a cry of outrage, voicing the desperation of the immigration system's silenced captives.

Two recent articles in the Boston Review and Texas Observer reflect on violent uprisings at the Reeves County Detention Center in Pecos last December and January. Tom Barry and Forrest Wilder describe a system of calculated lawlessness in the heart of Dixie.

The clash was driven by detainees' protests about inhumane conditions, particularly poor medical care and overcrowding. The catalyst was the death of Jesus Galindo, an epileptic who had been isolated in solitary confinement. Immigrant detention has become a political flashpoint for the Obama administration amid reports of abuse and miserably inadequate healthcare.

Although the White House recently pledged to improve detention conditions, there's been little real questioning of the economic underpinnings of the system. The Pecos rebellion illustrated the consequences of marrying America's prison-industrial complex with zero-tolerance immigration enforcement.

As he toured various “prison towns” along the U.S.-Mexico border, Barry observed that “all the prisons I saw had two common features: they were managed and operated by private-prison corporations—including two of the world’s largest, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and GEO [which runs Reeves]—and they were located in remote, rural areas, invariably described by locals as being 'in the middle of nowhere.'”

The industry, he says, capitalizes on towns hungering for economic development.

The prison industry introduces the governments of desperate communities to what some call “backdoor financing”: project revenue bonds in the tens of millions of dollars that suddenly make them feel like economic players....

The full cost of the public-private immigrant prisons that now litter the Southwest and elsewhere is not yet known. Most counties and municipalities are still ten to fifteen years away from paying off the bonds.

The private detention sector works much like the crooked lenders who drove the country into financial crisis, building facilities as “speculative” ventures.

Though business slumped during the 1990s, CCA struck gold with the Bush administration's anti-immigrant crackdowns. Reporting on the Hutto family detention center, Margaret Talbot wrote in the New Yorker, “When immigration detention started its precipitate climb following 9/11, private prison companies eagerly offered their empty beds, and the industry was revitalized.”

Wilder describes how the detention boom-bust cycle works in a cash-strapped Texas town:

In the mid-1980s, with the regional economy devastated by the Texas oil bust, local business and government leaders decided to move into a recession-proof industry that was exploding in an increasingly criminalized America: prisons. In 1986, the county built a 300-bed prison. The prison filled rapidly with federal inmates, pumping revenue into the county’s budget and adding decent-paying jobs to the local work force. By 2002, Reeves had 2,000 beds. In 2003, the county completed ­construction on a $39 million, 960-bed unit only to find that the feds had no interest....

While the prison sat empty, payments on the bonds, reduced to junk status, were coming due. On the verge of default, county officials begged the Bush administration to send prisoners and hired Randy DeLay, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s brother, to lobby in Washington, D.C. That’s when Wackenhut Corrections Corp., now GEO Group, rode to the rescue. In November 2003, GEO agreed to take over management of the whole 3,000-bed prison complex and soon struck a deal with the Bureau of Prisons to fill the new unit.

Now cut to winter 2008. Jesus Galindo, a 32-year-old Mexican American who was caught crossing the border illegally, desperately needed careful treatment for his epilepsy, Wilder reports. Instead, he got locked up in solitary and spiraled toward his death. An autopsy traced the death to his epilepsy and noted signs of medical neglect.

According to a report by the National Immigration Forum, it's unclear exactly how many private entities are working under Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but prison corporations are well fed by federal largess.

The $1.7 billion budget for “Custody Operations” provides ICE with funding to maintain its current detention capacity of 33,400 people in over 500 facilities on any given night, including operational expenses....

The two largest private prison companies in the U.S. each receive over ten percent of their revenue directly from ICE, which pays an average per diem fee of $87.99 for every immigrant detainee.

All this despite the Obama administration's acknowledgement that most detainees pose no real public danger. Many could in fact be monitored safely outside prison at a far lower cost to taxpayers. Nonetheless, ICE pushed privatization as a revenue-boosting scheme in its initial budget proposal for fiscal year 2010.

Even in the midst of a recession, the detention market is looking bullish. Just as Homeland Security announced its detention reform initiatives earlier this month, Business of Detention project reported, CCA unveiled a brand new 500-bed facility in Gainesville, Georgia.

A company spokesperson boasted, “Our positive impact, for more than a decade, on the State of Georgia is considerable, in terms of bringing strong careers to hard-working Georgians and much needed taxes and local dollars.”

Profit-driven immigrant detention is just one facet of a much larger epidemic that is destroying poor communities of color across the country. Yet Pecos is an especially striking display of the cruel economics of mass incarceration.

The detainees, as well as those running their prisons, have more in common than they probably know. As economic desperation propels migrants to seek work across the border, impoverished American communities, which are conditioned to dehumanize immigrant workers, gravitate toward a prison business underwritten by draconian federal laws.

And so the machine whirs on, muffling the cries of immigrants like Galindo. Once they're inside, it seems, no one has to listen anymore.
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/5079/risks_and_returns_exploiting_the_
immigrant_detention_industry/

Posted by lois at 09:47 PM | Comments (0)

October 22, 2009

Hedge fund manager sees big bucks in CCA

Ackman was also quick to brush off any concerns about falling occupancy rates at CCA, arguing that the company's aggressive building of new prisons in recent years boosted its total number of beds, and occupancy will rise as those beds are filled. Not to mention that the business is "like a hotel where you lock in the guests, and if they try to escape you shoot them."

Value Investing
Jailhouse Shock
Steve Schaefer, 10.21.09
Forbes
Looking to cash out? Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman sees big bucks in a private prison operator.

William Ackman has built a career on actively investing in companies like Target, pushing for changes to increase shareholder value. But in one of Ackman's latest investments, he's taking a a more passive role, and perhaps for good reason: this company is in the prison business.

At the fifth annual Value Investing Congress on Tuesday at New York's Marriott Marquis, Ackman laid out his case for investing in private prison owner and operator Corrections Corporation of America ( CXW - news - people ).

The U.S. prison system is severely overcrowded -- Ackman cited the statistic that California's prisons are running at 170% capacity -- and with a 12,000 bed inventory, CCA is poised to shoulder some of the load that is overcoming state and federal capacity. Couple that with the fact that it's cheaper and quicker for CCA to build a new facility than it is for the U.S. government, and Ackman says the company's shares are considerably undervalued at their current $25-$26 level, pegging its worth at $40-$54 based on a sum-of-the-parts valuation.

Ackman was also quick to brush off any concerns about falling occupancy rates at CCA, arguing that the company's aggressive building of new prisons in recent years boosted its total number of beds, and occupancy will rise as those beds are filled. Not to mention that the business is "like a hotel where you lock in the guests, and if they try to escape you shoot them."

The board of CCA is also an asset, according to Ackman, and aligned with shareholder interests through their ownership of about 5% of the company's outstanding shares. Coming from a manager whose fund, Pershing Square Capital, is well known for efforts to shake up boards at companies like Target ( TGT - news - people ), that's high praise. At a time when many real estate companies are still bearing heavy debt burdens, CCA has no debt maturing until 2012 and throws off enough free cash to cover those commitments.

The CCA ownership is also part of a pair trade where Pershing is short Realty Income ( OUI - news - people ), which leases retail space. Realty Income does not disclose who its tenants are, but the bulk are discretionary regional retailers and Ackman has some concerns about their credit quality, particularly a few he has identified as junk-rated borrowers with high leverage.

Posted by lois at 01:01 PM | Comments (0)

October 21, 2009

NJ -consultant recommends closing Camden jail and building a new private jail

2 articles below.

______________

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20091020_Consultant_recommends_privatizing_Camden_jail.html
Philadelphia Inquirer
Posted on Tue, Oct. 20, 2009
Consultant recommends privatizing Camden jail

By James Osborne
Inquirer Staff Writer

A report commissioned by Camden County recommends closing the jail in downtown Camden and privatizing the job of housing criminals awaiting trial. "A private firm has the potential to reduce operating costs if the contractor can employ a variety of cost control and reduction measures available to the private sector but not possible in a public management arena," the report read.

Pulitzer/Bogard and Associates of Lido Beach, N.Y., was paid $100,000 for the assessment, which was released by the county yesterday.

"We know the current state of the jail is unsustainable," read a statement from Camden County Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli Jr. "In the coming months, we will carefully examine the pros and cons of all options, including privatization, as we move forward."

The facility, which was built in the 1980s, was designed to house 1,083 inmates but frequently maintains a prison population of between 1,700 and 1,800, according to the report. Those conditions have resulted in a number of lawsuits against the county, including a federal class-action suit filed by a former inmate.

The county spends $55.2 million a year on housing and transporting inmates, about one-sixth of its total budget, according to the report. That number is projected to grow in the years ahead as the prison population increases.

The jail is forecast to reach an average daily population of 2,000 by June.

-----

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/politics/nj/46700147.html
New Jersey Politics
Posted on Tue, Jun. 2, 2009
Camden County awaits corrections report

By Matt Katz

Inquirer Staff Writer

Camden County is awaiting a $100,000 consultant's report on its corrections system that could lead officials to try something unprecedented in New Jersey: Privatizing the county jail.

Privatization of a core government function is a controversial prospect, and county officials will only say they are exploring all avenues to remedy severe overcrowding at the facility in downtown Camden. But there are indications a private jail is being seriously considered.

In commissioning the consultant's report, officials specifically asked for an analysis of privatization options. And top Camden County officials have toured Pennsylvania's only privately run county jail, in Delaware County, and smaller drug-treatment-focused, privately run facilities in Philadelphia and in Essex County, N.J.

In its winning bid proposal for the consultant contract, the New York firm Pulitzer/Bogard & Associates even cited its knowledge of staffing private jails "with and without collective bargaining agreements."

The fate of those labor agreements is the heart of what could become a prolonged debate between the county, which hopes to control jail costs, and the union, representing about 350 corrections officers who fear being replaced by minimum-wage security guards.

The Pulitzer/Bogard & Associates report could be ready as early as this summer, and already the union is gearing up for a fight against the potential privatization recommendations.

The attorney for the Camden County corrections officers, Stuart Alterman, says private facilities are prone to increased violence, which increases liability costs.

In 2005, for example, seven inmates died at Delaware County's jail under the watch of its former operator, Geo Group. The company paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in wrongful death settlements, and ended up terminating its contract with the county last New Year's Eve, citing the cost of litigation.

There have also been problems with medical care. Last year, a Howard Stern sidekick, Keith Kallenback, died in the jail after he wasn't given the proper treatment for his cystic fibrosis, family members have alleged.

"For the government to abdicate their responsibility to some company will be an absolute debacle," Alterman said. "The next thing the government is going to do is say, 'We're putting bids out for police departments.' "

Opponents say private guards are untrained and underpaid, and that private jails have a financial motive to, for example, delay medical treatment for sick inmates nearing release.

Angus Love, a prisoners' advocate with the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, also said privatization leaves politicians susceptible to so-called pay-to-play - companies that make campaign contributions to score contracts.

"For-profit is an incorrect way to go on core government services," Love said. "It compromises the function of the entity by introducing the profit motive."

But governments have financial motives, too. Camden County Administrator Ross Angilella tries to avoid tax increases each year, but the county jail is an ongoing drain on resources, accounting for 20 percent of the county budget.

Long-term infrastructure improvements on the dilapidated building are difficult, he said, because temporary space is needed to hold prisoners while work is done, and the Camden County Jail is far too overcrowded to allow that.

As of yesterday, there were 1,790 inmates at the facility, which was built for 1,267. Inmates sometimes sleep on the floor.

These conditions have made the county a target of lawsuits, including a federal class-action suit, even though the county freeholders have little control over the number of inmates the jail receives.

That might make privatization attractive to the county. In Delaware County, the new company, Community Education Centers Inc. (CEC), assumed all liability.

A private company could also be commissioned to build a new facility, which is how Delaware County got the new George W. Hill Correctional Facility in 1998.

Not all private entities are the same. Some have unionized workers, as in Delaware County. And some low-level offenders who are addicted to drugs or alcohol are housed in smaller facilities where they get intensive drug treatment.

The City of Philadelphia contracts with CEC for such a facility. On a tour yesterday of the North Philadelphia building, called Hoffman Hall, company officials painted a positive picture of a "community" where the word residents replaces inmates.

Corridors at Hoffman Hall, where nearly everyone has a drug or alcohol addiction, are lined with posters featuring adages from 12-step treatment programs, and counselors run small group sessions teaching life skills to residents.

"That's the key: When folks are released, do you have an opportunity to integrate back into the community?" asked Robert Pollock, director of Hoffman Hall. "Most guys have never had a checking account. They don't know
how to interview. They don't know how to be a father and a husband."

Showing off a room for eight with a private bathroom, resident Kevin Block, 47, said: "They consider us residents, because this is our home."

Company officials have given similar tours to Camden County officials, and the company has scouted out possible locations for private jailing facilities in the county.

CEC says it abides by the highest standards in medical care and security. An incident last week at the company-owned Delaney Hall in Essex County, in which three men allegedly killed a fellow inmate, is "the only incident of its kind" since it opened in 2000, said William Palatucci, senior vice
president of CEC.

Public officials concurred. Joseph DiVincenzo, Essex County administrator, said 700 drug-addicted inmates are housed at Delaney Hall, easing the strain on the public jail and reducing the recidivism rate.

"They've done an outstanding job for us," he said. "I have nothing but good things to say about them."

Delaware County, where county officials are stationed on-site, might be more
analogous to Camden County because both facilities have about 1,800 inmates.

Yet it costs Delaware County $40 million annually for its jail, comparedwith $60 million annually in Camden County.

"The Delaware County experience has clearly been that privatization does not expose our taxpayers to the burgeoning cost of litigation and to the onerousimpact of settlements," said John Reilly, superintendent of the jail and a county employee.

So far, CEC is doing a good job, he said, and the company has an incentive to continue to do a good job - it wants a renewed contract at the end of theyear.

"If it's efficient and reduces costs, and therefore saves taxpayer dollars,then, fine," Reilly said. "The question then becomes: 'Why can't government do that?' "

Posted by lois at 09:21 PM | Comments (0)

CA: Kelso and State Agree to Build Prison for 1,733 sick and mentally ill prisoners in Stockton

Deal reached for new state prison
October 20, 2009 | 7:23 pm
LA Times

State corrections officials and a court-appointed overseer of prison healthcare have agreed to build a new 1,733-bed facility for sick and mentally ill inmates at an estimated cost of $1.1 billion.

The deal, announced today, appears to end a long-running standoff between state officials and the receiver, J. Clark Kelso, who was appointed by U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson to improve medical care for inmates.

Kelso originally proposed seven new facilities with 10,000 beds, along with renovations at existing prisons, at a cost of $8 billion. State officials refused to allocate the money.

The new facility, in Stockton, would be partly on the site of a youth prison, the Karl Holton Youth Correctional Facility, which would be torn down.

Construction would be funded with bonds approved by the Legislature two years ago and would begin in 2010. The facility would cost $297 million a year to operate.

Kelso said he still plans renovations of healthcare clinics at other prisons.

--Michael Rothfeld in Sacramento
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/10/deal-reached-for-new-state-prison.html

Posted by lois at 09:04 AM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2009

NY: overbuilt rural county jail opened in 2007 is half empty now must count on federal prisoners for revenue

Essex Co. received $1M for boarding inmates
By NATHAN BROWN, Enterprise Staff Writer
POSTED: October 14, 2009

ELIZABETHTOWN - Essex County has taken in a little over $1 million for boarding inmates from elsewhere so far this year, the large majority from the federal system.

There are 66 inmates in the county jail now, Sheriff Henry Hommes said at a county Public Safety Committee meeting Tuesday; of these 66, 35 are boarders and the rest in jail on Essex County arrests.

The new county jail in Lewis opened in 2007 and was financed with a 30-year bond, with annual payments of $1.5 million. The 120-bed facility replaced the old one in Elizabethtown, which only had 20 beds and was built in 1868. The number of Essex County inmates has fluctuated between about 20 and 40 over the past few years, meaning the county often had to pay to board inmates elsewhere before the new jail opened.

Hommes, who has been sheriff for 12 years, is running for re-election as a Republican and Conservative against independent challengers Robert Kirby and Michael "Ike" Tyler. The jail has been an issue in the campaign. Tyler has said the staff isn't trained to deal with the federal inmates, and Kirby has said he thinks the jail is too big, leading to extra costs.

The federal government pays the county $98 per day to board an inmate; Hommes said it costs about $8 per day to provide food, clothing and a bed for a prisoner.

The county budgeted $4.2 million for the jail for 2009, including the bond payment, said county Manager Dan Palmer. This doesn't take the revenue from the prisoners into account.

Kirby said Tuesday afternoon that he doesn't think the $98 per boarded prisoner covers added expenses such as the guards and other staff needed to run a facility certified for 120 inmates.

"You must provide certain services regardless of whether the cells are full or not," Kirby said.

"There are still a lot of costs associated with operating that jail," said Moriah Supervisor Tom Scozzafava, who is on the Public Safety Committee.

Hommes said the county is also no longer spending money to board its inmates elsewhere, as it did before the new jail opened. The county spent more than $700,000 to board inmates in 2006 and more than $500,000 in 2007, Hommes said.

Tyler said Wednesday morning that, while boarding inmates makes sense now that the 120-bed jail has been built, he thinks his background as a corrections officer will help him train the jail's guards to deal with the federal inmates. Tyler also wondered if the new jail was a net gain or loss.

"Maybe (the jail) brought in $1 million, but we had to hire more officers," Tyler said. "It costs a lot more to house more inmates. I've never seen any studies done on the direct correlation on money being made and money being spent out."

Kirby also said the lack of a guarantee from the federal government that it will rent a fixed number of beds worried him, as the county could lose revenue if other jails start to accept more boarders and the federal government turns to them. Kirby said the number of correctional personnel, currently 58, could be reduced to 38 if the jail was only certified for 60 prisoners.

Hommes said the jail's cost could only be driven down significantly if there were fewer than 30 inmates, in which case they could all be held in one housing unit and the other two, both currently in operation, could be shut down.

---

Stimulus grant

The sheriff's department has also been awarded $188,080 in stimulus money, Hommes said, to be spent over a two-year period. The money will be used to pay the salary, benefits and retirement contributions of a sheriff's deputy for two years, for a vehicle, for portable radios and for overtime to do narcotics investigations, Hommes said.

"The position is a narcotics position," Hommes said. "We have to keep that in mind, but if there is a slack period, yes, they will be doing other duties."
http://adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/509142.html

Posted by lois at 09:43 PM | Comments (0)

TX: How a private prison pushed immigrant inmates to the brink.

How a private prison pushed immigrant inmates to the brink.
Forrest Wilder | October 2, 2009 | Features
Texas Observer
http://www.texasobserver.org/features/the-pecos-insurrection

Last Dec. 12, on the outskirts of Pecos, Texas, the immigrants doing time in the world’s largest privately run prison decided to turn the tables on their captors. It was the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, an important religious holiday in Latin America. But the inmates were in no mood for celebration.

The motin, as the overwhelmingly Spanish-speaking inmates called their uprising, began in the Reeves County Detention Center’s Special Housing Unit (SHU), better known as solitary confinement, with two men—a Honduran and a Mexican—using the wires in an electrical outlet to set a mattress on fire.

They broke out the windows of their cell, and when prison guards tried to extinguish the fire by sticking a fire hose through a port in the door, the two broke the sink off the wall and held it up as a shield. One brandished, but didn’t use, a “shiv,” a crude jailhouse knife. Meanwhile, the two men yelled for other inmates to join in the uprising. Soon, at 12:45 p.m., a lockdown order went out across the prison. Staff tried to hustle prisoners on their way to lunch or the recreation center back to their cells. Inmates in one of the housing areas refused, and they forced the guards to release friends from their cells. “Open the doors or we will take your keys,” the prisoners demanded, according to an FBI account. “We’ll see who has control in a bit,” one inmate told a guard.

The prison’s emergency-response team deployed an arsenal including rubber bullets, pepper spray, expulsion grenades and bean-bag guns. To little avail. The insurrection quickly spread to the other housing areas. The rioters assembled in the outdoor recreation yard armed with rocks, concrete, and steel poles as well as horseshoes, hammers and box cutters they had pilfered from the recreation building. Many of them, aware of the prison’s extensive surveillance system, hid their faces with T-shirts, hats and bandanas. Some wore sunglasses.

Two prison employees were taken hostage. (Neither was harmed.) With more than 1,200 inmates milling around outside and hordes of law enforcement officials, the prison must have looked like a war zone.

It was not mere anarchy, though.

By midafternoon, members of the FBI, Texas Rangers, DPS and the Odessa Police Department arrived at the prison. As the crisis negotiators quickly found out, the riot had not been prompted by gang infighting, racial tensions or a spontaneous outburst of violence. The men incarcerated at the Pecos prison are considered “low-security”; most are serving relatively short sentences for immigration violations or drug offenses. All are set to be deported at the end of their sentences.

Leaders of the rebellion were demanding a meeting with the Mexican Consulate, the FBI and the warden to discuss a number of grievances that they said GEO Group, the prison company that manages the 3,700-bed facility, had refused to address.

The evening of the uprising, the inmates sent a delegation of seven men—a Venezuelan, a Cuban, a Nigerian, and four Mexicans—to meet with the authorities.

They explained that the uprising had erupted from widespread dissatisfaction with almost every aspect of the prison: inedible food, a dearth of legal resources, the use of solitary confinement to punish people who complained about their medical treatment, overcrowding and, above all, poor health care.

The delegates pointed to a string of deaths (according to public records, five men died in Reeves between August 2008 and March 2009, including two suicides) they attributed to the prison’s inattention to medical needs. The riot had been sparked by the death of Jesus Manuel Galindo, an epileptic, who had been carried out of the prison’s Special Housing Unit in a body bag that same day. “Suspect(s) are talking about the guy being out of the shoe [SHU],” the Odessa Police Department report said. “Someone should have been there with him. Special housing was not the place for [him].”

The authorities jotted down the concerns and promised to take them seriously.

Twenty-four hours after it began, the uprising was over. More than $1 million worth of damage had been done to the prison. Less than two months later, on Jan. 31, the prison would be under inmate control again—and this time the rioting would last for five days and end with one building destroyed and some $20 million in damage.

To critics of GEO and other for-profit prison companies, the two huge riots in as many months—rare, especially in low-security prisons—were the logical consequence of the largest experiment in prison privatization to date.

The story of the death of Jesus Manuel Galindo is the story of a death foretold.

For weeks, Galindo, a 32-year-old epileptic Mexican citizen who had lived in the United States since he was 13, had been complaining to anyone who would listen that something terrible was going to happen to him because of poor medical care.

In May 2007, Galindo was found illegally crossing the border in El Paso. Galindo, nicknamed “Negro” for his dark complexion, was sentenced later that year to 30 months for illegal re-entry (crossing into the U.S. after being deported). Ten years ago, he would likely have been quickly deported, not prosecuted. But the Bush administration piloted a “zero-tolerance” policy in Texas that eventually spread across the border: All illegal border crossers would be arrested, detained and, if possible, prosecuted in federal court. Prosecutions surged, as did the need for detention centers, jails and prisons to hold the tens of thousands of newly minted criminals. The Obama administration has more than embraced the policy. The number of prosecutions for immigration crimes—almost 68,000—during the first nine months of 2009 is on track for a 14 percent increase over 2008. More than half of those prosecutions took place in Texas.

The result has been a system swamped with low-level immigration cases and prisons bursting at the seams with illegal immigrants. Rather than build and run the facilities themselves, federal agencies have turned in large part to private prison companies, such as Corrections Corporation of America and GEO Group. In 2008, GEO reported more than $1 billion in revenue, an 80 percent increase over 2005.

Privatization has been less profitable for others. GEO’s Texas facilities have been plagued with suicides, filthy conditions, sexual abuse scandals, hunger strikes, riots and lawsuits.

Jesus Galindo became another case in point. According to his family, Galindo had had seizures before his incarceration but they grew worse and more frequent under the care of the Physicians Network Association, a Lubbock-based medical services provider that serves 17,000 inmates in 24 facilities across the nation. In 2002, Reeves County hired PNA to run the prison’s health care, attracted by its promise to improve services and cut costs. (The county pays PNA $6.03 per inmate per day, about $8 million a year at full capacity.)

Four months into their contract, then-warden Rudy Franco lauded PNA at a county commissioners meeting for drastically reducing the number of surgeries, X-rays, outside visits and other medical services, the latter of which had dropped from 3,148 to 222.

On Nov. 12, Galindo was locked up in the Special Housing Unit. The mostly Spanish-speaking inmates call it la celda de castigo, the punishment cell. Prisoners and others say the SHU was frequently used to isolate and punish men with health problems who complained about their medical care.

According to Galindo’s family, the prison authorities said they put him in the SHU to keep an eye on him. “That’s not true,” says Jesus Galindo Sr., his father. “It was to punish him.”

Galindo pleaded with prison officials to return him to the ­general population where he had friends who woke him up to take his pills and took care of him during his frequent seizures.

“He would say he was really afraid because if he got sick who was going to help him?” says his mother, Graciela Galindo. She begged officials to look after her son. “They told me he was in a high security place; that was what the warden said, and that I should not worry about him. They told me they were taking good care of my son.”

Galindo did what he could to reassure his family, singing love songs to his mother over the phone. “He had hope,” his brother Jesus Galindo Jr. said. “He was real strong. The only thing that bothered him was his condition. I saw him on his birthday [Nov. 29]. I said, ‘Hey, hang in there. Think of us like we think of you.’”

Judy Madewell, the public defender in charge of Galindo’s criminal case was so worried that she sent an investigator to the prison on Dec. 4. The investigator, Octavio Vasquez, urged the authorities to put Galindo back into the general population.

On Dec. 9, Graciela talked to her son on the phone. “He told me to tell Belinda [his daughter] to do a dance to the Virgin because he’s getting out of the SHU on Friday [Dec. 12] ... and that if he wasn’t, to contact the jail.”

The following day, Dec. 10, Galindo wrote a letter to his family saying that he felt bad and had asked the doctor and warden to do something. The letters begins in the morning, with Galindo noting that a nurse had promised him that she would return later that day to take his blood.

Two days later, on Dec. 12, Graciela called to see if her son had been released from the SHU. “I called and to my surprise he was dead. They kept me on the phone for an hour. They said we have to wait for the doctors. I told them please do something. But my son was already dead.”

“Mama, the day already passed and nothing,” he writes later that same day. “All they did was walk up and down but here, where I am, no one even stopped. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

When Galindo was found in his cell, rigor mortis had already set in. His body was purple and stiff. The El Paso County medical examiner ruled the cause of death as epileptiform seizure disorder. A toxicology report found “below-therapeutic levels” of Dilantin, a cheap anti-epileptic drug, in Galindo’s blood and urine. The drug is only effective at certain dosages, and a patient’s blood must be checked regularly to make sure it’s not too high or low, says Robert Cain, an Austin neurologist who reviewed the autopsy.

“With multiple seizures, inadequate levels of medication and left in isolation without supervision, he was set up to die,” Cain says.

Galindo’s experience was strikingly similar to those of other inmates under PNA’s care. In 2003, the Justice Department investigated the Santa Fe County Jail in New Mexico, which was then run by Management & Training Corp. (MTC). Just as it does at Reeves, PNA had a subcontract to provide health care there. The Justice Department found nearly non-existent medical and mental health care, and specifically noted PNA’s inattention to properly calibrating dose-sensitive medications, especially anti-epileptics.

“We found several instances in which PNA failed to monitor inmates on these types of medications, even when inmates reported experiencing side effects,” the report states. In one case, blood testing showed that an inmate with a seizure disorder did not have enough of the anti-seizure drug to be effective. The PNA medical staff did nothing, and seven days later the inmate attempted suicide and then suffered a seizure. “Even with all the attention from medical staff due to his suicide attempt, his seizure medication blood level was not measured until four days” later, the report says.

No such authoritative report has been done for the Pecos prison. But in interviews and correspondence, prisoners, their relatives, attorneys and immigrant rights advocates describe a facility overrun with corruption and dangerous cost-cutting measures. Prisoners writing to the Observer have made allegations ranging from physical abuse to tacit arrangements between guards and prisoners to traffic drugs and other contraband inside the facility. (GEO Group declined to comment.)

A prisoner we’ll call Juan, who asked that his real name not be used for fear of retribution, describes an environment of fear where hardened criminals serving long sentences live side by side with men who are there solely for crossing the border illegally. Juan says that prisoners in the jail are divided into groups based on their home state in Mexico with the tacit approval of the guards and the warden. Prisoners who have money and can buy influence and authority run these groups. These bosses dole out punishments and determine with the guards who gets sent to the punishment cell, Juan says. “We are threatened and beaten if we complain. While [the prison bosses] can have cell phones and other benefits that are forbidden.”

Another prisoner, Jose—who also asked that his name be changed—writes that he has hepatitis. “I begged for medicine and they sent me a bottle that was unsealed and only half full,” Jose writes. “I haven’t received treatment for my hepatitis since December 2008.”

“The problem with Reeves is that there are no medical services,” says Graciela Arredondo, the mother of a man who served part of his sentence at Reeves. “They won’t bring a doctor if you are sick. They don’t want to spend the money, but these are human beings and they deserve medical services.”

After the riots in December and January, the ACLU of Texas called on the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General to investigate the prisoners’ charges. This wouldn’t be the first time the OIG was asked to look into reports of abuse at the Reeves facility. In 2006, an investigation resulted in the arrests of five employees at the jail for smuggling drugs into the facility and having sex with inmates. Because it hasn’t received an answer from the OIG, the ACLU is starting its own investigation.

“Riots are relatively rare, and are an indicator of serious problems at a facility,” says Lisa Graybill, legal director for the ACLU of Texas. ”We continue to receive complaints that the Bureau of Prisons and its contractors, GEO and Physicians Network Association, are systemically failing to address life-threatening and chronic medical conditions of detainees.”

None of this is surprising to longtime prison activist Bob Libal, co-coordinator of Grassroots Leadership, an Austin nonprofit that fights private prisons. “Conditions at GEO facilities have been horrendous, and it stretches across every type of facility,” says Libal. “It’s case after case after case. Whether Coke County, Val Verde, Dickens County, Reeves, Pearsall, it’s one horrendous thing after another.”

In 2007, the Texas Youth Commission removed 197 youths from GEO Group’s Coke County Juvenile Justice Center after inspectors found deplorable conditions including filthy cells that reeked of feces and urine, insects in the food, and inmates only being allowed to shower and brush their teeth every few days.

A year before, the family of 23-year-old LeTisha Tapia sued GEO Group after Tapia killed herself at the Val Verde County Jail, which the company runs. Tapia had told her family that she was raped, beaten, sexually humiliated and deprived of psychological and medical treatment in retaliation for telling the warden about guards allowing inmates to have sex with each other. The suit was settled out of court.

In the past two years, the state of Idaho has pulled out of contracts at two GEO-operated jails—the Dickens County Correctional Center, near Spur, and the Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littleton—citing chronic understaffing, a lack of required treatment programs, and suicides linked to squalid conditions.

In a lawsuit set to go to trial in March, two detainees at the GEO-run South Texas Detention Complex in Pearsall claim that the company “intentionally and systematically violates the rights of mentally disabled detainees.” Echoing the Reeves County allegations, both of the plaintiffs, Miroslava Rodriguez-Grava and Isaias Vasques Cisneros de Jesus, allege that instead of treating them for their mental disabilities, GEO put them in segregation for extended periods of time.

“I think that any time you insert profit into the equation that care and also the rehabilitative elements of corrections goes out the window,” said Libal. “They try to do things as cheap as possible. You get what you’re paying for in a lot of ways.”

The Pecos prison, a remote, austere correctional campus flanked by farmland and a weirdly out-of-place cemetery, sprawls across several acres a few hundred yards from Interstate 30. To travelers zipping by at 80 mph, the facility is little more than a blur of barbed wire and guard towers. But to the people of Reeves County (population 13,137), it’s an engine of progress.

In the mid-1980s, with the regional economy devastated by the Texas oil bust, local business and government leaders decided to move into a recession-proof industry that was exploding in an increasingly criminalized America: prisons. In 1986, the county built a 300-bed prison. The prison filled rapidly with federal inmates, pumping revenue into the county’s budget and adding decent-paying jobs to the local work force. By 2002, Reeves had 2,000 beds. In 2003, the county completed ­construction on a $39 million, 960-bed unit only to find that the feds had no interest.

“They built a $39 million prison on speculation,” said Jon Fulbright, a reporter for the Pecos Enterprise. While the prison sat empty, payments on the bonds, reduced to junk status, were coming due. On the verge of default, county officials begged the Bush administration to send prisoners and hired Randy DeLay, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s brother, to lobby in Washington, D.C. That’s when Wackenhut Corrections Corp., now GEO Group, rode to the rescue. In November 2003, GEO agreed to take over management of the whole 3,000-bed prison complex and soon struck a deal with the Bureau of Prisons to fill the new unit.

Despite the troubles at the Pecos prison under GEO management, local officials are grateful.

“A lot of people criticize GEO but I don’t,” says Sheriff Arnulfo “Andy” Gomez. “We had a hard time and they pulled us out. They’ve got lobbyists and all that.” Besides, he says, “You’re going to have trouble in every prison.”

Some more than others. On Jan. 31, a month and a half after the first uprising, prisoners at the Reeves County Detention Center rose up again. Prison and law enforcement officials have released little information on the disturbance, but inmates, advocates and family members say it began when Ramon Garcia, 25, was forced into solitary confinement after complaining of dizziness and feeling sick.

“We spoke with the warden and we told him to take our countryman out of the punishment cell and take him to the hospital because he needs medical attention,” an inmate told Laura Rivas, an advocate with the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. “We told them that if they were not going to do it then we would do it, we would take him out, because we have more strength, and they laughed at us. And that’s when it all started.”

Lana Williams, a friend of Garcia’s family, told KFOX-TV in El Paso that Garcia had been put into solitary confinement whenever he complained of feeling sick. “He’s gotten to the point where he can’t walk down the hall without holding on to the wall, and this has been going on and getting progressively worse,” Williams said.

During the five-day takeover, the inmates drafted another list of demands: better medical treatment, adequate food (especially for those who are ill or have diabetes) and no guard retaliation against any person.

“To them, we don’t matter,” the inmate told Rivas. “If we die, it doesn’t matter to them. The only thing that interests them is money—nothing more.”

Melissa del Bosque contributed reporting for this story.

AND

http://borderlinesblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/talking-about-insurrection.html

via Border Lines by Tom Barry on 10/9/09

Getting into the federal building in Pecos, Texas takes political sophistication – something I was apparently lacking when attempting to enter the building for the trial of a couple of immigrant inmates indicted for their role in the Dec. 12-13 incident, let’s call it, at the immigrant prison in this far West Texas town.

It’s the same all over the country. After Sept. 11 the federal halls of justice have been on virtual lockdown status. To get into these buildings – which typically house the district courts and U.S. Marshals Service offices, you need to pass through metal detectors, present identification, and rid yourself of all electronic devices. As many as half dozen or more federal security guards – usually retired police officers and sheriff deputies – are usually in the courthouse foyer to block entry to criminals and terrorists.

In Pecos, which has a privately run, federally supplied, and locally owned immigrant prison on the outskirts of town, people are feeling jittery about the criminal alien business. It’s a business that has for the past two decades been a source of a steadily expanding number of local jobs and increasing county revenues, as the prison has gone through three expansions to accommodate the ever larger number of immigrant inmates under Bureau of Prisons custody.

I felt it as soon as I stepped pass the doorway: suspicion and outsider disdain. “What are you here for? Who are you,” one of the guards demanded.

“Well, I am here for the trial of the immigrant prisoners indicted for the disturbance at the prison last December,” I said, handing the questioning guard my business card (from Center for International Policy).

“Disturbance, there was no disturbance,” says he. (It wasn’t until later that I asked how HE was.) “There was a riot, and it’s costing us tens of millions of dollars.”

During several trips to Pecos since the second inmate news event of Jan. 31 –Feb. 5, I had been alternating between “riot,” “protest,” “mutiny,” and “disturbance.”

What happened at the Reeves County Detention Center in two separate occasions was that immigrant inmates – officially classified “criminal aliens” who will be processed for deportation upon completing their 1-5 year sentences – set fire to prison buildings to protest the deaths and untreated illnesses of fellow prisoners. In both cases, the main prisoner concern was that sick inmates were being placed in the Secure Housing Unit (SHU) assigned for “medical observation.”

The SHUs in modern prisons and detention centers are the modern equivalent of the old “solitary confinement” – intended as both punishment for disciplinary infraction and as deterrence to prevent unruly behavior. But, as the practice at the Reeves County Detention Center, SHUs are often used simply to better manage prison populations – to isolate and punish problem inmates whether they break the rules or not.

At the Reeves County Detention Center (RCDC) – which since 1985 has expanded from 300-bed prison to one that holds up to 3700 inmates – the SHU is systemically and routinely used to house severely ill inmates. That’s because there is no infirmary at what the prison giant GEO Group (which the county contracts to run the BOP prison) calls RCDC “the largest detention/
correctional facility under private management in the world.”

The first incident was precipitated by the death of Jesus Manuel Galindo, 32, who was serving a 30-month sentence for illegal reentry from Mexico. Galindo was picked up by the Border Patrol after an epileptic seizure at a convenience store near the borderland town of Anthony, NM, where he had lived with his family since he was in his mid-teens. The local police, who responded to the call for assistance from the clerk at the local 7-11, turned Galindo over to the Border Patrol after it was determined he was an “illegal alien.” Galindo, after being deported to Ciudad Juárez (about 20 miles from his home in the United States), attempted to return home to his extended and nuclear family (three children and second wife) – all of whom were legal residents or citizens -- two years ago after spending a month in the Mexican border town across from El Paso.

But increased border security and a new “criminal alien” policy that criminalizes and penalizes illegal border crossing combined to put Galindo into the federal slammer in Pecos, where an estimated 75% of his fellow inmates were also serving time for illegal border crossings and the balance for nonviolent crimes, mostly drug violations.

Another severe epileptic seizure in mid-November 2008 sent Galindo to an area hospital – and in the SHU. The greatest fear of inmates at the Reeves County Detention Center is getting sick and being consigned to the SHU – what they call “el hoyo” (the hole). It’s the hole not because it’s so dark or dirty, but rather because it’s where there is no relief from the walls, the loneliness, the emptiness.

Galindo corresponded frequently with his mother, Graciela Galindo. His letters from mid-November until the day before he died tell of his fear and despair at being kept in the hole without any company, without the friends he made in prison. He tells his mother of the inhumanity of most of the guards who didn’t seem to recognize the humanity of the immigrant inmates. He writes of the urgency to get the right medicine to prevent his seizures – medicine, his mother told me, for which he had a prescription before he was imprisoned but was replaced by the nurses at Reeves with sedatives that kept him sleepy and unable to stand up. On Dec. 5 he wrote of being “afraid” of what would happen to him if he stayed in the hold any longer, of how his was being ignored by the guards and nurses, of his bruises from thrashing around during unattended seizures.

The day before he died he wrote a letter to his mother that the family didn’t read until much later when they received his few personal belongings along with his body.

In his Dec. 11 letter he wrote: “I told them that I have been here (in SHU) for a month, and I’ve gotten sick twice, and let’s see if they move me or do something quickly. All they say is 'yes, yes.' and they don't do anything.”

What happened after two of his fellow inmates in the SHU saw his body being removed in a black body bag on the morning of Dec. 12 is a matter of interpretation and interests.

The Dec. 12-13 incident resulted in some damage – several hundred thousands of dollars -- to the SHU and in a badly burnt recreation building. Reeves County attributed the property loss at the RCDC III prison (the most 2005 expansion of the immigrant prison) to a “disturbance.” Calling it a “riot” would have precluded the insurance company from covering the losses, said County Judge Sam Contreras.

The inmates themselves referred to it as a “motín” or mutiny – a term that conveys the sense of an uprising against authority.

After the Dec. 12-13 incident in Pecos and after the second closely related incident of Jan. 31-Feb 5 (when inmates also rebelled and set fire to prison buildings in an incident also sparked by medical malpractice and mistreatment concerns involving the use of the SHU for “medical observation”), the criminal justice system, the insurance system, and the financial system are providing most of the follow-up.

Despite demands by the Texas ACLU and immigrant advocacy groups, the Office of Inspector General of the Justice Department has not initiated an investigation. But the criminal justice system did immediately kick in other respects. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Midland, Texas immediately began investigating the new crimes of the immigrant inmates who, in part out of solidarity with those sick fellow prisoners shut in the hole and in part out of fear that too would be released from prison in a body bag, took control of the two different sections of the prison to highlight their concerns.

Like the inmates, the U.S. attorney called the incidents “mutinies” and like the media and the security guards in the federal building lobby is also referring to the incidents as riots. Twenty six inmates from the first incident have been indicted. At first, they faced two counts – causing a riot or mutiny, or aiding and abetting in a mutiny or riot. The first count declared that the defendants “and other persons known or unknown to the grand jury, unlawfully, willfully, and knowingly, did combine, conspire, confederate and agree together and with each other and others to instigate, connive, attempt to cause, assist, and conspire to cause a riot at the Reeves County Detention Center, a federal penal, detention, or correctional facility.”

(Apparently, the U.S. attorneys are as confused as everyone else about what the Reeves County Detention Center really is, a prison or detention center. And while it does hold federal prisoners – all immigrants with orders for deportation – there is much confusion about whose prison is it. It is county owned – hence the Reeves County – but it is operated by GEO Group while the BOP contracts with the county to run it and the county subcontracts with GEO.)

The second count was the essentially the same but in this count the defendants purportedly “aided and abetted by each other and others did instigate, connive, attempt to cause, assist, or conspire to cause a riot.” In brief, the criminal indictment described the incident as a “mutiny or riot.” Those two counts were filed April 9 and May 12.

But they didn’t have the desired result. Not all the defendants were entering guilty pleas, thereby saving the U.S. attorney the trouble of presenting evidence and actually trying the case. Then, on July 14, the U.S. John Murphy came to the grand jury with a superceding indictment that includes a new charge: “the use of fire to commit a federal felony offense.”

Mary Stillinger, one of the court-appointed attorneys appointed to represent the immigrants, said the new indictment “really hammered” the immigrants, since it came with a mandatory ten-year sentence.

There was little hard evidence against the men, and even with the court-appointed defense attorneys, most of whom simply go through the motions of defending immigrants in the flood of criminal charges resulting from immigration violations that is overwhelming the judicial system along the border. As part of the prison reconstruction, GEO has insisted that the county install a comprehensive system of security cameras and video recording units so as to insure that the next time around, as was explained in a county commissioners meeting in Pecos by the architect directing the reconstruction: “Cameras and recording equipment are among the highest things on their list, because if say that if they had more security cameras, better recording equipment, when they had this disturbance, they would have been able to prosecute more, indict more people, if they had more proof of what everybody did.”

No one in a position of responsibility– not in county government, not in GEO, not in the correctional healthcare subcontractor Physicians Network Association (of Lubbock, Texas), not in the BOP , not in the U.S. Attorney’s Office – is apparently concerned of prosecuting, indicting, gathering evidence, or even investigating the conditions at RCDC that sparked the riots and the death of Jesus Manuel Galindo.

But the county has other concerns that involve high finance and keeping prison jobs in Reeves County.

Since 1985 the county has issued approximately $115 million in revenue bonds to finance the construction and maintenance of the RCDC immigrant prison complex. Going into the riots/mutinies/disturbances, the county had $92 million in outstanding prison debt. This debt is in the form of tax exempt municipal bonds called project revenue bonds that are issued by a specially established county public facility corporation to create a project that brings revenue to the county.

The county got off relatively easily from the first incident. The insurance companies paid by the county over the past couple of decades for the prison covered most of the rebuilding expenses. But then came the proverbial ‘fire next time.’

Less than two months after the first inmate protest, inmates renewed the Dec. 12-13 protest with a much larger incident – one that completely destroyed the oldest prison unit and resulted in reconstruction and upgrading expenses project to approach $40 million. This time the insurance companies are expected to come through with only $25 million, leaving the county $15 million short.

Here comes Barry Friedman of Carlyle Capital Markets, the bond underwriting firm that has been with Reeves County since the beginning of its prison enterprise. Friedman assures the county that he can sell another $15 million plus in bonds to cover the gap. “I have been on the side of Reeves County since 1986,” Friedman recently told the county commissioners, assuring them that he only wants what is good for the county.

Not only is Friedman underwriting the new bond issue but after the prison disturbances he was hired as a special financial consultant to the county for about $15,000 a month. In addition to his commission for bond underwriting, he is also advising the county on what is in their best financial interest, as he told the commissioners. “As financial adviser, my responsibility is to the county,” he explained, angrily and righteously dismissing a complaint raised by County Attorney Alva Alvarez. “Do you represent the bondholders,” he was asked. “No, I represent the county,” he replied.

Reeves County is angry, worried, and deep in debt – and going deeper. No wonder then the reaction of the elderly security guard at the federal building. After I asked who he was, he threatened to call the U.S. Marshals. Knowing about justice in Reeves County, I turned around and walked out. Just as well, the immigrants had all decided to plead guilty. The scheduled trial was cancelled.

Tempers are also flaring in the county building across the street with conflict-of-interest charges swirling around having Carlyle’s Friedman work two sides of the prison business and with fears that if the county doesn’t get the prison back together the BOP might, as one county official noted, “bring in the buses and bring the inmates out.”

That would leave Reeves County with massive prison bond debt, Pecos with any empty prison complex on the edge of town, and more than four hundred area residents without a job. It would be a near fatal blow to the county, where a quarter of the population lives in poverty and unemployment stands at 14.1%. Poor Reeves County.

And poor immigrants who still suffer the same medical conditions that sparked the incidents.

See related articles:

Tom Barry
February 24, 2009
“Medical Claims and Malpractice in Correctional Healthcare”
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/5895

Forrest Wilder
October 2, 2009
“The Pecos Insurrection”
http://www.texasobserver.org/features/the-pecos-insurrection

Posted by lois at 09:35 PM | Comments (0)

October 12, 2009

Hardin MT: Behind Montana Jail Fiasco: How Private Prison Developers Prey On Desperate Towns

TPMMuckraker
Behind Montana Jail Fiasco: How Private Prison Developers Prey On Desperate Towns
Justin Elliott | October 12, 2009

(For an unbelievably pathetic picture of the
Two Rivers Authority parade float, 6/27/09, go to the URL below.)

With the unraveling of the deal for the shadowy American Private Police Force to take over and populate an empty jail in Hardin, Montana, it's pretty clear that the small city got played by an ex-con and his (supposed) private security firm.

But an investigation by TPMmuckraker into how Hardin ended up with the 92,000 square foot facility in the first place suggests that, long before "low-level card shark" Michael Hilton ever came to town, Hardin officials had already been taken for a ride by a far more powerful set of players: a well-organized consortium of private companies headquartered around the country, which specializes in pitching speculative and risky prison projects to local governments desperate for jobs.

The projects have generated multi-million dollar profits for the companies involved, but often haven't created the anticipated payoff for the communities, and have left a string of failed or failing prisons in their wake.

"They look for an impoverished town that's desperate," says Frank Smith of the Private Corrections Institute, a Florida-based group that opposes prison privatization. "They come in looking very impressive, saying, 'We'll make money rain from the skies.' In fact, they don't care whether it works or not."

The Pitch

In June 2004, James Parkey, a Texas-based prison developer and architect, met at the Las Vegas airport with Judy Martz, who at the time was the Republican governor of Montana. Described by the Texas Observer as a "polished salesman" for the booming private prison industry, Parkey presents himself on his Web site as a beneficent savior for local communities hit hard by the decline of the manufacturing sector.

Parkey, who runs a company called Corplan Corrections, was seeking to sell Martz on a prison project for her state. His method is to promise a full-service team to handle the entire project from soup to nuts -- what one source described as a "turn-key system."

That team includes a construction firm to build the prison, a prison operator to work with local officials to find prisoners, then run the facility, underwriters to sell the bonds, and even a consultant to do an economic feasibility study. "They walk into a municipality and say, you don't have to do a thing, we'll take care of everything," Christopher "Kit" Taylor, a municipal bond expert who has followed Parkey's operation, told TPMmuckraker.

State officials eventually referred Parkey to the city of Billlings. From there, he was directed 50 miles east, to rural Hardin -- where he found a receptive audience. Parkey promised the town's brass that his team would take care of everything. The project would generate 150 solid jobs. The prison operator in Parkey's team pledged to pay the town a business license fee and at least $100,000 in annual per-prisoner fees.

To officials in a county whose poverty rate is double the national average, that seemed like too good an opportunity to turn down.

Big Pay Day
For Parkey and his crew, the deal soon paid off. The prison's designer and builder, Hale-Mills Construction of Houston, was guaranteed a maximum price of $19.88 million, according to the official bond statement obtained by TPMmuckraker. The exact amount the firm ultimately received isn't known.

And Hardin's $27 million municipal bond sale, conducted in 2006, netted the underwriters -- a pair of companies called Herbert J. Sims, of Connecticut, and Municipal Capital Markets Group (MCM), of Dallas -- a total of $1.62 million. Other players recruited by Parkey -- lawyers, surveyors, and the North Carolina-based consultant who conducted the feasibility study -- reaped $169,750. It's not known how big a cut Parkey took, and he didn't respond to calls for comment.

Hardin itself didn't make out nearly so well. Not a single inmate has ever slept in the jail, and the town hasn't seen a cent of revenue from the project.

The bonds, which were to be paid back through the anticipated -- but non-existent -- revenue, have gone into default. The prison "was built on spec," says Taylor, the muni bond expert, who has looked at the Hardin deal. "[The consortium's] whole premise was hell, we don't care what happens to the bonds."

That's left Hardin with an empty jail that it so desperately wanted to fill that it begged first for sex offenders from the state, then for Gitmo inmates from the Feds, and, finally, for some kind of salvation from the American Private Police Force.

A Compromised Consultant?
Central to Hardin official's expectations for the deal was the feasibility study that Parkey's team conducted, which concluded that the project was all but certain to pay off. But that study appears to have been not only deeply flawed, but essentially rigged from the start.

A Montana state auditor found in a 2007 memo that the study -- carried out by Howard Geisler, a North Carolina feasibility consultant specializing in prisons -- was racked with problems. It provides "little methodology" regarding its estimates of potential prisoners for the jail. It lacks "historical data to support anticipated prisoner counts." And it makes "a number of assumptions made related to financial viability that appear to be unfounded," including "potential improvements to local aviation facilities."

In addition, Geisler's study failed to mention that bringing in out-of-state prisoners is potentially illegal under Montana law -- even though that idea was held up as a key method for recruiting prisoners. The state's attorney general challenged Hardin over the provision, and though a judge ultimately sided with the town, it was only after a year of legal wrangling.

Perhaps those flaws aren't surprising. The study was paid for by one of the underwriters, MCM, which had worked frequently with Geisler in the past. A truly independent feasibility study, says Taylor, the muni bond expert, would involve multiple firms making bids to do the job for the city.

Geisler was clearly aware while writing the study of the conflict of interest inherent in the set-up. On one page, he notes in bolded text that, "to assure independence," his fee "is not contingent upon the sale of the Bonds." But Taylor calls that "a smokescreen." "[The passage] is trying to give a sense of legitimacy to the deal, when that's not the case at all," he told TPMmuckraker.

Indeed, the study was in fact the third such report produced on the subject -- and the second by Geisler -- over a two-year period, according to a Montana source close to the process. The first two studies -- the other of which was done internally by Hardin -- came to ambiguous conclusions as to whether the project would succeed. After the first two reports, says the source, "the MCM people had [Geisler] come back and do another. That's when they decided it made sense to go forward."

To this day, some local officials defend the study, arguing that it's easy to criticize with the benefit of hindsight. Dan Kern, Hardin's economic development director in late 2005 and early 2006, told TPMmuckraker he's not sure why support for the project evaporated after the jail was built. "Everybody told me that this was a great project and there was a need for it," he said.

But Taylor says if the official bond statement, which includes the feasibility study, was false or misleading, the bond players have legal liability.

Beyond Hardin
It looks like Hardin isn't the only place where the the lavish promises of Parkey's consortium failed to pan out.

The Montana state auditor's memo notes that, in three separate jail deals with Texas counties, pushed through by Parkey's team, "current revenues are insufficient to cover operating and debt expenses."

And in 2005, three Texas county commissioners were convicted on bribery charges in connection to one of those Parkey-led projects. As in Hardin, MCM acted as the underwriter, and Hale-Mills handled construction.

All of the companies in the consortium either declined to comment for this story or did not return calls and e-mails.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/behind_hardin_jail_fiasco_private_prison_salesmen_prey_on_desperate_towns.php?emailed=true

Posted by lois at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)

The High Cost of Empty Prisons by Robert Gangi

Op-Ed Contributor: The High Cost of Empty Prisons
By ROBERT GANGI
New York Times: October 11, 2009

LAST Wednesday, changes to New York’s notorious Rockefeller drug laws went into effect, allowing judges to shorten the prison terms of some nonviolent offenders. This measure will further reduce New York’s prison population, which has already declined, in the past 10 years, from about 71,600 in 1999 to about 59,300 today. (The state’s crime rate also dropped substantially during that time.)

Nevertheless, mainly because of opposition from the correction officers’ union and politicians from the upstate areas where most of our correctional facilities are, the state has been slow to close prisons. It was not until earlier this year that policymakers in Albany, confronted with fiscal crisis, mustered the will to shut three prison camps and seven prison annexes — a total of about 2,250 prison beds — in a move that is expected to save $52 million over the next two years.

But the state could go further. The prison system still has more than 5,000 empty beds in 69 prisons. What’s more, there are other ways to lower the prison population. For starters, state lawmakers could repeal the Rockefeller mandatory sentencing provisions that remain on the books. They could also increase the number of participants on work release. In 1994, more than 27,000 people were in this time-tested program that helps them manage the transition back to their communities. Today, about 2,500 are enrolled.

In addition, the state could reduce the number of people — last year, more than 9,000 — who are returned to prison for technical parole violations like missing a meeting with an officer or breaking curfew. Most experts agree that for about half of these people it would be safer and smarter to enroll them in re-entry programs or provide more supervision. Also, more prisoners with good institutional records could be given parole. And eligibility for so-called merit time, which reduces prison terms for inmates who complete educational and other programs, could be expanded to people convicted of violent offenses many years ago.

Taken together, these actions could cut the state’s prison rolls by 5,000 to 10,000 more, enabling the governor and the legislature to close at least four prisons the size of Attica, which holds 2,100 inmates, or a greater number of smaller facilities.

After New York passed the Rockefeller drug laws in 1973, a mandatory sentencing movement swept the country, raising the nationwide prison population to nearly 2.4 million, from 300,000. This experiment in mass incarceration was a failure. There is no conclusive evidence that it enhanced public safety, and some research suggests that time in prison makes people more prone to violence. It wasted billions of dollars a year. And it has devastated the low-income minority communities where most of our prisoners come from.

New York can now help point criminal justice in a more sensible and constructive direction — and show other states how to save money — by downsizing its prison system.

Robert Gangi is the executive director of the Correctional Association of New York, a nonprofit organization that monitors prison conditions.
A version of this article appeared in print on October 12, 2009, on page A23 of the New York edition.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/opinion/12gangi.html

Posted by lois at 11:08 AM | Comments (0)

October 11, 2009

Stanidsh MI begs for prisoners from PA DOC Commissoner Beard

MDOC's letter to Pennsylvania regarding PA inmates in Standish Max
Following is the Michigan Department of Corrections' letter to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections in its entirety. Standish max is mentioned in paragraph three.

Secretary Jeffrey A. Beard
Department of Corrections
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
P.O. Box 598
Camp Hill, PA 17001-0598

Dear Secretary Beard:

Thank you for your recent letter asking for the Michigan Department of Corrections’ (MI DOC) proposal on housing Pennsylvania Department of Corrections’ (PA DOC) prisoners in Michigan through an Inmate Transfer Agreement. Michigan would be very interested in pursuing such an opportunity and attached please find our proposal detailing the rates, capacities and services available.

We currently have two prisons that may be of particular interest and would be a good fit for the approximately 1,000-1,500 prisoners the PA DOC is looking to transfer.

10-6-09
We will soon be closing the Standish Maximum Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison which houses 604 prisoners. It is located just off Interstate 75 north of Saginaw in Standish, Michigan, in proximity to airports. The facility opened in 1990 and is in excellent condition. While this is mostly a single-cell facility (one housing unit was double bunked), it could easily be reconfigured to a lower security level and be double bunked.

We will also soon be closing the Muskegon Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison which houses 1,326 prisoners. It is located off U.S. 31 in Muskegon, Michigan, and in proximity to airports. The facility opened in 1974 and is also in excellent operating condition.

Currently both of these facilities are fully staffed with highly trained, professional, hard-working, knowledgeable and responsible correctional employees. Our correctional staff is second to none in the nation.

The reason we have facilities available for potential use by the PA DOC is due to the decline in our population. For the past several years, the MI DOC has been closing prisons as the prison population drops. We are experiencing a decline for several reasons including:

• Prison intake was down 9% in 2008 and is down 8% through August of 2009.

• Total felony court dispositions have declined for the second straight year, following eight straight years of growth. Felony court dispositions across the entire state of Michigan decreased by almost 4% in 2008 and have decreased by another 6.3% in 2009 through June.

• In 2008, the Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Initiative (MPRI) went statewide and expanded to 18 regional sites that now cover all 83 counties. The preliminary data for the first 13,000 former prisoners worked with shows that the return to prison rate has improved from 1 out of 2 returning within two years to 1 out of 3 returning in two years.

• Due to the success of MPRI, the rate of prisoners paroled is up and parole failures are down.

• With prison intake down, the parole rate up and parole failures reduced, Michigan’s prison population is at its lowest level in eight years.

I believe this opportunity has tremendous potential and could be mutually beneficial to both our states. It would allow Pennsylvania to address its immediate need for additional prison beds and let some of Michigan’s experienced and accomplished correctional staff continues working as they face the likelihood of layoff. In addition, the fact that we now share the same prisoner health care provider could help ease any potential concerns associated with this very important area of effective prisoner management.

I am confident we can provide a safe and secure environment for Pennsylvania prisoners and do so in a very competitive and cost-effective manner. In addition, we can assist you in creating safer communities in Pennsylvania by applying the principles of our successful prisoner reentry program and help your inmates return home and become productive citizens.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any additional questions or concerns. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thank you.
Sincerely,
Patricia L. Caruso, Director
Michigan Department of Corrections
http://www.arenacindependent.com/detail/83002.html

Posted by lois at 08:45 PM | Comments (0)

October 07, 2009

MT: Hardin officials nix deal with "American Police Force"

'Red flags' cause Mt. officials to nix 'American Police Force' deal
Montana city's jail deal delayed amid controversy
Montana jail plan on hold after revelations about lead figure's past

MATTHEW BROWN
AP News
Oct 05, 2009 20:22 EST

Plans for a California company to take over this city's empty jail were put on hold Monday, following last week's revelations that the company's lead figure has a criminal history.

The decision came as Hardin's leaders announced the resignation of both the attorney and the economic development official who helped craft the jail deal for the city. Also Monday, a security industry veteran whose name was linked to the project denied involvement.

Officials in Hardin, a small city of 4,500 just outside the Crow Indian Reservation, had tried in vain for two years to fill the 464-bed jail.

Last month, deliverance finally appeared at hand when the city struck an agreement with Mike Hilton and his newly minted Santa Ana, Calif.-company, American Police Force.

But following last week's news that Hilton has a history of fraud — including several years in jail and three civil judgments against him for more than $1.1 million — Hardin's economic development authority said it was stepping back from the deal.

"We won't move forward. I don't think any of us want to be on the chopping block," said Gary Arneson, president of Hardin's Two Rivers Authority, which owns the jail.

Arneson said no further action would be taken until the authority hires an attorney to replace Becky Convery, the lawyer who helped forge the agreement with American Police Force. Montana's Attorney General launched an investigation into the company last week, also demanding that the city turn over any documents it has related to the jail deal.

Authority board members appeared chagrined at their monthly meeting on Monday.

After residents peppered them with questions about what kind of due diligence had been done on Hilton and his company, Arneson said a background check had been carried out by the agency's executive director, Greg Smith. Smith was put on paid leave and resigned late Monday.

An agreement with Hilton was approved by the Two Rivers Authority in early September. But a more detailed contract with the company was never ratified by a bank serving as trustee on $27 million in bonds used to build the jail.

Hardin built its jail in 2007 as an economic development project. It was lured into the deal with Hilton over the summer, after several city officials flew to California and met with Hilton. He told them a major security corporation was backing the deal but wished to remain anonymous.

The name of that corporation has never been revealed.

Meanwhile, the man whose name was offered up as the jail's future operations director said Monday he was never offered the job — and would not have taken it regardless.

Hardin officials said they were told by Hilton that he was hiring Michael Cohen, an executive with International Security Associates in Dublin, Ohio, for the post.

"Excuse my French, but he's talking with forked tongue there," Cohen said Monday, adding that he had only cursory discussions with Hilton and was led to believe the post involved military and law enforcement training.

"He kept saying, come to Montana, come to California and meet me. He wouldn't give me any information" about the job, Cohen said.

Hilton's office referred questions Monday to Becky Shay, the company spokeswoman. Shay, the company's only Montana employee, said she continues to operate under the assumption that the jail project is moving forward.

Back in Hilton's home state of California, a judge has ordered the lead figure of American Police Force to appear in court Oct. 27 over an outstanding judgment in a fraud lawsuit.

In that case, Hilton lured investors to sink money into an assisted living complex in Southern California that was never built.

An attorney for the plaintiffs, Cris Armenta, said the $340,000 judgment awarded in 2000 has grown to about $700,000 with interest factored in. Armenta said she planned go after any and all of Hilton's assets, including his wages, property and three Mercedes SUVs that Hilton had once offered to donate to Hardin.
http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/10/apf-deal-appears-off-over-red-flags/
Source: AP News

Posted by lois at 11:52 PM | Comments (0)

TX: Mineral Wells rejects buidling an immigrant "detention" center on spec

Mineral Wells rejects Emerald detention center financing deal
Wed, 10/07/2009

From the Mineral Wells Index ("Council declines Emerald finance proposal," October 7),

Mineral Wells City Council on Tuesday declined to second a motion to finance a proposed Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detention facility.

Emerald Correctional Management Company said it was unable to date to secure private financing for the 500- to 1,000-bed facility that would house detained or arrested illegal immigrants. The company asked the city to issue public revenue bonds to build the estimated $50 million project.

After a presentation during Tuesday's council meeting, council members asked several questions, and Councilman John Ritchie made a motion to approve the financing request. However, no member of council seconded the motion, and the motion died with no further action or discussion.

What that means for the project's future is not certain. The Index is working on the story and will post it later today.

ICE project deal dead: Emerald says it will offer facility to other cities after City Council fails to support public financing proposal.
http://www.mineralwellsindex.com/local/local_story_281100232.html

By Christin Coyne
ccoyne@mineralwellsindex.com
A two and-a-half year effort to bring an illegal immigrant detention center to Mineral Wells ended Tuesday night with several long seconds of silence from city council members.

A resolution to continue negotiations with Emerald Correctional Management to build a detention facility funded by non-recourse revenue bonds issued by the Mineral Wells Local Government Corporation failed when council members failed to second a motion in support.

“That’s a pretty clear message that the city council has no interest in doing this project,” Steve Afeman, chief operating officer of Emerald, said Wednesday morning. “We’re not about to go back.”

The failure to move ahead with negotiations seemed to come as a surprise to several.

Afeman said Emerald met with mayor Mike Allen, Industrial Foundation representative Steve Butcher and city manager Lance Howerton and was told they believed council would support the public finance proposal.

Allen told those attending the meeting there would be no public comments. “This is for the council to understand,” he said before a presentation from Hull Youngblood, Emerald’s attorney and representative.

“[While switching sites earlier this year], we lost that window to get private financing that you could use,” Youngblood said. Initially the city offered Emerald land near Mineral Wells Municipal Airport, but 11th-hour public opposition to the site forced its move to Wolters Industrial Park, with the Industrial Foundation buying land to accommodate the switch.

Youngblood told the council the city would not be obligated if they authorized the local government corporation to issue non-recourse revenue bonds.

“The LGC will not have to pay anything on the debt except what is generated by project revenue,” Youngblood said. “[If the bonds were defaulted on] think of it like lenders and they’ve got a lien on the building. They could sell it or refinance it.”

Because the local government corporation would own the title to the building, the facility would also be exempt from ad valorem taxes.

“We would now take that pool of money [that would go to the city and Parker County] and give it to the city [as the per diem fee per inmate],” Youngblood said.

Councilman Bill Terry wanted to know if the facility went defunct how much control the city would have.

“[Once the facility is foreclosed on] they could do whatever they want,” Youngblood said, but added they would have to abide by applicable law.

“What kind of black eye is it to the city or the LGC [if they are unable to pay off the bonds]?” council member Tommy Blissitte asked.

Howerton said they talked with the city’s financial advisor and were told a default on the bonds would not technically affect the credit rating and would not likely impair the city.

However, the city might have to explain the situation and that could raise a red flag with other possible underwriters, Howerton said.

“What risk, if any, does Emerald have?” council member Deartis Nickerson asked.

“[There is] not additional equity being paid to the lender beyond the significant development costs [already incurred],” Youngblood said.

“I’ve been dealing with this for about a month and I’ve come to a conclusion our liability (would be) no different than private financing,” Allen said.

Allen noted unemployment is over 8 percent in the county and said the project would generate jobs and bring in at least $6 million for the city over a 20-year period.

Afeman said they’ve received about 30 job applications for the proposed Mineral Wells facility, which was supposed to have created 140 jobs, though many of the applications were from people in other parts of the state looking to return to Mineral Wells.

Council member John Ritchie moved to approve the resolution authorizing the local government corporation to continue negotiations for the publicly financed proposal but did not receive a second.

After several seconds of silence from the council, Allen requested a second to the motion but did not receive it from the other four council members present. Chris Crawford was absent.

“It’s been a long, hard journey,” Allen said after the meeting. “I’ve put a lot of time into it.”

Richard Ball, president of the Industrial Foundation, said afterward it was time to replace some city council members.

“I don’t think it’s the right thing at the right time,” Terry said. “I want to see the Baker Hotel situation [succeed] and I don’t want anything to get in the way … I just think there are better deals out there and eventually they’ll come. I feel that Emerald is not being up front with us.”

Terry was the lone dissenting vote when the council agreed to accept a lower impact fee than Emerald announced they would pay the city before the site was moved, asking whether it would be a sign of things to come.

“I don’t like the idea of the city having to issue bonds,” councilman Tommy Blissitte told the Index Wednesday. “It would look bad on the city if they defaulted.”

Blissitte said he also had concerns that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement would still be interested in an detention facility for illegal immigrants when it came time to write an agreement after several months of issuing bonds and then the 16-month building phase.

“If they got their own financing, I don’t have a problem,” Blissitte said. “I voted my conscience.”

“It’s a business decision that the city made and we respect that,” Afeman said. “There are two other sites that we’ve been in contact with this week.”

Posted by lois at 11:47 PM | Comments (0)

MA: State floats idea of another prison in Framingham

State floats idea of another prison in Framingham
By Dan McDonald/Daily News staff
The MetroWest Daily News
Posted Oct 07, 2009
FRAMINGHAM —

Already home to MCI-Framingham, the town might be host to another 500-bed prison facility.

The state has broached the idea, which appears to be in a very preliminary planning stage, selectmen Chairwoman Ginger Esty told her board last night .

There are many unknowns, the foremost being whether the proposal has any traction.

Selectmen, meeting in the Memorial Building's Ablondi Room last night, have many questions for which they do not have answers.

Would the facility be for men or women? What level of security would it have? Would it be an expansion of MCI-Framingham or a different entity altogether?

What kind of payment would the town get for hosting such a facility?

In fiscal 2009, the Department of Correction paid the town $75,437 for the presence of the tax-exempt MCI-Framingham, a medium-security prison on Loring Drive on the town's Southside.

That prison, like the whole system, is overburdened.

As of Aug. 17, MCI-Framingham, the DOC's only "committing institution for female offenders" had 597 inmates. It has a capacity for 452.

The state slashed $13 million from the DOC's budget within the last year.

The DOC is closing the Massachusetts Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center on Nov. 6 because of budget cuts.

While the details remain murky, such a facility would present "significant unseen challenges" to the town in providing municipal services, said Town Manager Julian Suso last night.

Esty agreed, saying the town needs more information.

"It would have a lot of repercussions in our community," said Esty.

Suso, Esty, a representative of Framingham Police Department, and representatives of Framingham's State House delegation met with the state's Division of Capital Asset Management to talk about the idea recently.

State Rep. Pam Richardson, D-Framingham, alerted Esty. Richardson had heard about the idea from a sheriff, said Esty.

So far, state officials are reluctant to talk about the plan in detail, according to Suso and Esty.

Suso did suggest a "planning process is going to be unfolding."

In other business, fire officials told selectmen the probable cause of the Sept. 21 Conigliaro Industries fire was improperly disposed of smoking material, possibly a discarded cigarette.

The fire at 701 Waverley St. ripped through a pile of recyclables that was 250 feet long, according to fire officials.

The blaze shut down commuter and freight rail traffic for about 90 minutes, according to state officials. No one was injured. The fire cost Conigliaro about $250,000.

Framingham Fire Marshal Brian Mauro told selectmen arson was essentially ruled out because the fire smoldered from the bottom of the pile of refuse. If someone had lit the fire on purpose they would have lit the top of the pile and "we would have seen that," said Mauro.

Mauro said Conigliaro appeared to be in compliance with all of its permits and had no violations pertaining to the fire.

He said the business toughened smoking regulations on the site after the fire.

Selectmen also last night honored Police Officer John Moore and Police Detective Leonard Pini for their courage in dealing with a disgruntled shotgun-toting man on Coburn Street in September 2008.

Responding to a domestic assault call, police arrived at a 34 Coburn St. apartment on Sept. 24, 2008 and were greeted by a shotgun blast from Michael Boyd, then 24.

Moore returned fire, but missed. Pini fired and hit Boyd in the chest.

Both faced mortal danger and prevented others at the scene, including two children, from harm, according to proclamations read last night.
Dan McDonald can be reached at 508-626-4416 or at dmcdonal@cnc.com
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x458693970/State-floats-idea-of-another-prison-in-Framingham

Posted by lois at 11:41 PM | Comments (0)

October 01, 2009

MI: State Senate Votes to Cut Some Prison Spending including closing some prisons and cutting food, education for prisoners

State Senate votes to cut prison spending
Associated Press • September 30, 2009
LANSING — The Republican-led Michigan Senate has voted to cut prison spending hours before a deadline to address a $2.8 billion state budget deficit.

The 5% cut approved 23-14 tonight would be met partly by completing a previously announced plan to close prisons and prison camps. Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s administration has been paroling more inmates to save money.

It costs more than $32,000 a year to incarcerate a prisoner. Lawmakers want the $2 billion Corrections Department to reduce costs by more than $800 per inmate by saving on things like prisoners’ prescription drugs, educational classes, legal services and food.

The bill already has passed the Democratic-controlled House. The Senate so far has put off votes letting budget bills take effect Thursday.
http://www.thetimesherald.com/article/20090930/NEWS05/90930019/0/news05/State-Senate-votes-to-cut-prison-spending

Posted by lois at 06:33 PM | Comments (0)

September 30, 2009

MT: Still more strange goings on in Hardin with "American Police Force"

Reports: Mysterious, unregistered security firm policing Montana town
The Raw Story

A mysterious, reportedly unregistered and almost entirely unknown private security firm by the name "American Police Force" is causing a stir in a small Montana town for apparently impersonating local police.

According to a local media report, APF representatives were recently seen in the tiny town of Hardin, Montana, driving black SUV's with a peculiar logo and, inexplicably, "City of Hardin Police Department" stamped on the door.

However, Hardin does not have a police force.

The town instead contracts with the Big Horn County Sheriff's Department for patrols, according to KULR 8 in Billings, Montana.

According to the news agency, APF was never given permission to assume policing duties. Instead, the firm -- which the Associated Press reported to be unregistered in government databases -- gained its contract with the town on the promise of bringing inmates to an unpopulated prison complex.

An image on KULR's Web site shows the insignia on the APF vehicles, which has caused some concern on the Internet as being of conspiratorial origin.

APF's coat of arms, a clearer version of which appeared on the group's Web site (which had been taken down at time of this writing but is viewable here), shows a double-headed eagle with a red shield and white cross borne on its breast.

The coat appears very similar to the insignia attributed to one Prince Aleksandar Karageorgevich, based on RAW STORY's analysis of images hosted by Burke's Peerage & Gentry International Register of Arms. The site notes the coat as hailing from the Royal crown of Serbia.

However, the significance or implied nationality of the insignia's crown could not immediately be identified.

The double-headed eagle itself has been used repeatedly throughout history by many cultures as a symbol of empire, dominance and power.

Hardin, home to about 3,400 people, is in the state’s poorest county. Its unoccupied, 460-bed prison cost $27 million to construct. The town made national headlines earlier this year when local officials pleaded to have Guantanamo Bay inmates sent to the jail.

Montana Democratic Senator Max Baucus and other Republican lawmakers have stood in the way of moving Guantanamo inmates stateside, claiming they would present an increased security risk. The political calculation has led the White House to caution that its promise to close the controversial facility in January may not materialize on schedule.

http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/09/mysterious-unregistered-security-firm-policing-montana-town/

Posted by lois at 11:17 AM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2009

FL: Pinellas County Jail drops $8 co-pay for prisoners doctor visits

Pinellas County Jail drops $8 co-pay for inmates' doctor visits
By Drew Harwell, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Sunday, September 20, 2009

LARGO — The Pinellas County Jail will no longer charge an $8 co-payment to inmates seeking medical care, forfeiting an estimated $50,000 in annual revenue from a policy that jail officials said created more problems than profit.

The jail used co-pays to help offset millions of dollars in medical bills and discourage requests for unnecessary treatments or bogus ailments. Most medical insurance does the same thing.

In 1995, when the co-pays began, jail officials told the Times that the charges had cut demand for care in half, an early sign that they were clearing waiting rooms of all but those with real medical need.

But in the years since, said Pinellas County Sheriff Jim Coats, the co-pays have bred hostility among inmates and bogged down staff with paperwork, making the tens of thousands in lost cash "not even worth it."

"The administrative reviewing and tracking of all that cost us more than we make," said Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Bob Gualtieri. "The bang wasn't worth the buck."

Where Pinellas jail officials see a barrier to streamlining, other correctional institutions have found an opportunity for profit. From county jails near Tampa Bay to federal penitentiaries across the country, every facility charges a co-pay, returning tens of thousands of dollars annually to general funds.

Jails in Hillsborough, Hernando, Pasco and Polk charge between $5 to $15 for medical visits, higher than the Federal Bureau of Prisons' rate of $2. In 2005, when the co-pay system was instituted at all federal facilities, the bureau wrote it would encourage inmates "to be more responsible for their own health care."

A spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections says the state feels the same way. Florida prisons earned $640,000 last year off a $4 co-pay, and in July state legislators increased the rate by a dollar.

"The money obviously is a big part … but the other side of it is there are some inmates who would go to the doctor every day," said department spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger. "And if they have a medical need, they need to go, we want them to go. But this minimizes inmates who might be trying to game the system."

None of the county, jail or federal officials interviewed said they knew of plans to change their co-pay system, adding that the benefits of the charges made the collection process worth the trouble.

Not so in Pinellas, Gualtieri said. Jail employees, including more than 100 floor nurses and doctors working in the jail's $35 million health care building, said they felt weighed down by the often futile search for co-pays.

The inmates didn't like it either, filing more than 1,100 grievances complaining of medical care access, quality and cost last year. Inmate Eugene Betts, convicted of attempted murder, filed three lawsuits against the jail and two employees, claiming they charged him for treatment he didn't request after he was beaten by other inmates. In each case, he asks for his $8 co-pay, $2 in interest and hundreds of dollars in court fees.

For a jail population that saw more than 350,000 medical visits last year, the invoices and complaints added up. With the co-pay policy gone, officials said, medical staff will be freed to deal with more hands-on care.

"The nurses should be seeing inmates and treating them," said Lt. Sean McGillen, "not filling out paperwork for co-pays."

Still, the decision to abolish the co-pays comes at a tough financial time for the Sheriff's Office, which runs one of the state's most populated jails. In the past 18 months, the office's budget has been reduced by a quarter, meaning a loss of more than $67 million and 363 positions.

Coats said the Pinellas jail will continue to accrue revenue from other sources, like a recently increased $20 booking fee, to help pay for what amounted to $19 million in medical operation costs last year.

The money inmates once spent on co-pays, taken out of commissary funds filled by donations from friends and family, will stay in the accounts allowing them to buy items like cookies and deodorant.

Inmates at booking will no longer be informed of the co-pay, which was levied on inmates who requested treatment unrelated to mental health, pregnancy, infectious diseases or emergency care. During the co-pay period, inmates without money in their accounts were not denied medical attention, officials said.

Dr. Allen Beck, a Kansas City criminal justice planner who studied the Pinellas jail, said co-pays have grown popular because of the expensive costs of health care. Considering that the ratio of health problems like drug and alcohol abuse is higher among inmates, prison medical costs "chew up a budget in a hurry."

He added that there are valid arguments against collecting co-pays, including the amount of additional effort they demand.

"It just doesn't make good business sense," Coats said. "You can only squeeze so much juice from an onion. Sometimes it gets to the point where it's counterproductive."

fast facts

Co-payments for inmate medical requests

Pinellas: Free (was $8 per visit)

Hillsborough: $12 per doctor visit; $5 per pharmacy visit; $10 per X-ray; $20 per dental visit

Hernando: $5 per nurse visit; $7 per doctor visit; $3 per pharmacy visit; $10 per X-ray; $4 per laboratory blood work

Pasco: $5 per nurse visit; $7 per doctor visit; $5 per pharmacy visit; $10 per dentist visit; $4 per laboratory blood work

Polk County: $10 per nurse visit; $15 per doctor visit; $10 per pharmacy visit

State prison: $5 per visit

Federal prison: $2 per visit

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/pinellas-county-jail-drops-8-co-pay-for-inmates-doctor-visits/1037401

Posted by lois at 08:24 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2009

Adelanto CA: GEO plans to build private prison for 2,200 immigrants

Private company plans illegal-immigrant prison in Adelanto
2,200-bed facility hinges on winning federal contract
September 21, 2009
NATASHA LINDSTROM Staff Writer

ADELANTO • A private prison operator has plans to build a 2,200-bed detention center that holds illegal immigrants on 51 acres near two other local prisons.

City Council will decide on Wednesday whether to approve the GEO Group Inc.’s development plan and conditional use permit to construct a new correctional facility on the northeast corner of Raccoon Avenue and Rancho Road.

But the proposed facility also hinges on GEO Group winning a federal contract from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to Adelanto City Manager Jim Hart.

Earlier this year the Department of Homeland Security posted a notice saying it would be looking for contractors to construct a possible detention center that can hold up to 2,200 illegal immigrants and others suspected of violating immigration laws. The notice said the center should be located within 120 miles of downtown Los Angeles and privately owned and operated.

However the official request for proposals for the new ICE center has not yet been issued, according to ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice, while the agency undergoes a comprehensive overhaul of its detention system.
http://www.vvdailypress.com/news/adelanto-14600-prison-private.html

Posted by lois at 05:08 PM | Comments (0)

Connecticut's Budget Requires Correction Department Cuts, But No One Seems To Know Where To Make Them

CORRECTIONS
Connecticut's Budget Requires Correction Department Cuts, But No One Seems To Know Where To Make Them
By CHRISTOPHER KEATING
The Hartford Courant
September 21, 2009

Just save the money.

That's what the state's prisons are being told by the legislature. All state agencies have been saving money during the deep economic downturn, but the Department of Correction is being told to find $63.4 million in savings over two years under the new state budget.

Prison officials are complaining that they have not been told which programs to cut, and the explanation from the legislature's nonpartisan fiscal office says only that the cuts will "reflect the implementation of various correctional policies to achieve savings in the correctional system."

From Gov. M. Jodi Rell's budget office to the prison guards' union, no one seems to know how the cuts will be made.

"We think that the legislature's budget for the corrections department represents an overly optimistic estimate of savings with no credible basis in fact," said Jeffrey Beckham, a spokesman for Rell's budget office. "It is just one example of many where the legislature has deliberately underestimated basic expenses of government so that they could shift money to areas where they just wanted to spend more. Frankly, this has been a recurring problem, which is why we have seen deficiencies in the Department of Correction budget over the last several years."

But Derek Slap, a spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem Donald Williams, said that Rell had been pushing for cuts for months and publicly complained that the Democratic-controlled legislature had not reduced spending enough.

"The governor said there were no real cuts," Slap said. "Now that there are cuts, they say, 'How do we do it?' Families across the state are doing this belt-tightening. The Rell administration and her bureaucracy is going to have to do the same. People want substantial cuts in spending."

With an annual budget of more than $700 million, the Department of Correction will need to cut $63.4 million from a two-year total of more than $1.4 billion. That represents less than 5 percent of the total department budget over two years.

In addition, Slap noted that Rell herself wanted to cut the prisons' budget by $56 million — a total not far from the Democrats' figure.

Larry Dorman, a spokesman for the union representing correction officers, said that closing any prisons would be a mistake. There are currently no provisions in the budget to shutter any facilities.

"We don't know where any of these alleged savings would come from or how they will be achieved," Dorman said. "If these cuts come at the expense of … safety inside or out [of prisons], then nothing good will be accomplished. If you close prisons, they will be opened up later. Crime doesn't stop."

The prison guards' union was concerned about the budget cuts even before the state's "super-max" prison was locked down over the weekend after three attacks Friday on guards by four inmates. One of the guards was beaten unconscious at the Northern Correctional Institution, which houses some of the state's toughest inmates and includes prisoners on death row. Top prison officials will meet today to determine whether the lockdown will be extended.

State Rep. Douglas McCrory, who serves as a subcommittee co-chairman overseeing prisons, said that lawmakers purposely avoided tying the hands of the correction commissioner during budget talks earlier this year. Instead, they wanted department officials to make the decisions about where to cut.

The state's prison population has been dropping since a peak that came after the triple killings in Cheshire in July 2007, which prompted a freeze in the state's parole system. The all-time high population in the prisons was 19,894 inmates on Feb. 1, 2008, according to the correction department. Today, that number has dropped by about 1,000.

With the cost of incarcerating the average inmate at about $40,000 per year, the state can save money this year by moving nonviolent criminals to halfway houses and group homes, McCrory said.

"Our prison population has declined over the last year and a half," McCrory said.

Along with the University of Connecticut Health Center, the correction department is one of the large state agencies that has failed to meet its budget projections in recent years. As such, the legislature often passes a "deficiency" bill, which means that the deficit is covered by savings in other agencies during the robust years or simply adds to the overall state deficit in the lean years.

Brian Garnett, a spokesman for the correction department, offered no specific examples of cuts in a large agency that oversees 18,800 inmates in 18 facilities.

"We continue to review that document," Garnett said of the two-year, $37.6 billion state budget. "We continue to take a look at those numbers and how we will implement them."

Copyright © 2009, The Hartford Courant
courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-prisons-0921.artsep21,0,484344.story

Posted by lois at 03:11 PM | Comments (0)

September 20, 2009

MT: Empty Hardin Prison Pins Its Hopes on Mystery Security Company-American Private Police Force Organization

Hardin still pins hopes on private jail, mystery security company
By BECKY SHAY of the Billings Gazette | September 20, 2009

HARDIN - Al Peterson won't say the name of the company that wants to fill the empty jail in Hardin.

He says he's seen documents that prove the company is legitimate, but he won't discuss the contents or nature of those documents either.

And, he's been to California to meet personally with company officials and to haggle over a 10-year contract he says will bring in hundreds of prisoners, scores of jobs and thousands of dollars to his beleaguered community.

Peterson is vice president of the Two Rivers Authority, Hardin's economic development agency and owner of the 464-bed jail that has been empty since it was finished in 2007.

Despite all the mystery, Peterson insists that everyone will be believers in the next few weeks when American Private Police Force Organization, a newly organized subsidiary of the unnamed California company, begins hiring local staff for the prison.

"I've seen their documents. I've seen their credentials," Peterson said. "I believe them."

While there are some skeptics among Hardin officials, all seem to agree the city has to take a chance on APF. Two Rivers has gone into default on its bond payments for the empty jail and the agency is nearly out of money. The jail has also caused a rift between county and state officials, prompting a lawsuit.

Besides, Hardin has nothing to lose. The money being risked with the contract is APF's, said Peterson, who is Hardin's superintendent of schools.

From cheaters to kidnappers

APF officials will only say their parent corporation is a private security company that has been operating detention centers internationally since being incorporated in 1984. This would be the company's first domestic jail.

APF's Web site opens with images of armed masked men in combat gear, military-style weapons and helicopters, all accompanied by the refrains of Ravel's "Bolero."

Among APF's "international operations" listed on the Web site are special forces training, kidnapping and ransom situations, convoy security in war zones and fugitive recovery. The company also offers investigations into unsolved murders, cheating spouses, fraud and missing persons.

Presumably, some of APF's employees and clients would be trained for those services in a 104,000-square-foot facility with housing for 248 and high-tech labs that would be built adjacent to the jail.

APF plans to soon hold a job fair for local candidates. On top of that, the company has vowed to allow residents to use the CT scanner in its crime lab. It also would help the city organize and staff a municipal police department and donate food from the jail's kitchen to the needy.

Troubled authority

Two Rivers arranged private bond funding to build the $27 million jail as an economic boost to the hard-luck county.

When the assumed agreements with Montana officials to house state prisoners didn't work out, that left the authority hunting all over the country for prisoners.

With no contracts in sight, Two Rivers missed its May 2008 bond payment and went into default. Until then, it had been making its twice yearly $2.5 million payments from a reserve fund built into the revenue bond purchase.

Two Rivers made global headlines earlier this spring when it made a desperate offer to house terrorism suspects from the closing Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, an idea that was quickly crushed by Montana's congressional delegation.

Then, just two days after announcing its contract with APF, Two Rivers put its executive director Greg Smith on paid administrative leave. Neither Smith nor Two Rivers' Peterson will say why.

With so many unanswered questions about the prison's new use, speculation has been rampant. County residents have suggested the new facility would be used for everything from torturing international terrorists to housing Obama administration dissenters.

Peterson insists the contract allows only low- to medium-risk prisoners from the United States, and that Two Rivers retains final approval of any prison contract.

APF commits big money

As part of its contract, APF will take over the bond payments for the prison, which will remain the authority's property, said Michael Hilton, a spokesman for the company. In addition, APF will invest about $23 million in its planned training facility and pay $10 per person to TRA for those using the training center, Hilton said. The training facility that APF intends to build will have a dormitory for participants, but they'll still be visiting - and spending - in Hardin, Hilton said.

"Those people from overseas have money to spend," he said.

Peterson told Associated Press on Friday that the contract calls for APF to pay $220,000 a month - $2.6 million a year - for 10 years.

Two Rivers would also be paid a fee of $5 per day per inmate, which is a new revenue stream, Peterson said. During a packed meeting of the Hardin City Council last week, Peterson said that even at half full, the fees would add up to more than $365,000 a year.

"Holy crap. Right now we're on a shoe string," he said.

Due diligence

Earlier this month, Peterson, Smith and Two Rivers attorney Becky Convery, flew to California at the authority's expense to meet with APF officials.

Among the people they met were Hilton and Mazair Mafi, APF's director of legal affairs.

Peterson called it a "whirlwind trip" in which they arrived in Los Angeles around noon on Sept. 3 and negotiated until well into the evening. They reached consensus the next day and by the following day the contract was signed, he said.

Before the California meeting, Hilton said APF officials had spent about 10 months checking out Hardin and meeting with officials in the city.

Both APF and Two Rivers officials remain tight-lipped about the parent company backing the venture. The company is remaining unnamed for security and proprietary reasons, they say.

Flying under the radar is just the way many private security companies do business, Hilton said. He did say that APF has at least 160 contractors around the world plus independent contractors. And the parent company has more than 20 "virtual offices" around the world, he said, including addresses in Washington, D.C., and Santa Ana, Calif.

"Every security company does this. The U.S. government does this," Hilton said. "We have enemies, worldwide - not in the U.S., but you never know - so it's for security purposes."

When The Gazette contacted a spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C., building the company claims to use, she said AFP never completed its application to use the address. Reporters for The Gazette and Associated Press have also been unable to locate APF in any of the databases listing federal contracts.

To all the doubters, Mafi urges patience.

"Just wait a couple weeks, and the city is going to begin to see hard cash," he said. "We'll be hiring people and training people."

Skeptical but supportive

At least two Hardin City Council members are split in their opinions of APF. But, both Bill Hert and Carla Colstad agree the city must city take a chance.

Hert, who described himself as a former cop who doesn't trust many people, sees it as a "good deal if it turns out." He wants more information from APF.

"I would like to meet some of them in person," Hert said. "If they would come here and meet with us and explain what they are going to do in person, rather than just have a contract to read."

Colstad, a third-generation Hardin council member, said she trusts Two Rivers.

"In this economy and in this recession, hallelujah, they have actually found someone who is not only willing to work here in the community but has the money," she said. "They've got the money behind the talk. This is all we've hoped for all this time."

Jumpstarting the jail

APF's contract requires the company to "make its best efforts to hire and train local personnel" and report on hiring each quarter.

The jail could start holding inmates as early as January and contracts are being sought to have all 464 beds full by March, Hilton said.

"You have to have a facility first to negotiate," he said. "We are waiting to sign a contract."

APF's contract with Two Rivers includes a provision to house for free up to 60 inmates from Hardin, Lodge Grass and Big Horn County. Those inmates will be kept separate from APF detainees.

Hilton said APF won't make money on the jail. The jail is a "stepping stone" to the company's goal of opening a security training center for mostly international clients from "U.S.-friendly countries."

Hardin police force

The Hardin City Council has a public hearing "on law enforcement" scheduled for Thursday. That hearing, like several that have been held around the county, is to gauge public opinion on the city breaking from the county for law enforcement services. The city and county have been at odds for years about the law enforcement presence provided by the Sheriff's Office.

Hilton said APF has proposed that, if Hardin creates a police department, the company would provide the initial officers and hire a local chief of police. APF has already purchased Mercedes vehicles that are being outfitted and will be available for patrol cars, Hilton said.

The training center also could provide some officers to support the city, he said.

Hilton said that during a trip to Hardin to check out the jail facility, he was shocked to see people selling and using drugs, so he wants to have two narcotics agents in Hardin, too.

After Tuesday's council meeting, resident Virginia Pitsche said she welcomes anyone who can help clean up Hardin.

"We need protection in this town," Pitsche said.

Pitsche's sister, Vinetta Hollis, agreed that a better police presence is needed, but was firm that she wants to know more about the company, which she said could be a shill for President Barack Obama to create a federal police force.

"They were formed by who?" Hollis said. "Read up on it. This is a federal police force of Obama's."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_bdcb2e16-a601-11de-ac10-001cc4c002e0.html

Posted by lois at 08:33 PM | Comments (0)

NV: Pahrump: fight continues against detention center

"At the time, there was no group like Concerned Citizens for a Safe Community, no anti-prison privatization consultants like Frank Smith of the Private Corrections Institute, and only a couple residents who attended the relevant meetings and spoke up."

Proposed distance from 'prison' was redlined by staff
By MARK WAITE and MARK SMITH
PVT
Sep. 18, 2009
It all began a long time ago.

Jan. 24, 2007 -- more than two and a half years ago -- the PVT printed on its front page a story titled "Town has no lock on fed prison plan."

And so what has become a major issue regarding development, revenue, jobs and political viability, got under way.

Over the intervening months, the PVT has been riddled with stories about the detention center, many on the front page and for which it won a number of Nevada Press Association awards in 2008.

But one issue has persisted as a burr under the saddle -- the reduction in the minimum distance between a prison, as many insist the detention center is, and the nearest residences.

Nye County commissioners long ago, on April 18, 2007, passed what remains a controversial motion to change the county zoning code and eliminate the minimum distance requirement of 50,000 feet between a correctional institution and residences.

At the time, there was no group like Concerned Citizens for a Safe Community, no anti-prison privatization consultants like Frank Smith of the Private Corrections Institute, and only a couple residents who attended the relevant meetings and spoke up.

Despite ongoing publicity about the detention center, it was a year later, during the summer of 2008, before the code change began to attract significant public attention.

The idea of revising the zoning to allow a correctional facility first came up during a March 9, 2007, county commission meeting held via a conference call, when then County Manager Ron Williams told commissioners a provision in the county code would have to be changed.

At the time, Nye County Code allowed only for a lockup for people already convicted, he said. Williams said the code also required such facilities be at least 50,000 feet, about 9.5 miles, from the nearest residence.

That minimum distance in the county code was enacted after the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission in the late 1990s decided it didn't want a correctional facility in Pahrump.

At that time, there had been talk of building a prison somewhere in Southern Nevada, Williams told commissioners. Pahrump Valley was sufficiently expansive to include areas where a correctional facility could be built 10 miles from homes, he said.

Williams said if the ordinance wasn't changed, Nye County could catch flack from some of the companies spending money on surveying land for possible detention center sites.

Commissioner Butch Borasky expressed concerns over the increasing size of the privately-built, federal detention center, which was originally going to be 350 beds, but at the time, there was talk of boosting it to 1,000 beds.

Former Commissioner Peter Liakopoulos and Borasky both talked about trying to situate the facility as far away from town as possible.

The county commission had just backed off from a suggestion to submit Nye County's own bid to build a federal detention center, after former Commissioner Roberta "Midge" Carver raised concerns over liability.

Williams added Nye County didn't have the experience to compete with private contractors already established in the industry. It also wouldn't be a good idea to revise the solicitation for bids by the U.S. Department of Justice to include beds for the county's own inmates, he said.

On March 23, 2007, county commissioners voted to set an April 18 hearing date for what had become bill 2007-07 that would establish a new community facilities zone that would allow a federal detention center in the zoning code.

It would also dump the minimum distance requirement.

County commissioners were being urged to take action as contractors were required to submit phase one environmental surveys on proposed locations for the detention center by April 30, 2007.

Former Pahrump Town Board Chairman Laurayne Murray talked about the tremendous financial impact from a detention center requiring 200 to 250 jobs, an annual payroll of $9 million and tax payments of $800,000 per year.

She urged commissioners to move quickly in light of competition from other communities for the project. There were 11 original sites proposed.

The Pahrump Regional Planning Commission recommended approval of the bill April 11, 2007.

At the April 18, 2007, public hearing by the Nye County Commission, Borasky suggested a minimum distance remain between correctional facilities and residences.

"I would really like to see some distance between residential housing and that type of facility -- a mile and a half -- and also be on a paved road as well," Borasky said.

The proposed bill, 2007-07, had five special conditions at the end, one of which was a requirement that "the facility must be located at least five miles from any established residential use."

Those special conditions, however, were deleted sometime between March 23, 2007, when the bill was first scheduled for a hearing, and the RPC April 11 meeting with a red line through them. No one objected to the red line deletion -- no one took credit for the deletions at the time, and who actually redlined them is unclear even today -- but Williams told commissioners the county was supposed to be removing the 50,000-foot setback.

"Again, I'll make the same statement: Are we going to add a mileage requirement or not?" Borasky asked.

"The way we're drafting this ordinance, there is no distance or mileage requirement from the residents to the facility," Nye County Planning Director Jack Lohman said.

Borasky, in a front page April 25, 2007, PVT story titled "Released detainees concern town board member," said he felt satisfied the county would have enough control over where the detention center was to be located when it came to approving the conditional use permit.

The story specified that the minimum distance had been removed from the special conditions.

But when it came to the rezoning of the Mesquite Avenue property in July 2007, Williams said the county would vote on a development agreement instead of a conditional use permit.

"Would planning approve a correctional facility within a residential neighborhood?" Commissioner Gary Hollis asked at the April 2007 hearing.

"Well, not without a general plan amendment," said Lohman, "and it would be up to you folks to decide where to put it."

Hollis, then the county commission chairman, mistakenly called for the vote on the bill before the public comment period.

When public comment was reopened, however, only a couple of people spoke up.

Pahrump resident John Koenig, a regular attendee at county commission meetings, said, if the county set a minimum distance from residences, "it will make it a lot easier at decision time to say that's a good site."

Pahrump Town Board member John McDonald had concerns over detainees being released onto the streets of Pahrump.

Attorney Tony Celeste, representing the Geo Group, one of the two contractors bidding on a detention center project, said, placing a minimum separation distance would preclude the county commission from evaluating a potentially viable site for consideration.

Liakopoulos made the motion to approve bill 2007-07. It passed on a 4-1 vote. Carver cast the sole vote in opposition without explaining her objection.

There was an attempt shortly afterward to build a separate Nye County detention facility.

In May 2007, county commissioners voted 3-1 to negotiate with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on a 500-bed detention facility to be built and operated by the county.

Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo said he met with Mike Webb, a supervisory agent for ICE, about the proposal, which would allow the county to house its own prisoners and lease bed space to other agencies.

Somehow that plan became mingled in the minds of some with the federal detention center.

On July 11, 2007, the RPC voted to recommend a site farther north on Parque Avenue, almost into Johnnie, for the detention center, while reviewing five zoning applications.

A week later, the county commission passed a motion by Borasky to approve a non-conforming zoning change for 160 acres at the 2250 E. Mesquite Ave., detention center site from open use-general commercial to a community facilities zone, overruling the RPC denial of that site.

County planner Rick Osborne said the nearest residence was 600 feet away.

http://www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/2009/Sep-18-Fri-2009/news/31275071.html

Posted by lois at 08:19 PM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2009

Schwarzenegger's prison reduction plan falls short of court order

Schwarzenegger's prison reduction plan falls short of court order
By Howard Mintz and Denis C. Theriault
Mercury News
Posted: 09/18/2009

Facing a midnight deadline, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and top prison officials Friday released a plan that falls far short of a federal court order to relieve prison overcrowding.

A three-judge federal panel has called for California to decide how to slash more than 40,000 inmates from the rolls in the next two years. Instead, the governor's plan offers modest reductions while insisting on more time to wring further reforms from legislators afraid of being labeled soft on crime.

The response sets up a confrontation that will likely be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. At issue: how much power the federal judges have to essentially take over the state's prisons.

Matthew Cate, director of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, called the 21-page filing "a good-faith effort to do everything we can." The two-pronged plan, submitted to the panel that issued the overcrowding order, calls for lowering the inmate population by no more than 20,000 over the next three years, half of what the judges sought in their Aug. 4 order.

The state also will urge the Legislature to reconsider a package of Schwarzenegger-backed reforms that failed to win approval late last month. Those reforms — a blend of supervised-release programs, sentencing changes and other measures — would come close to meeting the court order but still would take at least five years, Cate said.

It was unclear late Friday when — or whether —lawmakers might make another run at those proposed reforms. Aides said work on them may have to wait until as late as January, when the Legislature reconvenes.

Meanwhile, the state's prison crisis is likely to remain unresolved for months while the three federal judges consider the details of the governor's plan.

The court already has blasted California political leaders for years of inaction on prison overcrowding. It demanded that the state bring its prison inmate level down from about 190 percent of capacity to 137.5 percent within two years.

The plan submitted Friday evening calls for that level to be cut to about 155 percent of capacity in three years and 148 percent over six years. Even with new prison construction to accommodate 20,000 inmates, that would still leave the state's facilities overcrowded.

The additional reforms sought from the Legislature could cut the number down to 132 percent of capacity, prison officials said.

Proposals similar

The governor, in a prepared statement, called the submission to the court a "comprehensive public safety plan that cuts corrections operating budgets, builds more cells, reduces recidivism and meets court-mandated inmate health care."

Lawyers for the inmates immediately signaled they would urge the judges to reject the plan.

"There is an order to reduce the population by so much after two years," said Steve Fama, an attorney with the nonprofit Prison Law Office. "They've got to do that."

For now, the governor is offering up a proposal that largely mirrors the Legislature's recent plan to cut the prison population only by about 16,000 inmates, with some additional provisions. Beyond constructing more space to house prisoners, the state will look to commute sentences for thousands of undocumented immigrants who would then be turned over for federal authorities for deportation proceedings. The plan also calls for reforming the parole system and diverting low-level offenders serving time for parole violations to locations other than prisons.

The provision to add new prison beds may not sit well with the three-judge panel. In their August order, the judges warned that construction was not a "meaningful and timely remedy" for the overcrowding.

Reaction to the proposal Friday by legislative leaders was mixed. A spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, urged lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to come up with "responsible solutions to prevent the wholesale release of prisoners by federal judges."

Ready to gamble

But Assembly Minority Leader Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, warned Republicans would oppose "any further attempts to undermine public safety." He added, "We are confident that upon review of the facts, it will be clear the three-judge panel overstepped their authority, and their reckless rulings will be overturned."

Sen. Elaine Alquist, D-Santa Clara, meanwhile, expressed frustration that the more-sweeping reforms the Senate agreed to during a just-adjourned special session weren't approved by the Assembly.

"The Senate made the difficult, though unpopular, choices it had to," she said.

If the panel of three federal judges — San Francisco U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson, Sacramento U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton and 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt — balks, the Schwarzenegger administration appears ready to gamble that the Supreme Court will spare the state from the full force of the panel's ruling.

State officials say they will press a Supreme Court appeal in November if necessary.

Such a showdown would be a closely watched clash between a federal court's powers to ensure a state prison system meets constitutional standards and a state's right to run its prison system.

The panel found that California's prisons are so overcrowded they violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Essentially, they ruled, there are so many inmates — the state crams 150,000 inmates into crumbling prisons meant to hold half that amount — that prison officials cannot provide adequate medical and mental health care.

The judges are not restricted by the Legislature's refusal to adopt all of Schwarzenegger's measures to reduce overcrowding. A 1996 federal law allows a court to force prison officials to take steps to fix constitutional violations, even if those steps violate state law.

Legal experts say they expect the panel's final order will ultimately set the stage for a Supreme Court battle.

"If I read the state correctly," said Kara Dansky, director of Stanford University's Criminal Justice Center, "that's the state's next step."
http://www.mercurynews.com/politics/ci_13369278?nclick_check=1

Posted by lois at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)

September 17, 2009

CO: Officials in 3 counties ask Gov not to close 3 CCA prisoners to protect jobs in communities

Prison Cutbacks Face Opposition
Bent, Crowley and Huerfano officials ask governor to reconsider early release program.
By ANTHONY A. MESTAS
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
September 17, 2009
Officials in three Southern Colorado counties said Wednesday that Gov. Bill Ritter's decision to release more than 6,000 inmates from state Department of Corrections custody will be devastating to small communities that house private prisons.

Commissioners in Bent, Crowley and Huerfano counties all have private prisons owned and operated by Corrections Corporation of America.

Ritter announced the Accelerated Transition Pilot program in August. By June 30, an estimated 2,720 inmates out of 3,400 eligible for parole will be on the streets, saving the state $19 million in prison housing costs. The next year, another 3,000-plus inmates could be released.

But Bent County Commissioner Bill Long said that the lion's share of the proposed reduction would come from the private prisons in Crowley, Bent and Huerfano counties.

Long said the proposed releases will impact the private facilities which were built at the request of the state. "If they do what they have been talking about in the last few days, which is 5,000 to 6,000 inmates possibly being up for parole, that will empty virtually every private prison in Colorado that has Colorado inmates," Long said.

"I guarantee that this will be an absolute disaster for Bent County and Crowley County. No question about it."

The Crowley County Correctional Facility in Olney Springs and the Bent County Correctional Facility in Las Animas are key parts of their local economies with more than 200 employees at each facility, Long said.

"We receive property tax, telephone revenue and other benefits from the

facilities," Long said.

Long explained that the Huerfano County Correctional Facility in Walsenburg and the Kit Carson Correctional Facility in Burlington also will be hurt if the reduction occurs.

Currently the Huerfano facility is full of inmates from Arizona, but Long said that when Arizona gets its inmate situation straightened out, the inmates will be taken back to that state.

"That would be another facility that was built primarily for Colorado inmates that would also be emptied," Long said.
http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2009/09/17/news/local/doc4ab1c8c6919a55390
31796.txt

Posted by lois at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

September 15, 2009

VA: Issues That Matter to You: Prison Jobs and Funding

Issues That Matter to You: Prison Jobs and Funding

By Amy Gardner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 13, 2009

Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's decision last week to shutter two state prisons and a juvenile detention center to help close a $1.5 billion budget shortfall marked a dramatic reversal of a 15-year explosion in prison space.

Kaine was able to do it because recent growth in the prison population has not matched projections. For the first time that anyone can recall, Virginia's prison population declined in the past year, and no one knows why.

But the decision eliminates nearly 300 jobs -- almost half of the layoffs Kaine announced that day. It also reduces the number of prison beds by 1,200.

Would the state's two nominees for governor have made the same choice? Republican Robert F. McDonnell and Democrat R. Creigh Deeds lamented the layoff of 288 correctional workers, particularly in rural parts of the state hard hit by the economic downtown. McDonnell also said public safety programs must be protected in times of economic distress.

"In tough economic times when there is a potential for an increase in crime, we should not enact any cuts to law enforcement," McDonnell said.

"It is a bitter pill to swallow," Deeds said. "The governor was faced with difficult choices, but I'm very sorry that was a choice he made."

At the same time, both candidates applauded Kaine (D) for making difficult decisions in a challenging budget cycle. And neither offered alternatives to replace the $36 million that the prison cuts will save, much of it expected from the sale of one of the prisons for $25 million to local governments in need of a regional jail.

Last week marked the fourth time since the state's two-year budget cycle began in July 2008 that Kaine has announced cuts to bring state spending in line with ever-shrinking projections for tax receipts. This time, Kaine limited the impact on K-12 education and local government, but he cut as much as 15 percent in aid to colleges and universities, trimmed aid to police and sheriff's departments, and ordered a one-day furlough in May for most of the state's 102,000 employees.

As the state's largest agency, the Corrections Department employs 12,900 workers and operates 40 facilities, many of them in far-flung areas where unemployment is high and where a prison is as much a jobs center for the local workforce as it is an arm of the state's public safety apparatus.

As a result, making deep cuts in state spending without touching corrections is difficult. Yet cutting corrections is painful for rural communities that are suffering economically.

"Obviously, there's going to be some dislocation, some discomfort with a lot of the people in those parts of the state where they're closing those prisons," said House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford), who, like McDonnell, applauded Kaine for not raising taxes. "And you've probably got high unemployment to begin with."

The two prisons to be closed are in Brunswick County, in Southside Virginia along the North Carolina border, and in Botetourt County to the southwest. The juvenile center is in Rockbridge County, also to the southwest.

Kaine's announcement marks the end of a building spree during which Virginia's prison population jumped from below 30,000 to nearly 39,000. Fueled in part by the abolition of parole in the mid-1990s, by tougher sentences for violent crimes and by the economic benefit, state lawmakers authorized the construction of 15 facilities, about one a year.

Because prison population growth has waned -- even reversing in the past year -- one of those new facilities is ready to open but not needed. Another has opened only partially, with an entire wing remaining mothballed for now.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/12/AR2009091202
502.html

Posted by lois at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)

September 12, 2009

Prison Comix by Jim Ridgeway

Prison Comix
September 5, 2009

With more and more older people going to prison there is a growing demand for educational materials to keep their minds alive and well amid the deadening atmosphere of the American correctional system—created in large part by government and supervised and informed by the judiciary. Not to mention the thousands upon thousands of young and middle-aged people whose “rehabilitation” has been cut short by the cruel sentencing laws.

There are all sorts of projects afoot in this area, but one is of special interest. It is called the Real Cost of Prisons, and is run by Lois Ahrens of Northampton, Mass., on a shoestring. You can get a feel for her work by obtaining the Real Cost of Prisons Comix book which includes three comics: Prison Town about the financing and placement of prisons and their effect on rural communities; Prisoners of the war on Drugs, a history of the war on drugs; and Prisoners of a hard Life,which includes stories of women trapped by mandatory sentencing. To me, this last book is the most telling. PM Press publishes the book at $12.95 a copy.

Ahrens got the idea of doing comic books,partly because she wanted to find a way of communicating with prisoners in a simple,direct way providing them especially up to date information and new research. She hit on the idea,in part from years of going to Mexico, and watching women engrossed in photo novellas while tending market stalls or sitting on park benches. Then trade unionists from South Africa gave her publications chock full of graphics, pictures and text that they were using to educate people in their campaign to stop privatization and in the fight against globalization. She also got ideas from “A Field Guide to the US Economy” by James Heintz and Nancy Foibre which also uses graphs, cartoons and ordinary language to explain the economy.

Because prisoners can’t ordinarily take advantage of the information that currently proliferates on the internet, comic books which speak to their lives and needs, are available and free, she says.

Comic books have been received by prisoners in every state prison system,every federal prison and numerous jails. Thousands more have been sent to prisoners through 13 Books through Bars organizations. We know that comic books are passed hand to hand by prisoners,since as soon as a set is sent to one prisoner,not a week passes before we begin receiving requests from other prisoners at that prison..One prisoner wrotethat he found one on a pew in the prison

Ahrens web site is an up to date resource on prison news.

http://unsilentgeneration.com/category/prisons-criminal-justice/

Posted by lois at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2009

MA: Possible closing of 4 prisons....although reality of it very doubtful

The Boston Globe
Prisons facing $100m in cuts :Fiscal scenario may prompt closings, layoffs
By Jonathan Saltzman and Peter Schworm
Globe Staff / September 11, 2009

Under increasing financial pressure, the state’s prison system is weighing close to $100 million in budget cuts that could force widescale layoffs and the closure of several facilites at a time of growing fears over inmate overcrowding.

Harold W. Clarke, commissioner of the Department of Correction, outlined the bleak fiscal scenario, and its potentially drastic consequences, at a monthly meeting yesterday between top prison managers and union leaders, according to Steve Kenneway, president of the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union. Clarke told union officials the state is considering closing as many as four prisons and laying off 300 employees, Kenneway said.

“Obviously, we’re stunned that the fiscal situation is so egregious that we may be looking at the closure of several facilities in Massachusetts,’’ Kenneway said. “We believe that public safety is a core mission for Massachusetts government. Period. We can’t let bad people out on the street.’’

The Patrick administration expects to make preliminary decisions on closings and layoffs next month, he said.

The prospect of multiple prison closings alarmed critics who say the system is already dangerously overburdened.

“You have prisoners locked in a cell together for 19 hours a day, with a resultant increase in violence,’’ said Leslie Walker, executive director of Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, which provides legal services to inmates. “It’s a mistake that could prove tragic.’’

Clarke’s spokesman, Terrel Harris, said Clarke was speaking broadly about the potential scope of budget cuts, and the department has no current plans to close prisons or lay off correctional workers. It is too early to make firm budget plans, he said.

But if projections hold true, the system would lose nearly $100 million in funding over the next two years, a shortfall that would require drastic spending cuts.

“If the forecasts are as bad as they look, we’d lose about what it costs to run four prisons,’’ Harris said. “We’re not looking at anything specific. We are looking at every possibility we can to try and keep everything going.’’

The state’s 17 prisons are well over capacity, with their population more than tripling over the past two decades to over 11,000.

In July, a riot at the Middlesex Jail, a county facility in Cambridge at more than double its capacity, shone a harsh light on the problem, and has intensified lobbying for relaxed minimum sentences, accelerated parole reviews, and more liberal use of home confinements.

With the state no longer able to afford to build facilities, such measures will be vital to curbing the prison population, supporters said.

In the face of a worsening financial crisis, the prison system also plans to cancel in-service training for correction officers and shelve training for 150 recruits this fall.

In November, it will also close a Bridgewater substance abuse center that treats more than 1,500 men each year who have been civilly committed by the courts.

The men will be transferred to facilities run by the Department of Public Health, said Diane Wiffin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Correction.

State Senator Jennifer L. Flanagan and state Representative Liz Malia, cochairwomen of the Legislature’s joint committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse, said they were “deeply disappointed’’ by the closure.

“Facilities such as [the center] are vital because individuals are given the opportunity to begin their road to recovery, instead of becoming a part of the criminal justice system, which only increases the cost to our state’s taxpayers,’’ the lawmakers said in a statement. “Those who do not receive services that they desperately need are far more likely to criminally offend and never begin their recovery, and we find that unacceptable.’’

Many other states are grappling with overcrowded prisons. Last week, California officials asked the US Supreme Court to block a lower court order to come up with a plan to remove some 40,000 inmates from the prisons.

The lower court ruled that the state’s prisons are so crowded they can no longer provide inmates with adequate medical care.

According to Kenneway, the Massachusetts prison system expects to lose $35 million from its budget this fiscal year and as much as $63 million more next year, although those estimates are subject to change.

The union has strongly opposed previous steps Clarke has taken to deal with the rising prison population, including double-bunking inmates at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley earlier this year.

If four prisons closed, he said, that would result in more double-bunking or the release of inmates onto the streets.

“There’s no place left to put inmates,’’ he said. “They’re going to force-feed a reentry program that clearly wasn’t supposed to be a reentry program.’’
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/11/massachusetts_prisons_face_nearly_100m_in_budget_cuts/

Posted by lois at 10:13 AM | Comments (0)

September 10, 2009

Dee Hubbard: Fighter Against Corruption and Private Prisons

One for the little people

By Krestia DeGeorge
Anchorage Press
September 2, 2009

According to the story, written by Rich Mauer, Hubbard bears no small responsibility for the start of what would eventually become the federal government’s investigation into government corruption in Alaska.

Mrs. Hubbard once worked in government, and had brushes with it as an engaged citizen—the piece describes a fight that went to the assembly to save a Muldoon neighborhood library. But Hubbard’s moment came late in life, when she and her husband learned of a group that was working on building a private prison in the state.

As Mauer recounts: “She and her husband began following the money, from halfway house contracts that [Bill] Weimar held with the state Corrections Department to political contributions by [Bill] Allen, whose company, Veco, would have built the prison.”

Weimar and Allen, of course, eventually pleaded guilty to corruption, once a small federal probe into the private prison issue turned into a large federal probe into corruption surrounding oil tax legislation. That investigation, as everyone knows, eventually snared a handful of powerful Alaskans, ranging from Vic Kohring to Ted Stevens.

In the process, it changed the face of Alaska politics.

Without the corruption probe, Democrats might not have won enough seats to wield any power in the legislature, leading to one-party rule. Without the probe, Sarah Palin might not have found a strong enough anti-corruption backlash into which she could successfully tap during her Republican primary challenge to Frank Murkowski three years ago. Without the probe Ted Stevens might still be stalking the halls of the Senate in his Hulk tie, and national Democrats, without a filibuster-proof majority in the upper house, might be talking about something less controversial than the nation’s broken health care system.

Without Dee Hubbard, there might not have been a corruption probe.

Okay, maybe that last one is a stretch. Something as big as the corruption investigation we’ve seen here in the last several years is generally too large to rest on the shoulders of just one individual. And if Hubbard hadn’t pursued her curiosity and sense of civic outrage, somebody else—eventually, inevitably—would have.

But as Senator Mark Begich told Mauer, Hubbard wasn’t the type to wait for somebody else: “When she thought something was unjust, she was not going to sit around and wait for someone to do something—she felt she was the someone.”

This is an old story in politics. A woman I once interviewed for a political profile got started because she was upset by a poorly planned development in her neighborhood. She didn’t stop the development, but she didn’t stop being involved either. Fast-forward a few decades and the same woman was about to take the reins of one of the most powerful committees in the U.S. House of Representatives.

But with Hubbard this story comes with a twist. She may’ve followed her civic instincts, but she didn’t follow them into a public office, or even into the limelight. She was content to work hard in the public’s interest, but to stay out of the public’s eye. Contrast that kind of humility with the brazen self-promotion of some who filed fistfuls of ethics complaints against then-Governor Sarah Palin, then rushed to congratulate themselves for having done so on blogs and in other sympathetic outlets.

Such pervasive selflessness—giving one’s time and effort for the greater good while spurning all compensation, whether in the form of pay or notoriety, except the satisfaction of knowing you did the right thing—seems valuable and rare.

Maybe it’s just me, but this seems like a season of uncommon ambition in Alaska, especially when it comes to politics.

Perhaps that’s because of the power vacuum created by the power structures the federal corruption investigation dismantled. Perhaps it’s that we’ve become accustomed to the national media spotlight that’s been trained on Alaska in the past 12 months, following Sarah Palin’s rise and fall from political prominence. Perhaps it’s always there bubbling under the surface, emerging when conditions are right.

There’s nothing wrong with ambition, of course, and many of our most ambitious would-be leaders have impressive resumes and thoughtful policies. We’ll be spending a lot of time soon covering a gubernatorial race and a race for the state’s lone seat in the House of Representatives. And that’s as it should be.

But this is a good moment to take a break from that, to honor Hubbard—and those like her who discharge their civic duties beyond glow of the spotlights cast on the public stage.

Hubbard died on Saturday of kidney and liver failure at the age of 62.

She’ll probably go down as little more than a proverbial footnote in Alaska history. But the events she helped set in motion—that cataclysmic shift in who holds power in Alaska and how—and their aftermath, will likely prove to be a central part of this young state’s history for decades to come.

Let’s hope that the next Dee Hubbard is already out there, anonymously tracking the footprints left by those in power.
http://www.anchoragepress.com/articles/2009/09/02/news/doc4a9effdbb708d338753963.txt

Posted by lois at 09:12 AM | Comments (0)

September 09, 2009

VA: Plan to close 3 prisons

Va. to Cut 929 Jobs To Ease Shortfall
Kaine Plan Includes Trims in College Aid, Closure of 3 Prisons

By Anita Kumar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 9, 2009

RICHMOND, Sept. 8 -- Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced Tuesday that he will eliminate 929 jobs, including 593 through layoffs, close three correctional facilities and cut as much as 15 percent in aid to colleges and universities to make up for a $1.5 billion budget shortfall.

Kaine (D) did not propose raising taxes, and limited cuts to K-12 education and local government, but he did trim aid to police and sheriff's departments by 5 to 7 percent.

Most of the state's 102,000 employees will be required to take a one-day furlough in May, and its contribution to their retirement plans will be reduced in the final quarter of the year to save more than $104 million.

The announcement marks the fourth time since the two-year budget began in July 2008 that Kaine has scaled back the state's forecast for tax and fee revenue as Virginia suffers from the worst economic downtown since the 1930s.

"Like all citizens and all businesses, we are having to tighten our belt," Kaine said at an afternoon news conference filled with reporters and lobbyists on Capitol Square.

Kaine will make many of the changes immediately, including increasing fees, such as those to make a state park reservation by telephone or file campaign finance disclosure reports by paper. But he must seek legislative approval to borrow $280 million from the state's rainy-day fund.

All savings must be made by the end of the fiscal year in June.

"We knew there was going to be blood everywhere, but this seems to be a reasonable plan," said Sen. Janet D. Howell (D-Fairfax), a member of her chamber's Finance Committee and a budget negotiator, after she was briefed by Kaine on the cuts.

Kaine's proposal includes cuts to almost all state agencies, although higher education and corrections will suffer the brunt of them.

Colleges and universities will be cut 13 to 15 percent, but Kaine said he will ask the federal government for permission to use stimulus money to restore some of the trims, resulting in a decrease of 7.7 percent. The schools might consider layoffs or tuition increases to make up for the loss.

Two prisons, in Brunswick and Botetourt counties, and a juvenile correctional center in Natural Bridge Station will shut down. Inmates will be transferred to other prisons or kept in local jails.

Dana Schrad, executive director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, said local police and sheriff's departments and the Virginia State Police will lose a combined $56 million this year, in addition to taking more inmates into crowded local jails.

"This hurts," she said.

Schrad said that large departments might be able to absorb the cuts but that the others will suffer. Some small departments might be forced to close altogether, she said.

Virginia's announcement comes as other governments in the region continue to wrestle with the recession's effects.

Late last month, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) announced a second round of budget cuts to cope with a $700 million shortfall that emerged just weeks into the new fiscal year. The cuts included 205 layoffs, furloughs of up to 10 days and more than $200 million in state transportation aid and other assistance for local governments.

D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) has eliminated about 1,900 jobs and supported increases in parking meter rates and sales, cigarette and gas taxes to close a $666 million shortfall over the next three years.

In Virginia, state revenue projections have been lowered by $7 billion since July 2008, resulting in deep cuts in education, law enforcement and health care and the elimination of hundreds of jobs. An infusion of federal stimulus money helped the state avoid deeper trims.

This shortfall reflects $1.2 billion from this fiscal year, combined with $300 million carried over from the previous fiscal year. Lawmakers put aside $160 million last year for future economic problems, which will be used this year.

Kaine spent weeks reviewing recommended trims of as much as 15 percent from each state agency. He said one of his top priorities was to cut as little as possible from public schools, most of which opened for the year Tuesday.

Robley S. Jones, director of government affairs for the Virginia Education Association, said funding will be reduced by about $171 million. "He did as much as he could to spare K-12," Jones said.

State revenue collections fell 9.2 percent last year -- the most significant drop in modern history -- because of dramatic reductions in individual and corporate income tax collections and a decrease in recordation taxes, sales taxes and lottery money.

State revenue collections are projected to fall 1.6 percent this year. It is the first time revenue has been projected to decline for two straight years.

Many legislators have long accused Kaine of being overly optimistic when it comes to the state's finances. No one said that Tuesday.

House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford) called the cuts "a first and essential step" in addressing the budget shortfall and praised Kaine for not proposing a tax increase.

"In the midst of this economic recession, increasing the financial burden already being borne by Virginia families and businesses through higher taxes would only serve to prolong an economic turnaround and weaken any recovery," Howell said.

About 450 state employees have been laid off since October, and hundreds of others have been transferred or demoted.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/08/AR2009090801456.html

Posted by lois at 03:48 PM | Comments (0)

CA: Audit Faults CDC with Huge Systemic Problems Including the Cost of 3 Strikes

"Aside from the questions of inefficiency and fattened paychecks, the auditor noted that California's "three strikes" sentencing law adds billions to the state's corrections costs.
Because that law imposes longer-than-usual sentences on inmates who commit a third felony after two serious or violent prior offenses, the state must house and care for those inmates for years longer than would otherwise be the case.
Currently, a quarter of California's 150,000 inmates are serving "three strikes" sentences. The auditor found that if those inmates did not serve the longer-than-usual sentence, the state would save some $19.2 billion in future years."

Audit faults California prison system for failing to develop system to track rising costs
By Denis C. Theriault

09/08/2009
San Jose Mercury News
SACRAMENTO — As the debate grinds on in the Legislature about how best to slice $1.2 billion from California's crowded prison system, a scathing new audit faults the Corrections Department for its skyrocketing costs and for not doing enough to track the money it spends.

According to the report, released Tuesday, spending by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation jumped by nearly 32 percent from 2005 through 2008 — to almost $10 billion, a tenth of the state's operating fund — even though the inmate population actually decreased by several hundred inmates during that span.

"Corrections fails to track, maintain and use data that would allow it to more effectively monitor and manage its operations," State Auditor Elaine Howle wrote to lawmakers and the governor's office. She said that "lack of information" has prevented officials from keeping some costs in check.

It was unclear Tuesday how the report would affect the Legislature's ongoing efforts to trim the prisons budget. Cutting the budget, largely by releasing thousands of inmates, was a key piece of the weeks-long discussions that closed the state's $24 billion deficit this summer.

Efforts to send a reform package to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk have languished amid a dispute between the Senate and the Assembly over how many inmates to release. Neither side commented Tuesday on the auditor's findings.

In examining the cost increases, prison officials point to several factors, from sharp increases in pay and benefits for corrections officers to court-mandated spending on inmate health care.

But the report found several figures that were particularly eye-popping.

In 2007-08 alone, the department spent $431 million on overtime costs — which was still a cheaper alternative than hiring and training additional corrections officers to reduce the need for overtime.

Moreover, the report blasts the department for failing to employ a computer system that collects and tracks how factors like overtime and health care costs individually contribute to rising costs.

The report also found that the department was unable to track the $208 million it spent last year on job-skills and academic programs designed to keep inmates from returning to prison after their sentences are complete.

Aside from the questions of inefficiency and fattened paychecks, the auditor noted that California's "three strikes" sentencing law adds billions to the state's corrections costs.

Because that law imposes longer-than-usual sentences on inmates who commit a third felony after two serious or violent prior offenses, the state must house and care for those inmates for years longer than would otherwise be the case.

Currently, a quarter of California's 150,000 inmates are serving "three strikes" sentences. The auditor found that if those inmates did not serve the longer-than-usual sentence, the state would save some $19.2 billion in future years.

Corrections officials said they took the auditor's remarks "very seriously" and that two new computer systems are due to go online at all 33 of the department's prisons, camps and institutions over the next two years.

But officials also said that some of the costs — related to benefits for corrections officers and "three strikes" sentencing — are outside the department's control.

Voters have resisted efforts to soften the three- strikes law since it was enacted in 1994. And much of the increase in benefits stems from a labor agreement that then-Gov?. Gray Davis signed with the politically powerful California Correctional Peace Officers Association in 2001.

"We're not just sitting still," said David Lewis, the department's deputy director of fiscal services. Noting efforts to bring the department's computer systems "into the 21st century," he said, "these are things we've been working on for a long time."

Schwarzenegger's office on Tuesday praised the department's efforts to "address the inefficiencies pointed out in this audit, and we support their efforts to streamline functions and be more cost-effective."

The Senate last month approved an ambitious plan, backed by Schwarzenegger, that would have released 27,000 inmates this year, in part by offering home monitoring for inmates with less than a year to serve and providing for the supervised release of medically incapacitated inmates.

But the Assembly last week narrowly approved a scaled-back version of the plan that would release only 17,000 inmates next year.

Senate and Assembly leaders have been discussing how to bridge those differences before the current legislative session ends Friday, although the effort has taken a back seat to other issues.

That legislative dispute comes amid the backdrop of a federal court ruling last month that ordered the state to remove 40,000 inmates from its rolls because of chronic overcrowding and concerns about the quality of inmates' health care.

The Schwarzenegger administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay that ruling. But if that bid fails, the state has only until the end of next week to submit a plan that outlines the cuts.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_13294963

Posted by lois at 10:21 AM | Comments (0)

September 08, 2009

PA to build four new prisons

Pa. grapples with growing prison needs

By Mario F. Cattabiani
Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania is preparing to embark on a major prison-construction blitz that will cost more than $800 million.

But the four new prisons can't be completed fast enough to meet the need for new cells - a situation that has forced corrections officials to find alternate ways to allay overcrowding concerns.

At existing state correctional institutions, they have retrofitted free space such as dayrooms into makeshift cells and have trucked in portable, trailer-like dormitories for added capacity.

In June, they began sending some inmates to county prisons and are now considering shipping others to out-of-state lockups.

"We want to continue to run secure, safe, and humane prisons," said state Corrections Secretary Jeffrey A. Beard. "And it is fast approaching the point that we cannot do that and we have to look at alternatives."

Yet one leading inmate-advocacy group believes the state is taking a wrong approach when it comes to overcrowding and should instead focus on revamping sentencing rules.

Pennsylvania has 50,957 inmates, while its system of 27 prisons has an official capacity of 43,200.

The state is expected to break ground, perhaps as soon as next year, on four 2,000-bed prisons - one each in Fayette and Centre Counties and two on the grounds of Graterford Prison in Montgomery County, which is scheduled to be closed.

But officials do not expect any of them to be completed until late 2012.

While the state's inmate population has been on the rise for decades, overcrowding concerns were compounded last year when Pennsylvania instituted stiffer parole practices after a parolee killed a Philadelphia police officer.

As a result, Pennsylvania began sending low-level inmates to county prisons. So far, 234 of them have been housed in local jails, and Beard said he envisioned that number to more than triple, to 900, by next year.

And officials are now considering sending some even farther away.

With fiscal budget crunches and excess capacity at their prisons, at least five states, including Michigan and Virginia, are opening their cells to inmates from other states.

Beard said Pennsylvania has never shipped its inmates across borders, with the exception of a period in 1989 when some were relocated to federal penitentiaries after the Camp Hill prison riots.

Even so, now might be the time.

"We are heading in that direction," said Beard, adding that state officials likely would decide within two or three months.

The state is exhausting other temporary options.

It has already maxed out the usefulness of portable units, similar to double-wide trailers, that have been parked inside the walls of seven existing prisons.

Beard described them as "ugly beds" - OK for now, but not a long-term solution.

That's why officials are examining another option, one they are tentatively calling "reentry centers." They are smaller, less costly sites to house low-security inmates who have fewer than two years left before they are released.

Corrections officials are considering a former state prison as the first of what Beard has nicknamed "mini prisons."

In 2005, the state closed and sold a correctional facility in Waynesburg, Greene County. At the time, officials mistakenly believed there wasn't a need for the building because population trends were flattening out.

A private company converted the 117-acre property into a drug- and alcohol-treatment center. It closed about three years ago, and corrections officials are now in talks with the owner to lease the site for 500 inmates.

Taken as a whole, Pennsylvania's efforts at dealing with overcrowding are among the most resourceful of any state in the nation, said George Camp, a national prison expert.

"They have been very creative in anticipating the future needs to avoid a real crisis," said Camp, a principal at the Criminal Justice Institute, an independent consulting group. "Someone has been doing their homework."

Few other states are building prisons in such a down economy.

Just last week, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, in an effort to raise needed revenue, signed legislation allowing the state to sell the rights to operate some of its prisons to for-profit companies.

Funding for the new Pennsylvania prisons was authorized several years ago. They will be financed through bonds and not the state's annual general-fund operating budget, which is now overdue by nine weeks.

William DiMascio, executive director of the Pennsylvania Prison Society, said he understands that corrections officials are limited in how they can cope with overcrowding as they wait for the new prisons.

Temporary and makeshift cells are not ideal, he said, but they are better than "triple-celling" inmates.

But he called "awful" the prospect of sending inmates out of the state.

"If you move people farther away from their homes, they lose contact with the people close to them," he said. "And it hurts their chances for successful reentry into society when they do get out."

DiMascio and other inmate advocates also argue that the state, rather than focusing on building more cells, should embrace alternatives to incarceration, such as residential drug-treatment facilities for certain offenders. Such policy shifts have allowed other states to reduce their prison populations.

But historically, the Pennsylvania legislature has been reluctant to approve more lenient sentencing rules for fear of looking soft on crime.

Without those changes, come 2013 when the ribbons are cut on the new prisons, the state will already have exceeded the new capacity, according to current projections.

Then, DiMascio said, "you are going to need four new prisons because the four you just built are going to be full."

Prison Growth

Pennsylvania's state prison population:

1960 7,802

1970 6,289

1980 8,243

1990 22,325

2000 36,810

August 2009 50,957

SOURCE: Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20090907_Pa__grapples_with_growing_prison_needs.html?page=1&c=y

Posted by lois at 08:51 AM | Comments (0)

September 06, 2009

"The Recession Behind Bars"

Op-Ed Contributor
The Recession Behind Bars

By KENNETH E. HARTMAN
Published: September 5, 2009
New York Times
Lancaster, Calif.

EVERY weekday morning the prison’s not on lockdown, the yard holds its collective breath waiting for the pale-orange package cart to appear through multiple layers of chain-link and razor-wire fences. For most prisoners, this lumbering vessel is their only tangible, physical connection back to the free world. The last couple of years the cart has arrived less often and with visibly lighter loads.

We get broadcast television, so the state of the economy outside is no secret. Our families and friends tend to come from the segments of society that are the worst off in the best of times, and worse off still in times like these. Our mothers and fathers, wives and children, those to whom the ties that bind haven’t been unbound by the course of our lives, tell us how hard it is out there.

The first inkling of financial difficulties in here surfaced in the chow hall. All of a sudden prison officials became concerned about our overeating. In the last couple of years, our brown plastic trays have started to look and feel a lot emptier. Even the old staples, beans and rice, shrank into bite-sized portions. Luxury items like frosted cake and meat cut from the carcass of a once-living thing vanished. The new menus, chock full of potatoes and meat substitutes, seem right out of a Spartan’s cookbook.

Prison is a world reflected in a looking glass, however. The past 25 years were generally prosperous for California; the economy boomed and fortunes were made in the sunny San Fernando Valley. But during this time, the lives of prisoners became much drearier. We were forced into demeaning uniforms, with neon orange letters spelling out “prisoner,” and lost most of the positive programs like conjugal visits and college education that we had had since the ’70s. Money was flowing outside the prison walls, but new “get tough” policies against criminals were causing our population, and our costs, to soar.

It is a quirk of California politics that it is among the bluest of states but has some of the reddest of laws. No politician here ever lost an election for being too tough on crime or prisoners. Consequently, all through the ’80s and ’90s billions of dollars were poured into a historic prison-building boom. Private airplane pilots tell me it’s easy to navigate at night from San Diego to Los Angeles and on up the Central Valley to Sacramento by simply following the prisons’ glowing lights. Good times in the free world meant, in here, ever-longer sentences, meaner regulations and ever-decreasing interest in rehabilitation. “Costs be damned; lock ’em up and be done with it” became the unofficial motto of the Department of Corrections.

The last time I received a visit from my family, in early July, the air-conditioning in the visiting room had been broken for more than a month. This matters because my prison is in the high desert north of Los Angeles. Temperatures here in the summer commonly rise above 100 dusty, windy degrees. Pack 150 people into an airless room and you’ve got the makings for human meltdown. Two industrial-sized fans only made a hot situation noisy, too.

The next day I asked one of the administrators what could be done to get the air-conditioning fixed, and he told me an amazing story. The free-world contractor who services the prison’s air-conditioning systems had refused to come out to replace the part that was broken, because the state owed the company tens of thousands of dollars in back fees and could pay only in i.o.u.’s. There would be no cool air until the state’s budget negotiations were concluded.

Now that the economy is suffering, there is talk of reforming the prisons, of reviving the discredited concept of rehabilitation, of letting some prisoners out early. Some people have even mentioned doing away with the death penalty because of the exorbitant cost to the state of guaranteed appeals. For those of us who have endured a generation of policies intended explicitly to inflict pain, this has a surreal quality to it. After all, it was only a year ago that the state authorities were planning the next phase of prison expansion. Obviously, all the passionate arguments that have been made about the moral wrongs of mass incarceration, of disproportionately affected communities, of abysmal treatment and civil rights violations were just so much hot air. Only when society ran out of ready cash did prison reform become worthy of serious consideration. What this says about the free world is unclear to me, but it doesn’t feel like a good thing.

The talk in here contains an element of schadenfreude. When the TV shows legislators complaining about how deep in the hole the state budget is, laughter fills the day room. Our captor turns out to be simply inept.

From the four-inch-wide window in the back of my cell, I watched, for seven years, the construction of a housing tract across the street — a subdivision we call Prison View Estates. We marvel at the hubris of building chockablock stucco mini-mansions within shouting distance of a maximum-security prison. Today, a year after the gaudy balloons from the grand opening deflated, the row of houses directly across from my window looks to be unoccupied.

From my cell I can also observe the inner roadway on which prison vehicles pass. A fleet of new, shining-white super-security transportation vans still drives by daily. Leviathan hasn’t quite adjusted to the Golden State’s diminished firmament.

Kenneth E. Hartman, the author of the forthcoming “Mother California: A Story of Redemption Behind Bars,” was sentenced in 1980 to life without parole for murder.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/opinion/06hartman.html?_r=1

Posted by lois at 09:30 AM | Comments (0)

September 02, 2009

ColorLines Review: The Real Cost of Prisons Comix: Vivid comics show the impacts of mass incarceration on communities of color

Issue #52, Sept/Oct 2009
The Real Cost of Prisons Comix
By Jenna M. Lloyd
Vivid comics show the impacts of mass incarceration on communities of color.

September 2, 2009

Locking 2.3 million people behind bars is a vast social project. It takes work to hide the equivalent of a large US city in plain sight. The explanations served up on the nightly news and by tough-on-crime politicians graphically focus on violent crime, despite its decline. More prisons, they say, will create safe and drug free communities.

The Real Cost of Prisons Comix (PM Press), winner of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency’s PASS Award, asks whether the billions of dollars invested annually in mass incarceration delivers on these promises.

Hidden behind these fear-provoking images, the book documents the steep human costs exacted on individual health and freedom, family unity, and community well being. What else could be done with the social wealth and creativity now trapped into cycles of cage-building and neighborhood abandonment?

Through powerful graphics and a wealth of grim statistics The Real Cost of Prisons Comix depicts how the past 30 years of unprecedented prison growth have reshaped the landscape of our urban and rural communities. By showing the concrete work that goes into building and maintaining the prison-industrial complex—from the peddlers of fear to the parole officer—the book serves as a smart, accessible primer on the politics and economics driving prison expansion. Prisons are filled with people who have dreams, raise children, and belong to communities most will rejoin.

The RCPC shows visceral narratives of their lives and the collision of racism, poverty, sexism to trace the systematic ways in which mass incarceration builds on and exacerbates these powerful inequities. Most importantly, it suggests concrete alternatives that can help rebuild safe, healthy communities.

Shrinking the system becomes as important a harm reduction strategy as needle exchange and drug treatment.

Three accomplished comic artists collaborate with long time activists and draw on the work of dozens of researchers imprisoned people, and advocates, to examine one dimension of mass incarceration. Kevin Pyle’s "Prison Town: Paying the Price" shows how millions of dollars poured into moving people hours away from their homes fails to generate promised economic growth for struggling rural communities.

In "Prisoners and the War on Drugs," Sabrina Jones takes on racial disparities in drug laws and policing practices that result in African American and Latino people comprising 93% of those incarcerated in New York, and that lock up more drug users than dealers.

Susan Willmarth’s "Prisoners of a Hard Life: Women and Their Children" examines how women are the fastest growing group of people being imprisoned. Most women are imprisoned for non-violent crimes, half of them drug offenses. But lifetime bans on welfare, public housing, and student loans for felony drug convictions only exacerbate already serious problems of poverty, racism, abuse, and drugs women face in their daily lives.

The Real Cost of Prisons Comix grew out of a popular education project Lois Ahrens began in 2000. Since the first printing in 2005, over 115,000 copies have been distributed free of charge, and project’s website receives over 30,000 page views each month. One of the great things about this book as an organizing tool is that it includes letters from readers of the comic books—imprisoned people, political organizers, policy makers, teachers, social service providers—which give us a sense of how resonant these comics have been, and all of the ways they have been put to work on the ground.


The economic depression and fiscal crises facing so many states make the alternatives to mass incarceration the book outlines all the more timely. But it’s also a time when the government is pouring even more money into locking up immigrants. Doing away with prisons isn’t just an issue of pure economics, but will also require confronting the racism, economic inequalities, and sexism that work to fuel the futureless future that they represent.

Larson, a man who is imprisoned in Sing Sing, reminds us: “Anyone planning a prison they’re not going to build for ten or fifteen years is planning for a child, planning prison for somebody who’s a child right now.” What dreams are never realized when billions go to jails and prisons instead of to rebuilding our decimated cities? The Real Cost of Prisons Comix gives us a solid place to begin building the healthy, safe, and free futures we want.

Jenna M. Loyd is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Place, Culture and Politics at The Graduate Center, The City University of New York. She is also co-editing a collection, Beyond Walls and Cages, that analyzes the connections between US migration policy and mass incarceration, and activist efforts to the brutalities of both systems. She can be reached at jloyd@gc.cuny.edu.
http://colorlines.com/article.php?ID=598

Posted by lois at 03:42 PM | Comments (0)

August 31, 2009

NC: Closing prisons only temporary as prison population booms

Cuts mean fewer prisons and programs
Stricter guidelines result in more prisoners and longer sentences, but North Carolina's resources are strained.
By Michael Biesecker
Aug. 30, 2009

RALEIGH As a result of tough-on-crime sentencing laws approved by legislators 15 years ago, North Carolina's inmate population is booming and will soon outpace the number of prison beds.

Despite this, the state budget signed by Gov. Beverly Perdue this month orders seven small prisons closed, eliminates 972 corrections jobs and cuts programs aimed at keeping juvenile offenders from becoming hardened criminals.

Administrators say the state Department of Correction can safely absorb the cuts in the short-term by increasing the number of inmates at other facilities. But judges, legislators and others with a stake in the criminal justice system worry that the growth, if unchecked, will soon result in prisons so crowded as to be unsafe for inmates or staff.

Last year, the state budgeted more than $1.5 billion for prisons and probation. That's 3.5 times what was spent in 1985, when adjusted for inflation. The number of inmates has more than doubled over the same period, from 17,430 to about 39,000. The system has about 20,000 workers, making it the largest employer among state agencies.

“We can't just keep putting more and more people in prison,” said Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, a Democrat from Carrboro who co-chairs the legislative committee that oversees justice and public safety. “We can't afford it.”

At the heart of the issue is the conflict between strained state resources in the worst economic recession in a generation and the unwillingness of legislators to budge on laws that require criminals to serve more time.

The $74 million in budget cuts and prison closures requires the relocation of about 950 inmates and cuts programs that are popular with inmates and the public, such as family visitation, gyms and the community work crews that provide cheap labor for local governments. Money for the crews that collect litter along the state's highways was also reduced.

The budget also cut $33 million and 122 jobs from the state Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, eliminating the Governor's One-on-One program, which provides mentors for at-risk youth. Legislators cut two state-funded wilderness camps for children with behavioral problems. Support Our Students, an afterschool program aimed at keeping youngsters out of trouble, is also being discontinued.

Inmates going to other prisons

Many of the positions are vacant, but about 620 employees at the N.C. Department of Correction will lose their jobs if other positions for them can't be found in the system. Inmates at the prisons being closed will be transferred to other facilities. In some cases, cells now used to hold one inmate will be modified to bunk two, while custody classifications at some facilities will be lowered to increase dormitory-style housing.

Jennie Lancaster, chief deputy secretary at the state Department of Correction, said there are limits to how many facilities can be converted to hold more prisoners, especially at the higher security levels.

“We need to run a safe system,” said Lancaster, a former warden who has worked in the state's prisons for 32 years. “We have said to legislators, we consider this a temporary solution. … The state is going to have to either keep adding prison beds or find a way to slow down growth in the prison population.”

A review by the legislature's fiscal research office this year projected that by 2018 the state's prison population will outpace the planned beds by 7,488 inmates. That projected shortfall takes into account 2,268 prison beds scheduled to be added through new construction by 2012 at a budgeted cost of $101 million.

Each maximum-security bed the state adds costs as much as $136,500 in construction, not including the recurring annual expense of feeding and guarding those additional inmates. On average, it costs the state $27,310 a year to keep someone behind bars.

Sentencing guidelines tweaked

Much of the growth in North Carolina's prison system is driven by two legislative changes made in the mid-1990s as a response to rising crime rates. In 1994, legislators required offenders to spend more time in prison before becoming eligible for parole. Two years later, legislators ended statewide caps on the prison population.

Legislators passed two laws this year sponsored by Kinnaird that will decrease the inmate population in future years by tweaking sentencing guidelines. But a third bill that would have cut the prison terms of many felons by three months and added that time to the length of post-release supervision failed to even come up for a vote.

“The three bills together would have had a tremendous impact, essentially stopping the growth,” Kinnaird said. “But they (legislators) couldn't go along with that.”

Kinnaird said cuts to juvenile programs and funding for the state's mental health division could exacerbate the expected growth in inmate population.

“The Department of Correction is very nervous,” Kinnaird said. “Double-bunking sets up a very dangerous situation. You only have to look at California to see the disaster of having 6,000 inmates in facilities built for 3,000. The increased violence becomes harder and harder to control.”

Often cited as a worst-case scenario, the California prison system is one of the most crowded in the nation, with many of its facilities holding more than double the number of inmates they were designed for. A federal court concluded this month that overcrowding and poor health care is resulting in an avoidable inmate death each week. An Aug. 5 riot and fire at a prison outside Los Angeles left 250 inmates injured and 55 hospitalized.

District Court Judge Marcia Morey of Durham said eliminating programs in North Carolina aimed at helping juvenile offenders and at-risk children is short-sighted, and will potentially cost taxpayers far more down the road.

“I think we're going to pay,” said Morey, who advocates for stronger state services for juvenile offenders. “When you cut community-based services, curfew checks and counseling, you're going to see the results out the back door. It's a recipe for increased juvenile delinquency, which will escalate into adult crime.”

Another issue is that more than a third of those entering prison are ex-offenders who either violated the terms of their probation or were arrested on new charges.

Bill Rowe, a lawyer for the liberal N.C. Justice Center, advocates doing more to help those released from prison to find jobs, housing and vocational training.

“The current system of incarceration and re-incarceration is not working and is eroding the safety of our communities,” Rowe said.

Texas worth imitating?

A coalition of groups supporting reform heard a presentation last month by Jerry Madden, a GOP legislator from Texas who helped revamp that state's corrections system to blunt overpopulation.

Texas is one of nine states in a program run by the national Council of State Governments aimed at lowering prison spending and inmate numbers by investing in programs that improve law enforcement and living conditions in targeted neighborhoods where data show the most crime occurs. Since 2006, Texas has managed to halt growth in its prison population while lowering rates of violent crime.

“I think we came to the conclusion it was smarter and a wiser utilization of our money to invest in programs that can change people's lives, save taxpayers money and at the same time make the community safer,” Madden said Friday.

N.C. Department of Correction administrators and some legislators say they're interested in instituting similar initiatives. The new budget allocates $100,000 for studying programs within the state and across the nation that have reduced the numbers of people going to prison.

But reducing sentence lengths for criminals is likely to be a tough sell at the legislature.

‘You can't just let a lot of folks out'

Sen. Phil Berger, a Republican from Eden, said the state needs to spend whatever it takes to build enough prisons to keep up with the number of inmates entering the system.

“There is recognition, even amongst Democrats, that you can't just let a lot of folks out of prison,” said Berger, the state Senate's GOP leader. “Many of those people are in prison for a reason, and when they get out early or you reduce sentences, we see examples of folks creating havoc once they're released.”

Kinnaird said she is hopeful a bipartisan solution can be found before overpopulation becomes a crisis.

“If we can convince a conservative Republican from Texas there is a different way to go, I think we have a very good chance of explaining to people here that we're approaching this all wrong,” Kinnaird said. “We can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results.”

Posted by lois at 09:30 PM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2009

CA to close largest youth prison at Chino and convert it into an prison for men

California to close its largest juvenile prison
The Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility in Chino will be converted into an adult prison. The move is part of a plan to 'right-size' staff at the Division of Juvenile Justice.
By Michael Rothfeld
August 28, 2009

Reporting from Sacramento - The state is closing California's largest youth prison as the population of juvenile offenders in state custody continues to decline, corrections officials announced Thursday.

The Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility in Chino will be converted into an adult prison, state officials said. The move is part of a plan to "right-size" staff at the Division of Juvenile Justice, which is reducing its workforce by 400 employees by the end of this year to save the state up to $40 million, said Bernard Warner, the chief deputy secretary for the division.

The plan also is geared toward reducing the annual cost of incarcerating and caring for each ward from $252,000 to $175,000, state officials said.

California's youth prisons have been troubled for years. The state five years ago settled a lawsuit brought on behalf of the juveniles, who said they were locked up for long periods in dirty, dim cells without the education, rehabilitation, healthcare and other treatment the state was supposed to provide. Last year, lawyers for the juveniles mounted an unsuccessful effort to have the system put under court control.

Sue Burrell, a staff attorney at the Youth Law Center in San Francisco, said Stark had been "an especially horrible place" since the slaying of Ineasie Baker, a female officer there, in 1996. An inmate was convicted of her murder.

"That sort of ushered in this repressive era," Burrell said. "It really never got better. The past [13] years have been filled with lockdowns, beatings and various sorts of cages."

With the closure, the state will have five youth prisons, down from 11 in 2003. Three minimum-security fire camps for juveniles have also been closed.

The number of juvenile offenders in state custody has declined to 1,700 over the last decade from a peak of nearly 10,000, the result of legislation that now puts most of the youths in county facilities where they can be closer to their families.

The Chino facility opened in 1959 and now houses fewer than 400 juvenile inmates. They will be redirected to other youth prisons. An exact closure date has not yet been determined.

Currently, the state has been using the youth prison, which has a capacity of 1,200, to house about 600 adult inmates displaced after a prison riot this month at the nearby California Institution for Men. To convert it into a full-time prison, it would have to be retrofitted to make it more secure, subject to approval from state lawmakers, prison officials said. Warner said the retrofitting would be cheaper -- about a third as much -- than the $500-million price tag for a new prison.

An adult prison on the site could house sick or mentally ill inmates, said Scott Kernan, the state's undersecretary for operations. That could relieve some pressure from a panel of federal judges who have ordered the state to reduce the number of inmates in its overcrowded prisons by 40,000.

A statewide coalition of human rights groups Thursday urged state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown to devise a plan to comply with the court order rather than appeal it.

"California's correctional system is in a tailspin that threatens public safety and raises the risk of fiscal disaster," said activists from the group Californians United for a Responsible Budget.

Brown and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have said they plan to appeal.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-prisons28-2009aug28,0,3563078.story

Posted by lois at 09:20 AM | Comments (0)

August 27, 2009

Editorial NY Times: California Is Failing the Prison Test

Editorial
California Is Failing the Prison Test
Published: August 26, 2009- NY Times

The California Legislature has failed several times to change backward sentencing and parole policies that keep the state’s prisons dangerously overcrowded with too many minor offenders sent to jail for too long. These failures, which have driven up corrections costs by about 50 percent in less than a decade, came home to roost earlier this month, when a federal court ordered the state to cut the prison population significantly. Days later, an ominous riot broke out in the men’s prison in Chino.

The time for ducking this issue has clearly passed, but a reform plan approved by the State Senate after being championed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is in danger of being gutted in the Assembly. Democratic lawmakers who should know better are running scared of the prison guards’ union and of being labeled “soft on crime.”

The heart of the problem is California’s poorly designed parole system. A vast majority of states use parole to supervise serious offenders who require close monitoring. California has historically put just about everyone on parole. According to a federally backed study released last year, more people are sent to prison in California by parole officers than by the courts, and nearly half of those people go back on technical violations like missed appointments and failed drug tests.

The reform package that passed in the Senate would allow the state to focus parole efforts on serious offenders and end the costly practice of cycling people back to jail for technical violations. Under another provision, low-risk offenders like the elderly and the infirm could be removed from costly medical care in prison and sent to alternative custody nursing homes, where they would be monitored with electronic ankle bracelets. Low-risk inmates who completed college degrees or vocational programs would earn credits shortening their sentences.

This bill should have easily passed in the Assembly, which has a Democratic majority supposedly in favor of reform. But the Democrats, many of whom are running for other offices, are clearly fearful of even taking a vote that would allow a sick, 80-year-old inmate to spend what remains of his life in a nursing home wearing an ankle bracelet.

This is a low moment for Democrats in California. Those who put their parochial career interests ahead of the public good deserve to be called to account for it.
A version of this article appeared in print on August 27, 2009, on page A30 of the New York edition.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/opinion/27thu2.html?ref=opinion

Posted by lois at 02:11 PM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2009

PA: The number of prisoners increased by 40% in 9 years

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Number of inmates in Pa. prisons increases by 40 percent in nine years
By Debra Erdley
Sunday, August 23, 2009

Pennsylvania's prison population explosion is forcing officials to look hundreds of miles away for solutions.

While the general population stagnated over the past nine years, Pennsylvania's prison population swelled by nearly 40 percent, prompting state officials to take an old prison out of mothballs, haul modular units into prison yards across the state, farm inmates out to county jails and develop plans for four new prisons.

Corrections Commissioner Jeffrey Beard has talked informally with Michigan Corrections Director Patricia Caruso about sending Pennsylvania's wrongdoers to Michigan, which has closed facilities.

"It's an option," said Department of Corrections spokeswoman Susan McNaughton.

For the time being, Beard is stuck trying to house nearly 51,000 inmates in a system designed to house 43,000.

Although the Legislature quietly allocated funds for the four prisons at a cost of $200 million each in last year's capital budget, there's been little discussion of the prison population explosion, what caused it, or the spike in the state's corrections budget, which increased by 50 percent — from $1.2 billion to an estimated $1.8 billion — since the beginning of the decade.

Carnegie Mellon University professor Alfred Blumstein, a nationally recognized expert on crime, attributes much of it to the politics of crime. Beginning in the 1970s, he said, politicians learned when they made a move to "get tough on crime," the public would cheer.

"The public is still relatively unsophisticated about incarceration. People tend to see it as the simplistic way to solve all the problems of things going on that you don't like. But in some cases it can be counterproductive," said Blumstein, former chairman of the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing.

He said get-tough sentencing policies do little to affect arrest rates.

Recent spikes in prison spending caught the attention of lawmakers, such as Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery County, who wrote the state's mandatory drug sentencing laws in the 1990s.

"We're almost spending more on prisons than higher education. Pretty soon we will be," he said.

A check of last year's budget revealed that happened when Pennsylvania taxpayers anted up $1.66 billion for the state prisons, compared to $1.59 billion for higher education, or about $33,000 per prisoner per year, compared to $4,000 per college student per year.

Greenleaf has chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee for nearly two decades. He said the policies he and his colleagues championed — mandatory minimum sentences, limits on parole, more prison time for drug and nonviolent offenders — largely are responsible for a prison population spike with no accompanying decline in crime.

Indeed, nonviolent offenders and mentally ill inmates make up about half of the state's prison population, Greenleaf said.

Sen. John Eichelberger, R-Hollidaysburg, said the costs of such policies are draining public resources at an alarming rate.

"Mandatory sentences are not working. In New York, they've re-thought that, and they're losing 1,000 prisoners a year.

"The real key is getting nonviolent inmates out of cells. We can do a lot with people, keeping them under house arrest in very punitive, very restrictive conditions. And then we can have them pay us for supervision instead of us paying," Eichelberger said.

Officials in Michigan have relied on an aggressive, closely monitored, well-financed parole program with community input to reduce the prison population. The program, begun several years ago, has contributed to the excess of prison space, said Russ Marlan of the Michigan Department of Corrections.

"Our parole rate has gone up, our recidivism rate has gone down, and the state police aren't making as many arrests," Marlan said.

In Pennsylvania, Beard told lawmakers he expects the prison population will continue to increase for the foreseeable future.

Blumstein, who studies incarceration trends across the nation, said it won't be easy to reverse that trend.

He points to recent incidents, including Gov. Ed Rendell's 2008 moratorium on parole after a parolee killed a Philadelphia police officer and the public outcry when a study commission recommended paroling elderly and mentally ill inmates.

"The politics of it are major," Blumstein said.
> http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/regional/s_639625.html

Posted by lois at 12:47 PM | Comments (0)

August 18, 2009

California might act to jail more drug offenders A move to increase funding to anti-drug units could result in increasing the state's prison population at a time when it's under order to reduce overcrowding.

California might act to jail more drug offenders
A move to increase funding to anti-drug units could result in increasing the state's prison population at a time when it's under order to reduce overcrowding.
By Eric Bailey
August 18, 2009

Reporting from Sacramento - Two weeks after federal judges ordered California to reduce its prison population, an arm of the Schwarzenegger administration is set to vote on increased funding to police anti-drug units, potentially putting even more offenders behind bars.

An advisory board for the California Emergency Management Agency is expected to decide today whether to channel $33 million in federal money to narcotics task forces around the state that have proved particularly adept at apprehending drug criminals.

Critics of government drug policies say that money should instead be directed to drug-treatment programs whose funding has been sliced amid California's budget woes.

"While one side of the government is addressing prison overcrowding, another side seems to be acting directly counter to that goal," said Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, deputy state director of the nonprofit Drug Policy Alliance.

The bulk of the money is slated to help multi-jurisdictional task forces in all 58 California counties that investigate and apprehend narcotics offenders.

Money also would go to marijuana-suppression efforts around the state and the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, which coordinates with federal agents on border drug trafficking.

John Lovell, a spokesman for the California Narcotics Officers' Assn., called the Drug Policy Alliance opposition "predictable" but wrong at a time when Mexican drug cartels are boosting methamphetamine production and operating marijuana plantations in state forests, including the one blamed for starting a wildfire Aug. 8 in Santa Barbara County.

He said the spending on anti-drug task force efforts is "not only appropriate, it's too bad the amount isn't larger."

Dooley-Sammuli believes the bulk of the money would go toward generating more arrests of street-level offenders, not on cracking down on high-level drug criminals.

"We're not getting the best bang for our buck," she said.

As now envisioned, the state's anti-drug-abuse enforcement program could have its funding boosted substantially over last year, in part because of nearly $20 million in federal stimulus money allocated in July.

The Drug Policy Alliance estimates that the increase could yield 13,000 arrests during the coming year, resulting in prison time for nearly a quarter of those apprehended, at a cost of $160 million.

Funding for drug treatment programs was slashed roughly in half from $120 million two years ago.

Meanwhile, the state is grappling with pressure to reduce prison crowding.

This month, a three-judge panel ordered the state to shrink its prison population by more than 40,000 in the next two years.

Last month, legislators approved a $1.2-billion reduction in prison spending.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-drug-police18-2009aug18,0,5428041.story

Posted by lois at 09:25 PM | Comments (0)

August 17, 2009

KY: CCA Otter Creek Women's Prison Plagued by Allegations of Sexual Assaults by Guards--State Does Imposes No Fine and Extends Contract

At the state women's prison "starting pay there is $18.18 an hour for workers with no corrections experience, and $19.17 an hour for those with experience. Starting pay at Otter Creek is $8.25 an hour." 81% of co's are male.

Private prison plagued by problems, reports show
By Stephenie Steitzer • ssteitzer@courier-journal.com •
August 16, 2009
Louisville Courier Journal

FRANKFORT, Ky. — A private women's prison in Eastern Kentucky that has been plagued by allegations of sexual assaults by corrections officers is chronically understaffed, leading to poor employee morale and security concerns, according to a state monitor's reports.

The monthly reports provide a glimpse into life inside the Otter Creek Correctional Center, where at least five workers have been charged with having sex with inmates in the past three years. Kentucky State Police are expected to present another case to a Floyd County grand jury this month.

“The facility continues to experience staff shortage(s), and (officers) have struggled,” state monitor Darrell Neace said in July's report. “Overtime is substantial for the facility and very difficult for staff.”

Despite the recurring problems outlined in the reports, the state has not imposed staffing-level sanctions as allowed under its contract with Corrections Corporation of America, a for-profit, Nashville, Tenn.-based company.

The state can fine the company up to $5,000 a day for violating terms of the contract, which include maintaining certain staffing levels and filling vacant positions within 60 days.

In fact — despite the sexual assault investigation — the state has agreed to extend for 60 days its contract with CCA to house up to 476 inmates at the facility while it negotiates a new two-year agreement. Otter Creek housed 429 Kentucky inmates as of Friday.

In response to questions about staffing at the prison, state Corrections Commissioner LaDonna Thompson noted that staff turnover is an issue at all prisons.

“Corrections is a difficult and stressful profession,” she said an e-mailed statement.

CCA spokesman Steve Owen said it takes recruiting and retaining staff very seriously and noted that turnover costs money. “Anyone who contends that the facility operates with vacancies by design (for cost savings or profit) does not understand sound business practice,” he said in an e-mail.

Reports cite staffing

It is unclear how many workers the prison is required to have. The state has been unable to produce a written staffing-level document, despite a request by The Courier-Journal under the state open records law.

However, in 11 of the last 19 monthly monitoring reports obtained by the newspaper, staffing has been cited as a problem. Of particular concern is the number of people trained to handle emergencies at the prison.

Neace, in a report dated July 8, cited a major concern about inadequate security staffing in June, adding, “OCCC is on 12-hour shifts and (workers) are struggling.”

He wrote that the facility was operating with 168 workers and had 28 vacancies at the end of the month. Five of those positions had been open for more than 60 days, which is a violation of the state's contract with CCA.

Many previous monthly reports do not specify how many positions were vacant, or for how long. Thus, it is impossible for the department to know how severe the staffing problem is at a given time and whether the company is in violation of the contract.

Many reports, however, include vague references to understaffing and low staff morale because of forced double shifts.

“They (officers) are exhausted, and several have expressed their concern to me,” former state monitor Deborah Patrick said in the August 2008 report.

Other prisons pay more

The reports reflect a pattern in which a flurry of hiring is typically followed several months later by a drop in staffing, indicating retention problems. Owen, the CCA spokesman, said many people hired in prisons soon realize it isn't the type of work they want to do.

Department of Corrections spokeswoman Lisa Lamb said recently that her agency has begun sending inspectors to the prison without giving CCA advance notice and has sent two corrections experts there to help the state's on-site monitor.

The state's only other women's prison — the state-run Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women in Shelby County — — is nearly full most of the time.

“Our assessment is that it is more effective to rectify the situation there at Otter Creek than find alternative forms of incarceration for our inmate population housed there,” Lamb said.

She partly blamed problems with attracting and retaining staff on the fact that a federal prison employing roughly 400 people in nearby Inez pays more.

Starting pay there is $18.18 an hour for workers with no corrections experience, and $19.17 an hour for those with experience

Starting pay at Otter Creek is $8.25 an hour.

In addition, the state pays corrections workers at two nearby state-run prisons $2.97 more an hour than Otter Creek employees receive.

The state's contract with CCA for Otter Creek does not specify minimum pay, because, Thompson said, such internal business decisions could affect the company's competitiveness.

Owen said CCA raised starting pay at Otter Creek by 5 percent last year and “we will continue to monitor their situation as we do with all our other facilities.”

Kentucky pays CCA $53.77 a day to house each inmate, a total of more than $8million last year.

Most employees are male

Tommy Johnson, a spokesman for the Hawaii Department of Public Safety, which contracts with Otter Creek to house 175 inmates from that state, said CCA might need to consider paying more to attract and retain workers at Otter Creek, particularly female officers.

He said a recent review found 81 percent of the workers were male, and 19 percent were female.

“The ratio really should be almost the opposite,” he said.

Johnson said his department has asked CCA to hire more women and consider making certain jobs at the prison female-only.

Owen said the company instituted a bonus referral and retention program in June in an effort to hire more female employees.

Neace also noted in his May report that the facility had only 24 staff members trained and certified to respond to incidents such as riots. The contract requires Otter Creek to have 30 workers with that training.

By June, Otter Creek was down to 22 so-called special responders, with no new applicants, according to that month's report. The facility also lacked proper special response equipment, it said. But by last month, Otter Creek had two more special responders than required, Neace said.

Owen said CCA has launched a companywide campaign to get workers at its prisons to undergo special response training.
(4 of 4)

Lamb said special response teams from the privately run Lee Adjustment Center in Beattyville and state-run Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex in West Liberty could get to Otter Creek quickly if there was an emergency.
Advertisement

“We do not believe this issue compromises the safety and security of the inmate population housed at Otter Creek,” Lamb said.

But both prisons are roughly two hours from Otter Creek.
Disturbances reported

Incident reports show corrections officers occasionally have to deal with disturbances at the women's facility, although no deaths or serious injuries have been reported as a result.

In 2006, six inmates surrounded a female corrections officer and refused to return to their dorm.

“These inmates were aggressive and made threatening remarks toward the officer,” the report said.

A special response team was dispatched to assist during that incident.

Also that year, special responders had to lock down the prison because inmates were planning to have a sit-down protest when it was time to clear the yard.

The treatment of inmates by corrections officers also has been an issue at the prison in recent months, according to the reports.

Neace said in his June report that “residents being placed in segregation which are not a threat to security, staff, visitors or themselves has been an issue that (the department) has been concerned with.”

He said proper documentation for segregation was missing and that the number of grievances filed by inmates was high, with up to 27 having been filed that month.

In his May report, Neace said inmates “continue to complain about staff cursing, threatening segregation.”

Lamb said “a change in the number of grievances and the inmate morale could be attributed to a change in administration.”

Thompson said in her statement that she couldn't comment on any leadership issues at Otter Creek until the sex abuse investigations are complete.

Warden Jeff Little referred questions to CCA. Owen said staff turnover at Otter Creek has decreased since Little took the helm in March 2008.

However, in 11 of the last 19 monthly monitoring reports obtained by the newspaper, staffing has been cited as a problem. Of particular concern is the number of people trained to handle emergencies at the prison.
Advertisement

Neace, in a report dated July 8, cited a major concern about inadequate security staffing in June, adding, “OCCC is on 12-hour shifts and (workers) are struggling.”

He wrote that the facility was operating with 168 workers and had 28 vacancies at the end of the month. Five of those positions had been open for more than 60 days, which is a violation of the state's contract with CCA.

Many previous monthly reports do not specify how many positions were vacant, or for how long. Thus, it is impossible for the department to know how severe the staffing problem is at a given time and whether the company is in violation of the contract.

Many reports, however, include vague references to understaffing and low staff morale because of forced double shifts.

“They (officers) are exhausted, and several have expressed their concern to me,” former state monitor Deborah Patrick said in the August 2008 report.
Other prisons pay more

The reports reflect a pattern in which a flurry of hiring is typically followed several months later by a drop in staffing, indicating retention problems. Owen, the CCA spokesman, said many people hired in prisons soon realize it isn't the type of work they want to do.

Department of Corrections spokeswoman Lisa Lamb said recently that her agency has begun sending inspectors to the prison without giving CCA advance notice and has sent two corrections experts there to help the state's on-site monitor.

The state's only other women's prison — the state-run Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women in Shelby County — — is nearly full most of the time.

“Our assessment is that it is more effective to rectify the situation there at Otter Creek than find alternative forms of incarceration for our inmate population housed there,” Lamb said.

She partly blamed problems with attracting and retaining staff on the fact that a federal prison employing roughly 400 people in nearby Inez pays more.
(3 of 4)

Starting pay there is $18.18 an hour for workers with no corrections experience, and $19.17 an hour for those with experience.
Advertisement

Starting pay at Otter Creek is $8.25 an hour.

In addition, the state pays corrections workers at two nearby state-run prisons $2.97 more an hour than Otter Creek employees receive.

The state's contract with CCA for Otter Creek does not specify minimum pay, because, Thompson said, such internal business decisions could affect the company's competitiveness.

Owen said CCA raised starting pay at Otter Creek by 5 percent last year and “we will continue to monitor their situation as we do with all our other facilities.”

Kentucky pays CCA $53.77 a day to house each inmate, a total of more than $8million last year.
Most employees are male

Tommy Johnson, a spokesman for the Hawaii Department of Public Safety, which contracts with Otter Creek to house 175 inmates from that state, said CCA might need to consider paying more to attract and retain workers at Otter Creek, particularly female officers.

He said a recent review found 81 percent of the workers were male, and 19 percent were female.

“The ratio really should be almost the opposite,” he said.

Johnson said his department has asked CCA to hire more women and consider making certain jobs at the prison female-only.

Owen said the company instituted a bonus referral and retention program in June in an effort to hire more female employees.

Neace also noted in his May report that the facility had only 24 staff members trained and certified to respond to incidents such as riots. The contract requires Otter Creek to have 30 workers with that training.

By June, Otter Creek was down to 22 so-called special responders, with no new applicants, according to that month's report. The facility also lacked proper special response equipment, it said. But by last month, Otter Creek had two more special responders than required, Neace said.

Owen said CCA has launched a companywide campaign to get workers at its prisons to undergo special response training.
(4 of 4)

Lamb said special response teams from the privately run Lee Adjustment Center in Beattyville and state-run Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex in West Liberty could get to Otter Creek quickly if there was an emergency.
Advertisement

“We do not believe this issue compromises the safety and security of the inmate population housed at Otter Creek,” Lamb said.

But both prisons are roughly two hours from Otter Creek.
Disturbances reported

Incident reports show corrections officers occasionally have to deal with disturbances at the women's facility, although no deaths or serious injuries have been reported as a result.

In 2006, six inmates surrounded a female corrections officer and refused to return to their dorm.

“These inmates were aggressive and made threatening remarks toward the officer,” the report said.

A special response team was dispatched to assist during that incident.

Also that year, special responders had to lock down the prison because inmates were planning to have a sit-down protest when it was time to clear the yard.

The treatment of inmates by corrections officers also has been an issue at the prison in recent months, according to the reports.

Neace said in his June report that “residents being placed in segregation which are not a threat to security, staff, visitors or themselves has been an issue that (the department) has been concerned with.”

He said proper documentation for segregation was missing and that the number of grievances filed by inmates was high, with up to 27 having been filed that month.

In his May report, Neace said inmates “continue to complain about staff cursing, threatening segregation.”

Lamb said “a change in the number of grievances and the inmate morale could be attributed to a change in administration.”

Thompson said in her statement that she couldn't comment on any leadership issues at Otter Creek until the sex abuse investigations are complete.

Warden Jeff Little referred questions to CCA. Owen said staff turnover at Otter Creek has decreased since Little took the helm in March 2008.

Starting pay there is $18.18 an hour for workers with no corrections experience, and $19.17 an hour for those with experience.
Advertisement

Starting pay at Otter Creek is $8.25 an hour.

In addition, the state pays corrections workers at two nearby state-run prisons $2.97 more an hour than Otter Creek employees receive.

The state's contract with CCA for Otter Creek does not specify minimum pay, because, Thompson said, such internal business decisions could affect the company's competitiveness.

Owen said CCA raised starting pay at Otter Creek by 5 percent last year and “we will continue to monitor their situation as we do with all our other facilities.”

Kentucky pays CCA $53.77 a day to house each inmate, a total of more than $8million last year.
Most employees are male

Tommy Johnson, a spokesman for the Hawaii Department of Public Safety, which contracts with Otter Creek to house 175 inmates from that state, said CCA might need to consider paying more to attract and retain workers at Otter Creek, particularly female officers.

He said a recent review found 81 percent of the workers were male, and 19 percent were female.

“The ratio really should be almost the opposite,” he said.

Johnson said his department has asked CCA to hire more women and consider making certain jobs at the prison female-only.

Owen said the company instituted a bonus referral and retention program in June in an effort to hire more female employees.

Neace also noted in his May report that the facility had only 24 staff members trained and certified to respond to incidents such as riots. The contract requires Otter Creek to have 30 workers with that training.

By June, Otter Creek was down to 22 so-called special responders, with no new applicants, according to that month's report. The facility also lacked proper special response equipment, it said. But by last month, Otter Creek had two more special responders than required, Neace said.

Owen said CCA has launched a companywide campaign to get workers.

Lamb said special response teams from the privately run Lee Adjustment Center in Beattyville and state-run Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex in West Liberty could get to Otter Creek quickly if there was an emergency.
Advertisement

“We do not believe this issue compromises the safety and security of the inmate population housed at Otter Creek,” Lamb said.

But both prisons are roughly two hours from Otter Creek.
Disturbances reported

Incident reports show corrections officers occasionally have to deal with disturbances at the women's facility, although no deaths or serious injuries have been reported as a result.

In 2006, six inmates surrounded a female corrections officer and refused to return to their dorm.

“These inmates were aggressive and made threatening remarks toward the officer,” the report said.

A special response team was dispatched to assist during that incident.

Also that year, special responders had to lock down the prison because inmates were planning to have a sit-down protest when it was time to clear the yard.

The treatment of inmates by corrections officers also has been an issue at the prison in recent months, according to the reports.

Neace said in his June report that “residents being placed in segregation which are not a threat to security, staff, visitors or themselves has been an issue that (the department) has been concerned with.”

He said proper documentation for segregation was missing and that the number of grievances filed by inmates was high, with up to 27 having been filed that month.

In his May report, Neace said inmates “continue to complain about staff cursing, threatening segregation.”

Lamb said “a change in the number of grievances and the inmate morale could be attributed to a change in administration.”

Thompson said in her statement that she couldn't comment on any leadership issues at Otter Creek until the sex abuse investigations are complete.

Warden Jeff Little referred questions to CCA. Owen said staff turnover at Otter Creek has decreased since Little took the helm in March 2008.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090816/NEWS01/908160338/1008/NEWS01/Private+prison+plagued+by+problems++reports+show

Posted by lois at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)

August 16, 2009

Detroit Free Press Editorial: "For Jobs' Sake Bring in Out-of-State Prisoners"

"A bigger concern is whether the federal government would retain local correctional officers. For that reason, inmates from other state correctional systems are probably preferable, as Michigan could determine who works at the prison."

Posted: Aug. 15, 2009
EDITORIAL- Detroit Free Press
For jobs' sake, bring in out-of-state prisoners

Michigan is taking overdue steps to reduce its prison population and close prisons. Given its woeful economy, the state ought to entertain any offers to house out-of-state prisoners -- including 229 Guantanamo Bay terrorism suspects -- to ease the economic impact on local communities. Housing those prisoners poses no greater risk than incarcerating people convicted in Michigan for murder or other violent offenses.

Federal officials visited the Standish Maximum Correctional Facility Thursday to determine its suitability for detainees now held in a military installation at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- one of three possibilities to raise revenues by using Michigan prisons to house inmates currently incarcerated elsewhere. Local leaders generally support the move, if it keeps the 604-bed, maximum-security prison, otherwise slated to close Oct. 1, up and running. The prison provides 340 jobs in the city of 1,500, as well as nearly half of the city's water and sewer revenues.

California and Pennsylvania have also expressed interest in sending prisoners to Michigan, at a price of roughly $32,000 a year per prisoner, the cost to incarcerate in Michigan.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm is least enthusiastic about the Gitmo detainees, citing the security issues of moving terrorism suspects to Michigan. Such concerns are generally unfounded. Escapes from maximum-security prisons are extremely rare and, when they do occur, the prisoner generally flees the area. Standish, in fact, has had no escapes.

A bigger concern is whether the federal government would retain local correctional officers. For that reason, inmates from other state correctional systems are probably preferable, as Michigan could determine who works at the prison.

The state seeks to reduce its prison population by 3,500 this year by releasing more parole-eligible prisoners and closing several of its 41 prisons. That's good, but more than 1,000 jobs could be lost.

Viewing prisons as employment agencies is immoral and usually impractical. In a state with the nation's highest unemployment rate, it's inevitable, though, that the debate on closing prisons would include jobs and economic impact.

Housing out-of-state prisoners would enable Michigan to continue its overdue effort to reduce inmates and lower its $2-billion-a-year corrections budget, while easing some of the political pressures, and personal pain, of job losses from prison closings.

http://www.freep.com/article/20090815/OPINION01/908150325/1322/For-jobs--sake--bring-in-out-of-state-prisoners

Posted by lois at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)

August 14, 2009

CCA loses open-records case brought by Alex Friendman of Prison Legal News

Private prison company loses open-records case

By The Associated Press
08.14.09

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Court of Appeals has ruled that private prison company Corrections Corporation of America is subject to the state's open-records law.

The Nashville-based company falls under the act because it performs the equivalent functions of a government agency by running state prisons, the unanimous three-judge panel said in its Aug. 5 opinion, Friedmann v. CCA.

The appeals panel’s opinion affirmed a July 2008 ruling by Davidson County Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman, which also found that CCA must provide documents to Alex Friedmann, an editor of a national prison magazine who sued seeking records on the company.

Friedmann, a former prisoner who is now an editor at Prison Legal News, sent a letter to CCA in April 2007 asking for information on settlements, judgments and complaints against the company.

He sued CCA when the company refused to turn over the information, claiming it wasn't subject to the open-records law.
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=21950

Posted by lois at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)

August 12, 2009

Vera Institute: At least 23 states spend less on prisons

Tuesday, August 11, 2009
At least 23 states spend less on prisons
By John Gramlich, Stateline.org Staff Writer
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=418338
A survey of 33 states by the Vera Institute of Justice found that 23 have slashed funding for corrections this year:

* Alabama
* Alaska
* Arizona
* Delaware
* Georgia
* Idaho
* Iowa
* Kansas
* Louisiana
* Maryland
* Massachusetts
* Minnesota
* Missouri
* Montana
* Nebraska
* Nevada
* New Mexico
* New York
* Oregon
* Rhode Island
* South Carolina
* Virginia
* Washington
A $1 billion cost-cutting plan announced last week by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) will translate into layoffs for more than a thousand state prison workers.

In Oregon, a voter-approved plan to hand longer prison sentences to those who commit property crimes was delayed by state lawmakers who said they could not pay for it.

Tennessee’s department of corrections has sought to save money by offering inmates less milk and meat in their daily meals.

And in Kansas — which has received national attention in recent years for shifting resources from locking up prisoners to rehabilitating them — the state eliminated 85 percent of the slots in its substance-abuse treatment program for inmates, citing budget constraints.

The national recession is taking its toll on what had been one of the fastest-growing areas of state government spending: prisons. Even though state corrections budgets have ballooned in the past two decades amid a surging U.S. prison population, at least 23 states slashed funding for prisons this year, according to a new survey by the nonpartisan Vera Institute of Justice, a research organization based in New York. Thirty-three states responded to the survey, paid for by The Pew Charitable Trusts, which also funds Stateline.org.

Six states — Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska and Washington — cut funding for corrections by more than 10 percent from last year’s levels, according to the study. Kansas saw the biggest recorded decrease, spending 22 percent less than it did last year.

Corrections is the fifth-largest area of state spending after Medicaid, secondary education, higher education and transportation. State spending on prisons has swelled as the nation’s jail and prison population has climbed to 2.3 million people, or about one in every 100 adults. But grim budget realities are forcing state lawmakers’ hand.

According to the Vera survey, many states are wringing savings from their correctional systems by trying to reduce the huge operational costs of running prisons — including by laying off workers, freezing their wages or cutting services to inmates. They also are exploring new ways to reduce recidivism and achieve long-term savings, in some cases easing sanctions on “technical violators” who break conditions of their parole and frequently are sent back to prison. Some states, including Colorado and Oregon, are allowing more prisoners to reduce their prison sentences through “earned-time credits” for good behavior and other forms of early release.

Some of the cost-cutting moves — using videoconferencing to avoid physically transporting inmates for court appearances, for example, and cutting back on inmates’ meal offerings — have targeted the basics of daily prison life and reaped relatively modest savings. But other changes will save tens of millions of dollars and have not come without political fights.

According to Stateline.org’s annual review of states’ legislative sessions, at least seven states — Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Washington — this year decided to close prisons. In some states, those plans touched off resistance among prison unions and in hard-hit communities anxious about losing even more jobs.

New York’s prison workers’ union earlier this year accused the administration of Gov. David Paterson (D) of creating “the most dangerous conditions ever” for correctional officers by closing 10 prisons and packing inmates into other facilities. In Michigan, which has the nation’s highest unemployment rate, Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) is trying to avoid closing some prisons — and laying off prison guards — by accepting inmates from California’s teeming system. Some state officials have backed the idea of housing detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Early releases also have caused alarm, particularly in California, where a federal panel of three judges last week ordered the state to free more than 40,000 inmates — or about 27 percent of its prison population — within the next two years to ease dangerous overcrowding. Attorney General Jerry Brown (D), who is widely expected to run for governor next year, attacked the decision and could appeal it to the U.S. Supreme Court. The early release of thousands of inmates also is being considered in Illinois.

While some criminal justice advocates contend that early releases and other cost-cutting moves could endanger public safety, others say states have not gone far enough in cutting inmate numbers.

Some advocates say state lawmakers have avoided what they see as the “elephant in the room” — tough sentencing policies that have put many low-level offenders behind bars for longer and been a major factor behind the explosive growth in the nation’s prison population since the 1970s, when many of the laws were passed. The federal panel that ruled on California’s prison overcrowding cited sentencing laws as a factor behind the Golden State’s huge prison population.

While New York this year revised its drug sentencing laws to give judges more discretion to keep offenders out of jail, other high-profile sentencing changes in the states have been far more limited in their scope. Texas, for instance, eliminated life without parole for juveniles, a penalty that currently affects only seven inmates. New Mexico abolished capital punishment, but had only two men on death row when the bill was signed into law in March.

Washington state’s legislative session this year was “completely upside down in terms of criminal justice policy,” said state Rep. Roger Goodman (D), vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee. Goodman said lawmakers cut funding for the wrong programs — such as housing and other transitional services that can help ex-inmates stay out of trouble — and refused to make substantial changes to the sentencing policies that he said have put too many nonviolent and drug-addicted people in prison in the first place.

Goodman explained lawmakers’ distaste for making sentencing changes this way: “There aren’t enough political points to be gained by taking this issue on. There are political points to be gained by attacking it.”

While broad changes to criminal sentencing laws remain a tough sell issue in many state capitols, corrections officials are pushing other, less controversial changes to reduce prison populations. Many states have made sick or dying inmates eligible for early parole. Other states, including Florida and Tennessee, have invested more heavily in drug treatment courts and community supervision programs in the hopes of keeping offenders from returning to prison.

“Changing sentences is a very difficult thing to do. And so we’ve gone around it,” Pennsylvania Corrections Secretary Jeffrey Beard said during an annual summit of state legislators in Philadelphia last month.

http://www.vera.org/download?file=2877/2009-07-27_Pew-report_State-bud gets-v2.pdf

Posted by lois at 04:34 PM | Comments (0)

MA: County Sheriffs Reform Law

From Senator Stan Rosenberg's email report: August 12, 2009

County Sheriffs Reform Law

On Aug. 6th, the governor signed a bill that completes a set of reforms that I initiated when I chaired the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

The new law, "An Act Transferring County Sheriffs to the Commonwealth," willgo into effect January 1, 2010, and could save taxpayers up to $8 million a year bytransferring the remaining seven county sheriffs' offices to the state payroll and state health insurance plan. The bill is designed to promote a more efficient delivery of services between state and county governments and is the latest in a string of reforms recently passed by the Legislature.

The law moves the Bristol, Norfolk, Suffolk, Plymouth, Barnstable, Nantucket and Dukes county sheriffs' offices to the state payroll and the state Group Insurance Commission (GIC), which will provide sheriffs' employees with more affordable health care.

The law also addresses concerns about the original proposal that left counties with a sizeable unfunded liability by leaving retired sheriffs' employees in the county retirement systems. The new version allows counties to apply their annual corrections Maintenance of Effort (MOE) assessment to offset these unfunded liabilities.

Once these liabilities are paid off, the MOE assessment will be abolished, saving the counties millions of dollars and ultimately providing tax relief to local county taxpayers. Sheriffs' office retirees and current employees will be moved into the GIC to provide savings on health insurance costs.

Furthermore, the law adopts language to protect member communities from increased pension funding costs as a result of the transfer. This would be accomplished by giving the county retirement board the ability to address any shortfalls in available funding, for example by extending its pension funding schedule and in certain circumstances retaining a greater percentage of deeds excise revenue to pay down liabilities.

The law also removes the $30,000 in pay raises for the Dukes and Nantucket sheriffs that were included in the original proposal. Instead, the Dukes County Sheriff's annual salary remains $97,000 and the Nantucket County Sheriff, who does not oversee a house of correction, will see his pay reduced by approximately one third of his current salary.

The law also does the following:

· Sheriffs' salaries will no longer be tied to that of an associate superior court judge. In the future, sheriffs will earn their pay raises based on merit;

· It eliminates the current practice of supplementing the Nantucket County Sheriff's salary by allowing him to keep an estimated $15,000 to $20,000 per year in civil process fees. Those fees will now go toward funding the operations of the sheriff's office, saving state taxpayers money;

· It also eliminates the existing County Finance Review Board.

Finally, the bill creates a commission to investigate the possible consolidation, elimination or realignment of certain sheriffs' offices and the potential cost savings. It will be organized with the intention of taking a broader look at the operations within the sheriffs' offices and report on the efficiencies that can be gained.

Posted by lois at 04:17 PM | Comments (0)

States Can't Afford Prison System Boom

NEAL PEIRCE
States Can't Afford Prison System Boom
August 12, 2009

In a season of deep deficits and alarming program cuts, why aren't states more seriously focused on reducing their swelling prison populations? The Vera Institute of Justice reports unusual progress — 22 states, pressed by the recession, are reluctantly starting cutbacks. But with a world-leading 2.3 million people behind bars, the United States has a long, long way to go. California's case is extreme, but illustrative.

In the mid-1970s, it had about 20,000 offenders behind bars. Today the total is 168,000 inmates — an increase of 740 percent. In 1999, its prison system cost an already massive $4 billion to operate. Now, with more prisoners, more penitentiaries, more guards and more health costs, the budget figure has topped $10 billion — a big contributor to the $26 billion state budget shortfall. And the money is producing more horrors than cures.

After 14 years of lawsuits by inmates alleging cruel and unusual punishment, a three-judge federal court panel on Aug. 4 ordered California to reduce its prisoner rolls by 43,000 inmates over the next two years. The state, the judges wrote shortly before a major riot at a prison in Chino, has created a "criminogenic" system that pushes prisoners and parolees to more crimes through "appalling," "horrific" prison conditions:

"Some institutions have populations approaching 300 percent of their intended capacity. In these overcrowded conditions, inmate-on-inmate violence is almost impossible to prevent, infectious diseases spread more easily, and lockdowns are sometimes the only means by which to maintain control. In short, California's prisons are bursting at the seams and are impossible to manage."

Mentally ill inmates are left without access to health care, said the judges, noting that in the past four years "a California inmate was dying needlessly every six or seven days." California's fiscal crisis has already led Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders to agree to cut $1.2 billion from the prison budget.

They haven't agreed how, though discussion includes reducing prison rolls by up to 37,000 through early releases and revised parole practices. Already, California's increasingly ideological Republicans are opposed. Assembly Leader Sam Blakeslee talks darkly of "letting out some very dangerous criminals onto our streets and into our neighborhoods."

And it isn't just Republicans who resist significant reform — it's California's powerful "prison-industrial complex." Last autumn, the reformist Drug Policy Alliance Network and its allies put a Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act on the ballot.

Supported by a wide range of treatment officials and former high-ranking corrections officials, it focused on non-prison treatment for nonviolent drug offenders plus "good time" credits for inmates and fewer arrests of parolees for technical violations. California's high recidivism rates would be curbed and billions in new prison construction forestalled

But California's prison guards union (with 2,000-plus members earning more than $100,000 a year) didn't like the idea of fewer inmates (and jobs). So with other pro-prison forces, it mounted a $3.5 million television campaign in opposition. California's political establishment fell into line, including Schwarzenegger and former governors such as present Attorney General Jerry Brown (a likely 2010 gubernatorial candidate). The measure lost resoundingly.

In contrast to California's folly, New York state has actually reduced its prison rolls by 10,000 in the past decade. How? By relying heavily on the types of alternative treatment for nonviolent offenders that California spurns. And just this year, New York finally repealed the infamous "Rockefeller drug laws" that helped swell its prisons with minor offenders serving long terms.

Now California reformers are pushing a "People's Budget Fix" formula they say would save at least $12 billion over the next five years. It includes a claimed $5.5 billion savings through community-based addiction treatment for minor drug offenses. Another $1 billion a year could be saved by limiting three-strikes penalties to violent crimes (not just shoplifting or simple drug possession).

Such rational reforms — increasingly echoed in states nationally as the fiscal grinder minces budgets — were needed long before the current recession. They'll be important long afterward. When, as a society, we take these rational steps, we'll not just save dollars. We'll also start to spare the horrendous human waste and harm to families of knee-jerk law-and-orderism that can't discern between deep and serious criminal behavior and the missteps, usually in youthful years, that most societies deal with far more calmly — and effectively.

• Neal Peirce is a syndicated writer in Washington.
http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/hc-peirce-prison-cuts.artaug12,0,5593952.story

Posted by lois at 09:34 AM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2009

PA: Unions Favored On Prison Projects

Unions Favored On Prison Projects

By BRADLEY VASOLI, The Bulletin
Monday, August 10, 2009
The state expects to build two new prisons in place of Graterford in Skippack Township, Montgomery County, and is prepared to allow only union labor in the construction process.

An association of mostly nonunion contractors said the Pennsylvania Department of General Services (DGS) had asserted earlier that the state wouldn’t approve a project labor agreement (PLA) that kept nonunion shops from working on Graterford.

“There were assurances that there wasn’t going to be a PLA,” said Geoffrey Zeh, president of Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) southeastern Pennsylvania chapter. “Then at the 11th hour, they come in.”

In the spring of 2008, DGS issued a “letter of commitment” saying it would proceed to issue PLAs for several prison rebuilding projects if feasibility studies support the idea. A project in Centre County, for which a PLA has already been issued, and another in Forest County have also come under scrutiny because of the department’s letter. The letter only came to ABC’s attention the week before last.

ABC, along with many of its affiliated companies and workers, has filed a lawsuit in Commonwealth Court alleging that DGS and the Department of Corrections violated the law in signing a PLA. The petition describes such agreements as inequitable.

“Respondents’ actions, under color of state law, lacked any legitimate reason and were arbitrary, capricious, discriminatory and not rationally related to any legitimate government interest…,” the document states.

DGS is expected to submit a response to ABC’s petition in short order.

The two new prisons in Skippack are expected to cost over $400 million and take three years to complete. The Forest and Centre prisons will cost roughly the same, bringing the total expense to about $800 million. Pennsylvania’s General Assembly passed a capital budget last year that covered the estimated costs of these projects.

Mr. Zeh said he expects the PLA to have the effect of increasing these costs to taxpayers, an especially poignant concern during a tight budgetary squeeze. He also decried their cutting off work opportunities for over 75 percent of southeastern Pennsylvania’s construction workforce.

DGS spokesman Ed Myslewicz said nonunion outfits are entirely free to bid on the prison projects, even with PLAs in place. He said such agreements merely “streamline the construction process” by facilitating subcontracting arrangements before a project starts and guaranteeing an ample supply of skilled labor.

“The use of a PLA does not exclude anyone from bidding on this project,” he said.

Mr. Zeh however countered that only union firms would bid on a project that requires the use of union-represented labor.

“Why would I bid as an open-shop contractor on this job when what makes me competitive is my skillfully trained workforce?” he said. “Financially, it makes absolutely no sense, and that’s why nobody does it.”

Economists with the Keystone Research Center (KRC), the Harrisburg-based think tank that conducted the feasibility studies for the PLAs, said they view these agreements as particularly helpful on larger projects, many of which are state-funded. Nonunion contractors, they said, do a great deal of residential building, while unionized outfits often handle more complex developments that require a greater variety of skills.

“The work requires a broader range of training,” said KRC labor economist Mark Price. “The union sector succeeds in tracking people into the industry and training them.”

Unions provide at least five percent of KRC’s funding, and most of the organization’s board work for organized labor. Mr. Zeh said the organization’s pro-union orientation boded ill from the start for those who did not want to see the state get a recommendation in favor of a PLA.

He also took issue with Mr. Price’s assertion that union contractors possess broader skill sets. If that were the case, he said, nonunionized companies would never have the ability to outbid their unionized competitors, which they often do in the absence of PLAs.

Mr. Zeh said this is the case despite the fact that both union and nonunion shops are subject to prevailing wage rules governing how much their workers must get paid for publicly funded projects. The nonunion outfits, he said, simply operate with greater facility.

“The reason [unionized companies] can’t compete is because of their work rules,” he said.

As ABC and its affiliated companies head into court, the association is organizing a marketing campaign opposing the DGS decision and alerting Montgomery County residents to implications for nonunion workers and taxpayers.

The state will hold a pre-bid meeting on the prison construction Wednesday, Aug. 12, at Perkiomen Valley Middle School at 100 Kagey Road in Collegeville.
http://thebulletin.us/articles/2009/08/10/news/local_state/doc4a806997354847
82689722.txt

Posted by lois at 05:13 PM | Comments (0)

Iowa Spends Second Least Per Capita On Prisons

Iowa Spends Second Least Per Capita On Prisons
Posted: 10 Aug 2009 02:47 PM PDT

Iowa taxpayers are getting a bargain on spending for state prisons and community corrections programs, a state official said Friday, as reported by the Des Moines Register.

A federal study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics shows Iowa ranked second-lowest nationally in per-capita spending on corrections, at $121. The only state lower was North Dakota, at $116 per person. The national average was $210. The statistics were for 2006, the most recent year available.

Iowa Corrections Director John Baldwin noted the federal report in remarks to the Iowa Board of Corrections, which was discussing statewide budget issues in a meeting Friday at the Anamosa State Penitentiary. Baldwin attributed the state’s low costs to a concerted effort by the Department of Corrections to operate in a fiscally responsible manner. He said officials from Iowa’s prison system, community corrections districts and the agency’s central office in Des Moines are operating closely together. “We are all working toward a common goal,” Baldwin said.

Prison wardens and community corrections directors said Friday they are squeezing their budgets amid a national recession, which has reduced state tax revenue. They said they are leaving many posts open, slashing spending on state contracts, and taking steps to avoid duplication of effort.

Iowa had 8,395 inmates in its prison system Friday, a decline of about 400 inmates compared with two years ago. One factor behind the decrease: reduced prison admissions for drug offenders. However, researchers have cautioned that the prison populations could rise again as more inmates receive mandatory sentences and are convicted of sex offenses. The state also has about 28,900 offenders under community corrections supervision in programs such as parole, work release and probation. About 4,300 workers are employed by the Iowa Department of Corrections.

Deputy Iowa Corrections Director Brad Hier said the department plans to submit a status-quo budget to Gov. Chet Culver and Iowa lawmakers, keeping state corrections spending at $356 million annually for the budget year starting July 1, 2010. But the state agency will proceed with plans for a $131 million maximum-security prison at Fort Madison, plus a $68 million renovation and expansion of the Mitchellville women’s prison, Hier said. Both projects are being financed with bonds that will be repaid over a period of years. Construction on the Mitchellville prison project is scheduled to start in April or May and be completed around March 2013, officials said. Ground is expected to be broken next July or August on the 800-bed Fort Madison prison, which is expected to be ready by December 2013.

Fort Madison Deputy Warden Bill Sperfslage told the corrections board that some citizens have asked him why a new maximum-security prison is being built when Iowa is experiencing a declining inmate population. He said he wanted to clarify the matter. “This is not an expansion. We have a 170-year-old facility that needs to be replaced,” Sperfslage said. Parts of the existing Fort Madison prison were built in the mid-1800s, while Iowa was still a territory.

Posted by lois at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)

August 07, 2009

Overhaul of detention centers could include new "centers" built and run by the government

"Asked if his vision could include building new civil detention centers, he said yes. The current 32,000-bed network costs $2.4 billion a year, but the agency is not ready to calculate the cost of a revamped system."

U.S. to Reform Policy on Detention for Immigrants
By NINA BERNSTEIN
Published: August 5, 2009
NY Times

The Obama administration intends to announce an ambitious plan on Thursday to overhaul the much-criticized way the nation detains immigration violators, trying to transform it from a patchwork of jail and prison cells to what its new chief called a “truly civil detention system.”

Details are sketchy, and even the first steps will take months or years to complete. They include reviewing the federal government’s contracts with more than 350 local jails and private prisons, with an eye toward consolidating many detainees in places more suitable for noncriminals facing deportation — some possibly in centers built and run by the government.

The plan aims to establish more centralized authority over the system, which holds about 400,000 immigration detainees over the course of a year, and more direct oversight of detention centers that have come under fire for mistreatment of detainees and substandard — sometimes fatal — medical care.

One move starts immediately: the government will stop sending families to the T. Don Hutto Residential Center, a former state prison near Austin, Tex., that drew an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit and scathing news coverage for putting young children behind razor wire.

“We’re trying to move away from ‘one size fits all,’ ” John Morton, who heads the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency as assistant secretary of homeland security, said in an interview on Wednesday. Detention on a large scale must continue, he said, “but it needs to be done thoughtfully and humanely.”

Hutto, a 512-bed center run for profit by the Corrections Corporation of America under a $2.8 million-a-month federal contract, was presented as a centerpiece of the Bush administration’s tough approach to immigration enforcement when it opened in 2006. The decision to stop sending families there — and to set aside plans for three new family detention centers — is the Obama administration’s clearest departure from its predecessor’s immigration enforcement policies.

So far, the new administration has embraced many of those policies, expanding a program to verify worker immigration status that has been widely criticized, bolstering partnerships between federal immigration agents and local police departments, and rejecting a petition for legally binding rules on conditions in immigration detention.

But Mr. Morton, a career prosecutor, said he was taking a new philosophical approach to detention — that the system’s purpose was to remove immigration violators from the country, not imprison them, and that under the government’s civil authority, detention is aimed at those who pose a serious risk of flight or danger to the community.

Janet Napolitano, the secretary of homeland security, said last week that she expected the number of detainees to stay the same or grow slightly. But Mr. Morton added that the immigration agency would consider alternative ways to assure that those who face deportation — and are not dangerous — do not flee.

Reviewing and redesigning all facilities, programs and standards will be the task of a new Office of Detention Policy and Planning, he said. Dora Schriro, special adviser to Ms. Napolitano, will become the director, assisted by two experts on detention management and medical care. The agency will also form two advisory boards of community groups and immigrant advocates, one focusing on detention policies and practices, the other on detainee health care.

Mr. Morton said he would appoint 23 detention managers to work in the 23 largest detention centers, including several run by private companies, to ensure that problems are promptly fixed. He is reorganizing the agency’s inspection unit into three regional operations, renaming it the Office of Detention Oversight, and making its agents responsible for investigating detainee grievances as well as conducting routine and random checks.

“A lot of this exists already,” he said. “A lot of it is making it work better” while Dr. Schriro’s office redesigns the detention system, which he called “disjointed” and “very much dependent on excess capacity in the criminal justice system.”

Asked if his vision could include building new civil detention centers, he said yes. The current 32,000-bed network costs $2.4 billion a year, but the agency is not ready to calculate the cost of a revamped system.

Vanita Gupta, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who led the lawsuit against the Hutto center, was jubilant over the decision to stop sending families there, but cautious about the other measures.
“The ending of family detention at Hutto is welcome news and long overdue,” she said in an e-mail message. “However, without independently enforceable standards, a reduction in beds, or basic due process before people are locked up, it is hard to see how the government’s proposed overhaul of the immigration detention system is anything other than a reorganization or renaming of what was in place before.”

Ms. Gupta said the changes at Hutto since 2006 illustrated the importance of enforceable rules. Before the A.C.L.U. lawsuit was settled in 2007, some children under 10 stayed as long as a year, mainly confined to family cells with open toilets, with only one hour of schooling a day. Children told of being threatened by guards with separation from their parents, many of them asylum-seekers from around the world.

Only through judicial enforcement of the settlement, she said, have children been granted such liberties as wearing pajamas at night and taking crayons into family cells. The settlement also required the agency to honor agency standards that had been ignored, like timely reviews of the decision to detain a family at all. Some families have been deported, but others were released or are now awaiting asylum decisions in housing run by nonprofit social service agencies.

That kind of stepped-up triage could be part of the more civil detention system envisioned by Mr. Morton and Dr. Schriro, who has been reviewing the detention system for months and is expected to report her recommendations soon.

But the Hutto case also points to the limits of their approach, advocates say. Under the settlement, parents and children accused of immigration violations were detained when possible at the country’s only other family detention center, an 84-bed former nursing home in Leesport, Pa., called the Berks Family Shelter Care Facility. The number detained at Hutto has dropped sharply, to 127 individuals from as many as 450.

Advocates noted that Berks, though eclipsed by the criticism of Hutto — the subject of protest vigils, a New Yorker article and a documentary — also has a history of problems, like guards who disciplined children by sending them across the parking lot to a juvenile detention center, and families’ being held for two years.

The Hutto legal settlement expires Aug. 29. In the most recent monitoring report last month, Magistrate Judge Andrew W. Austin wrote: “Although the use of this facility to hold families is not a violation of the settlement agreement, it seems fundamentally wrong to house children and their noncriminal parents this way. We can do better.”

Mr. Morton, a career prosecutor, seemed to agree. Hutto will be converted into an immigration jail for women, he said, adding: “I’m not ruling out the possibility of detaining families. But Berks is the better facility for that. Hutto is not the long-term answer.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/us/politics/06detain.html?scp=1&sq=Detention%20Policy&st=cse

Posted by lois at 07:32 PM | Comments (0)

August 05, 2009

Non-union contractors organize against Project Labor Agreements for the building of the new Graterford in PA

http://www.thetruthaboutplas.com/2009/08/04/graterford-prison-pla-confirmed/
from the website....
August 4, 2009 – 5:19 pm

The Bulletin is reporting and www.thetruthaboutPLAs.com sources confirmed that the Pennsylvania Department of General Services (DGS) will require a wasteful and discriminatory union-only PLA on the Graterford prison reconstruction project in Montgomery County, PA. This $400 million project is one of at least six upcoming prison reconstruction/renovation projects in Pennsylvania. The price tag for all six projects is expected to be approximately $830 million.

Posted by lois at 02:02 PM | Comments (0)

August 02, 2009

CA: Editorial- No more options in state prisons' future

Editorial- No more options in state prisons' future
San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, August 2, 2009

When it comes to California's broken prison system, the budget crisis may have finally left us with no option other than to do the right thing.

Sacramento has known what the right thing is for years. We must avoid sending so many people to prison, through a combination of rehabilitation, parole reform and changes in our draconian sentencing laws.

For decades, the corrections budget has swallowed more and more of the state's general fund, starving priorities like higher education. But the political ramifications of looking "soft on crime" cowed legislators and governors alike. So we built prison after prison and stuffed them all to overcapacity.

Now, in a desperate gambit to close the state's $26.3 billion budget gap, legislative leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger agreed to cut $1.2 billion from the prison budget. Furious Republicans in the Legislature immediately threatened to torpedo the whole thing, claiming that "early releases" could put public safety at risk.

In fact, the governor's plan would simply push forward important reforms to keep people from going into prison in the first place. These are simple reforms that prison experts have been asking the state to make for years.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation used the 2007 recommendations of the Expert Panel on Adult Offender Reentry Recidivism Reduction, along with recommendations from the 2004 Deukmejian Commission, to craft a package of smart, sensible reforms. Some of them are technical. The dollar-value threshold for grand theft, a felony, will be raised from $400 to $2,500. The dollar-value threshold has not been raised since 1982, and the corrections department estimates that raising these thresholds can keep 5,600 low-level property criminals out of state prison. This is an easy fix that.

But the bulk of the reductions center on our overburdened, ineffective parole system. This is the ideal place for reform - with around 70,000 prisoners returning to prison every year, California has one of the highest recidivism rates in the nation. The corrections department would lower that rate using "alternative custody" for "low-risk" offenders (nonviolent, non-sex offenders) and certain elderly or infirm prisoners. Rather than having these prisoners take up space in prison, where they can cost the state more than $100,000 every year, they'd be placed on house arrest or in a medical facility - with a Global Positioning System device.

The same would apply for parolees who commit certain low-level parole violations (like missing a meeting with a parole officer). Rather than sending them back to prison, to cool their heels at taxpayer cost of $48,000 a year, they'd get a GPS device. Local police would also be allowed to perform search-and-seizure operations on these parolees without a warrant.

This is one of the reforms that has Republicans crying foul, claiming that it's "easy" on crime. Thanks for the input, but the California Police Chiefs Association disagrees, and we're going to stick with their assessment.

"There's a recognition that the population of the state prison systems does need to be reduced, for a variety of reasons," said association President Bernard Melekian. "This is a dramatic step in the right direction. I think there's a number of things in this plan that will allow them to do this without jeopardizing public safety."

It's sad that it took a financial crisis for California to make these crucial changes to its crumbling prison system. Judges have called our system unconstitutional and ordered us to change it, public education officials have decried the diversion of funds for years - and yet it took an unprecedented financial crisis to get Sacramento to even consider it.

This article appeared on page E - 10 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/01/EDH7190F20.DTL#ixzz0N2JExG9E

Posted by lois at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)

July 30, 2009

CA: Cuts for schools and health care but money for a new death row

Governor approves new San Quentin Death Row
Bob Egelko, SF Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, July 30, 2009

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has given the go-ahead for construction of a new Death Row at San Quentin State Prison by vetoing legislative restrictions, an action that a Marin County lawmaker called both unwise and illegal.

While announcing $489 million in cuts Tuesday from the state's 2009-10 budget, Schwarzenegger said he was saving additional, unspecified amounts by rejecting language added to the budget that would have delayed the Death Row project.

Legislators approved $356 million last year for a 768-cell housing unit for condemned prisoners, tentatively scheduled to open in late 2011. It would replace a section of the 150-year-old prison that now holds nearly 670 inmates, the nation's largest Death Row.

In a critical June 2008 report, the state auditor's office predicted a $39 million cost overrun and questioned the state's plans to place two inmates in each cell.

California double-cells inmates in some lower-security prisons but hasn't done so on Death Row. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation plans to double-cell as many as two-thirds of the prisoners in the new San Quentin section.

Without double-celling, the auditor's report said, the new Death Row will be filled to capacity in 2014. But the report said double-celling raises concerns of safety and privacy, and that a survey found that only one other state, Oklahoma, double-cells condemned prisoners.

The budget that legislators sent to Schwarzenegger would have prohibited construction of the new Death Row until the state determined, in a court ruling or a formal opinion from the attorney general, that it would be allowed to double-cell Death Row inmates.
Another budget provision would have blocked the project until the state resolved a lawsuit over prison overcrowding. The suit is pending before a panel of three federal judges in San Francisco, who have ruled that overcrowding is the chief cause of poor health care in state prisons.

The judges have tentatively ordered the release of as many as 58,000 inmates to local custody, treatment programs or parole.
Schwarzenegger has said he would appeal any such ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In Tuesday's veto message, the Republican governor said removing restrictions on building the new Death Row is within his constitutional authority to cut state spending.
"Having to delay the construction start to comply with these conditions will cause unnecessary increased costs," Schwarzenegger said.
Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, an opponent of the Death Row project, said the veto guarantees a lawsuit that the state is likely to lose.

Huffman co-sponsored the budget restrictions with state Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco. He said the governor's line-item veto power, which allows him to reduce appropriations in spending bills, doesn't authorize removing legislative restrictions on state projects.
Huffman also predicted courts would reject any plan to double-cell Death Row prisoners.

"The Department of Corrections and the governor apparently want to roll the dice," Huffman said. "I think they've set themselves up for another round of losing litigation."

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/30/BAD2190L4J.DTL
This article appeared on page D - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Posted by lois at 09:53 AM | Comments (0)

July 19, 2009

OK: The Board of Juvenile Affairs began initial discussions Friday about a possible private prison for juveniles in the state.

By BARBARA HOBEROCK World Capitol Bureau
Published: 7/18/2009
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Board of Juvenile Affairs began initial discussions Friday about a possible private prison for juveniles in the state.

The board is expected to vote in September on whether to solicit proposals to build and/or manage a private lockup.

Such a move would require closing at least one of the agency's three prisons, the L.E. Rader Center in Sand Springs and two others in Manitou and Tecumseh.

Office of Juvenile Affairs Director Gene Christian told the board at its monthly meeting that two pieces of 2008 legislation authorized the board to consider such moves.

The agency initially sought designs for a 64-bed prison to house youthful offenders, Christian said.

The projected cost in 2007 was $24 million, a figure that rose to $27 million in 2009.

The OJA asked the Legislature for a bond issue to provide funding, but that request was not granted, Christian said.

A decline in state revenue expected in the current fiscal year likely means that no additional funding will be provided to OJA for a private prison.

Christian said the decision about whether to move forward once the information about costs is obtained needs to come during the legislative session, which begins in February.

The state's three juvenile prisons are poorly designed, are aging and have capital needs, he said. In addition, the poor designs contribute to staffing problems, he said.

Christian said it is his recommendation to consider a request for proposals to build and/or manage a private juvenile prison.

Discussions about privatization create employee morale issues, said Sterling Zearley, executive director of the Oklahoma Public Employees Association.

He said private entities are in the business to make money and often cut programs, nutrition and other areas to do so.

Some employees from the Rader Center attended the OJA meeting wearing shirts that read, "Keep it professional. Keep it public."

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20090718_16_A16_OKLAHO463816

Posted by lois at 11:11 AM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2009

IL: Gov. Pat Quinn says 'no final decisions' yet on prisoner releases Plan to lay off 1,000 prison workers is 'reckless,' union spokesman says

Gov. Pat Quinn says 'no final decisions' yet on prisoner releases
Plan to lay off 1,000 prison workers is 'reckless,' union spokesman says

By Monique Garcia and Ray Long | Tribune reporters
July 10, 2009

Gov. Pat Quinn tried Thursday to temper growing concerns over his plans to release low-level inmates so he can lay off 1,000 prison workers, saying he wants to "carefully examine" the idea but has made "no final decisions."

Prison union leaders say as many as 11,000 of Illinois' 45,500 or so inmates could be eligible for release. Quinn administration officials said they are still compiling a list but are focusing on inmates charged primarily with drug crimes who are in the last year of their sentences.

G

State law, however, allows for a much broader range of prisoners to be released, including those who were convicted of various property crimes. Prisoners 55 or older who have served at least a quarter of their sentence are eligible to be placed on electric home monitoring for the last year of their sentence as long as they were not convicted of a sex crime.

Those convicted of first-degree murder, sexual assault, drug conspiracy or bringing guns or explosives into a prison would not qualify for early release.

Quinn's plan is a sign the state budget battle has engulfed the penal system. Prison officials said they have already identified more than 500 positions for elimination at six Downstate prisons by the end of September.

"We're not only downsizing employees, we're downsizing inmates," said Illinois Department of Corrections spokesman Derek Schnapp.

The moves are aimed at saving the state $125 million as Quinn works to close a budget gap his office estimates at $9.2 billion. It costs the state an average of $23,000 a year to house each prisoner.

Anders Lindall, a spokesman for the union representing prison guards and parole agents, said Quinn's plan is "reckless" and undermines public safety because prisons would be understaffed. It's also unclear how the state's 400 parole officers would deal with the large influx of cases.

"There is clearly a more appropriate approach to look at sentencing guidelines and prison rehabilitation programs if that's what the governor wants to do," Lindall said. "But don't do it under the budgetary gun as a cost-savings measure. It's not thoughtful and may increase risks both within state prisons and Illinois communities."

Quinn noted that other large states have instituted similar programs, and he emphasized that strict conditions would be rigorously applied "if we go forward."

Some lawmakers say it's just the latest in a series of Quinn's empty threats as he tries to persuade lawmakers to go along with an income-tax increase.

"We have some counties where the largest employer is the prison, and that's going to weigh heavily on legislators when they consider whether to support an income-tax increase," said Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs), a former Cook County prosecutor. "I don't think these convicted felons, a good portion of them street gang members, should be receiving the benefits of a budget meltdown. We should not be rewarding bad behavior as a way to convince legislators to vote for a tax increase. I find it a little bit disturbing."

A Quinn spokesman said the layoffs will happen even if Quinn wins a tax increase, though Quinn has backed off of other threats in recent weeks. He has previously said he would cut grants to social service agencies by 50 percent and would move ahead with $1 billion in state spending cuts, only to back off and instead veto portions of the budget.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-illinois-prisoner-release-09jul10,0,7479502.story

Posted by lois at 10:39 PM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2009

LA: Tallulah: closed male prison re-opens as women's prison run by parish sheriff

DOC moves 75 females to facility in Tallulah
By Matthew Hamilton • July 16, 2009

Tallulah's prison has a new name to go along with its new purpose.

Formerly known as the Steve Hoyle Rehabilitation Center, the prison is now called the Louisiana Transition Center for Women, according to Pam LaBorde, communications director for the Louisiana Department of Corrections.

Last month, DOC announced the facility will house the state's first re-entry program for female offenders.

The prison will offer General Educational Development degrees, skills training and job application resources for female prisoners within one year of their release.

For the next several weeks, LaBorde said the Transition Center itself will be transitioning.

She said all male prisoners have been transferred out, and female prisoners began moving in July 6.

LaBorde estimated the DOC has moved 75 female prisoners into the facility and will continue until the population reaches 550 females, 225 of whom will be involved with the re-entry program.

On July 26, the responsibility for running the prison will fall to the Madison Parish Sheriff's Office.

Previously, the facility housed youth offenders as the privately run Swanson Correctional Center for Youth-Madison Parish Unit. The state later took over the prison, renamed it Steve Hoyle and offered drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs.

In light of the state's budget constraints, DOC originally put the facility up for private bid twice, asking more than $21 million for the property before deciding to use the prison for the female re-entry program.

LaBorde said Steve Hoyle's drug rehabilitation program and many of its participants were transferred to Forcht-Wade Correctional Center in Keithville. To make room for the new prisoners, DOC moved Forcht-Wade's IMPACT program, a boot camp for prisoners, to the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel.

LaBorde said future personnel moves will be up to Madison Parish Sheriff Larry Cox. Cox was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20090716/NEWS01/907150352/-1/NEWSFRONT2/DOC-moves-75-females-to-facility--in-Tallulah

Posted by lois at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2009

MS: Officials say prison is just the beginning for area

Officials say prison is just the beginning for area
By Adam Koob | The Natchez Democrat
July 15, 2009

NATCHEZ — The cells are still empty and there’s still hiring left to do, but Tuesday Corrections Corporation of America hosted the official grand opening of the multi-million dollar Adams County Correctional Facility.

Community leaders, politicians and representatives from state agencies packed the facility’s gymnasium to hear from several guest speakers.

Adams County Correctional Center Warden Vance Laughlin talks with Lieutenant Governor Phil Bryant during the Dedication Ceremony Tuesday.

“It was a very dark place,” Bryant said.

In contrast, Bryant said the new CCA facility, which cost $126 million to construct and will bring 400 new jobs to the area, is an enormous asset to Adams County and those who will reside in the facility.

“I’m glad to see the world has changed,” Bryant said.

And while CCA’s newest facility, the fourth in the state, represents the latest in inmate care, the new jobs the prison will bring to the area were the stars of Tuesday’s ceremony.

“This is important,” Mississippi Development Authority Executive Director Gray Swoope said. “This represents significant employment opportunities that can be built on.”

Swoope said while the jobs are important to the local economy, the economic momentum those jobs possess is even greater.

“We want to build on this,” he said. “This can be a center for commerce. We can have a ripple effect on Southwest Mississippi.”

But like Swoope and others noted, that potential cannot be utilized unless teamwork between county, city and state representatives is firmly in place.

“It took a tremendous amount of teamwork to get to here today,” Swoope said. “And it takes community support. This type of project does not come together on its own.”

But no matter how the facility got there, CCA representatives are just glad to see the project completed.

“This is a great day for CCA and a great day for Adams County,” Warden Vance Laughlin said.

CCA Chairman and CEO John Ferguson said the new facility is self-validating for the company.

“This shows we’re doing a pretty good job,” Ferguson said. “This company is great at what it does.”

And it won’t be long before the company begins housing some of its first inmates.

Laughlin said the first inmates will begin arriving in August and will continue filling the facility for the next six months.

Additionally, the facility will continue to hire the approximately 200 needed employees into December, Laughlin said.

The facility is also expected to pay $3 million in taxes and utilities.
http://www.natchezdemocrat.com/news/2009/jul/15/officials-say-prison-just-beginning-area/

Posted by lois at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)

July 13, 2009

OK: Republicans Push for More Prisoners to Go to Private Prisons. 3,000 "beds' in private prisons empty.

Private prisons in Oklahoma
The state has six private prisons that hold about 19 percent of the prison population or 4,343 offenders.

The average cost for a medium-security bed in a private prison is $17,611 a year and $23,725 for maximum security.

Nearly 3,000 private-prison beds in Oklahoma are vacant, a figure that includes prisons with and without Department of Corrections contracts.

Source: Oklahoma Department of Corrections

Republicans dissatisfied with prison study

By BARBARA HOBEROCK World Capitol Bureau
Published: 7/12/2009

OKLAHOMA CITY — Republican legislative leaders are dissatisfied with a report on the state's correctional system done by The Durrant Group Inc.

In a June 25 letter to the Iowa-based group, Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, and House Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa, ask for a cost-benefit analysis that considers the use of private prisons and evaluates additional factors, such as staffing.

The Durrant Group's report suggested expanding the public system.

"It was not apparent from the report that the possibility of acquiring existing facilities from private prison companies, public private partnerships, or contracts with private prison operators to meet anticipated capacity requirements was ever considered," Coffee and Benge wrote in a letter seeking a "revised comprehensive master plan."

"The Durrant Group Inc. was informed of the excess capacity at several facilities and told that access to private facilities would be provided; but the availability of private beds was not taken into consideration before making recommendations."

The state has not paid the firm a final installment of $16,600 for the $415,000 study, according to Senate staff.

Coffee was withholding comment until the final report is finished, said his spokesman Randy Swanson.

The Durrant Group fully complied with its responsibilities, said managing principal Michael A. Lewis.

He said he was "surprised" and "disappointed" with the letter from legislative leaders,
adding that the additional requests were not part of the original agreement and would cost thousands more.

He said the company had very little support from or discussions with legislative leaders. At one meeting, leaders showed up 10 minutes late and then told the company to meet with legislative staff. Company officials made four trips to Oklahoma over three months and submitted the final report in late April.

The company believes it should be compensated in full, Lewis said.

The company has been in business for 75 years. Some 65 percent of its business is in the area of corrections and juvenile justice, Lewis said.

Benge said officials have no preconceived plans to address the correctional system. He said the state's options include an expansion of public beds, building a new public facility, leasing a facility with plans to purchase it, or relying on private prisons.

Benge said no more studies of the system are planned.

Posted by lois at 12:17 PM | Comments (0)

Opinion: To get more, they need Gitmo Don't be surprised if distressed Small Town U.S.A. rolls out the welcome mat for Guantanamo prisoners.

Opinion: To get more, they need Gitmo
Don't be surprised if distressed Small Town U.S.A. rolls out the welcome mat for Guantanamo prisoners.
By Eric J. Williams
June 29, 2009
LA Times

When Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other Republicans proposed the Keep Terrorists Out of America Act, I just rolled my eyes. The brief firestorm set off by the GOP over whether to move Guantanamo Bay detainees to U.S. prisons seemed to be just inside-the-Beltway silliness. Outside Washington, town after town, from Colorado to Montana to Tennessee, proposed bringing the enemy combatants to their communities.

I was not in the least surprised. I have been studying the issue of prisons in rural towns across the U.S. since 2003 and have found that small towns have no problem with housing inmates, no matter how dangerous society considers the inmates to be.

The public's surprise that small towns are vying for Guantanamo inmates just demonstrates how little urban and suburban Americans understand about rural America. For the rural communities, prisons and prisoners are about the promise of more jobs and more money.

For more than 25 years, rural towns have been lobbying, cajoling and nearly bribing governmental institutions to give them prisons. I lived in and studied two such towns for more than a year. One was Florence, Colo., where some of the current controversy is focused. It is the home to ADX Florence, the so-called Alcatraz of the Rockies, where the federal government houses its most disruptive inmates under supermax conditions. It is home to "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski, would-be shoe-bomber Richard Reid and 9/11 co-conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, among others. And the town of Florence actually raised money to pay the federal government for the privilege of housing these inmates.

Stories like this have become commonplace in rural America. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation used to refer to the process of selecting a community to house a new prison as DAD (decide, announce and defend). Today's process would better be described as LLC: lobby, lobby and celebrate.

In the past, the government bore the burden of convincing towns of the benefits of having a prison. Today, communities must show the government why they are the best location for a prison.

Communities have offered property, money and upgraded utilities to land a facility. Residents of a town in Missouri wrote a song that they sang to the state Assembly committee in charge of the decision. After the end of the oil boom left the economy of Hinton, Okla., in shambles, the town borrowed millions from American Express to build a prison and then hired a private prison firm to run it. Places as disparate as Youngstown, Ohio, a former steel town, and Warren, Maine, a former fishing and timber stronghold, have turned to prisons as the solution to their economic woes.

Studies have shown mixed economic results, but this hasn't stopped the communities from going forward. As the mayor of one of the towns told me: "We don't have enough water for a brewery, and IBM ain't exactly knocking at the door. What else were we gonna do?"

What else indeed. Those of us in urban and suburban areas may look down our noses at such blatant opportunism and rail against the "prison/industrial complex," but for a town with little else to save it from economic ruin, it makes sense. So while the politicians rail against imprisoning the inmates from Gitmo in the U.S., don't be surprised when small towns step up to welcome them.

Eric J. Williams is a professor of criminal justice at Sonoma State University. His book "The Big House in a Small Town: Prisons, Communities, and Economics in Rural America" will be published next year.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-\ williams29-2009jun29,0,4331225.story

Posted by lois at 10:29 AM | Comments (0)

July 11, 2009

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Attorney General Eric Holder at the Vera Institute of Justice’s Third Annual Justice Address

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by Attorney General Eric Holder at the Vera Institute of Justice’s Third Annual Justice Address
Thursday, July 9, 2009

Laurie, thank you for that wonderful introduction. When I asked Laurie to come back to the Justice Department to lead our Office of Justice Programs, I was keenly aware of how much she would have to give up to join us. Not only did she take leave from the University of Pennsylvania, but she also had to give up her Chair of Vera’s Board of Trustees. I know that the polite thing to do would be to apologize for taking her from you – but the truth is, your loss is our gain. We hope that Laurie stays at the Department for a long time.

It is a privilege to join you this evening as your keynote speaker. Your past speakers have been Nicholas Katzenbach and James Comey, who reflected on the law after their government service. Perhaps one day I might have that kind of conversation with you as a former Attorney General. For now, I stand before you in a different posture, to share some ideas about how I think the American people can best be served by the Department of Justice going forward.

The Vera Institute of Justice has been an extraordinary partner to government in the administration of justice. I thank you in particular for your work with the federal government across a range of issues – from your contributions to the national commission to eliminate prison rape to the administration of Legal Orientation Programs for non-citizens in immigration proceedings. Your practical, rational, data-driven, results-oriented approach can best be described as post-partisan. In the five months that I have served as Attorney General, I have tried to take that same approach, and that is what I would like to talk about this evening: how we can move past politics and ideology in order to get smart on crime.

Getting smart on crime requires talking honestly about which policies have worked and which have not, without fear of being labeled as too hard or, more likely, as too soft on crime. Getting smart on crime means moving beyond useless labels and instead embracing science and data, and relying on them to shape policy. And it means thinking about crime in context – not just reacting to the criminal act, but developing the government’s ability to enhance public safety before the crime is committed and after the former offender is returned to society.

It is imperative that we get smart on crime now, for much has changed since some of our basic, governing assumptions about criminal law enforcement were developed. In the middle years of the twentieth century, America went through an historic increase in crime and illegal drug use. In the 1960s and 70s, the overall crime rate increased more than five-fold. Violent crime nearly quadrupled. The murder rate doubled. And heroin, cocaine and other illegal drug use surged.

Many lawmakers in the 1980s responded by declaring, in rhetoric and in legislation, that we needed to get tough on crime. States passed truth-in-sentencing and three strikes and you’re out laws. Some state parole boards became more cautious, while other states eliminated discretionary parole altogether. The federal government adopted severe mandatory minimum sentencing laws, eliminated parole, and developed the federal sentencing guidelines.

The federal government and states spent billions of dollars in new prison construction. The result was dramatic: the number of inmates in American prisons has increased seven-fold since 1970. Today, one out of every 100 adults in America is incarcerated – the highest incarceration rate in the world.

Few would dispute that public safety requires incarceration, and that imprisonment is at least partially responsible for the dramatic drop in crime rates nationwide in recent decades. By 2007, the nation’s violent crime rate had dropped by almost 40% from its peak in 1991. But just as everyone should concede that incarceration is part of the answer, everyone should also concede that it is not the whole answer. Simply stated, imprisonment is not a complete strategy for criminal law enforcement.

To begin with, high rates of incarceration have tremendous social costs. And, of course, there also is the matter of simple dollars and cents, and the principle of diminishing marginal returns. Every state in the union is trying to trim budgets. States and localities are laying off teachers and canceling sanitation department shifts, but in almost all cases, spending on prisons continues to increase. Not only is this unsustainable economically, but it is also not proving to be effective at fighting crime. For while prison building and prison spending continue to increase, public safety is not improving. Since 2003, spending on incarceration has continued to rise, but crime rates have flattened. Indeed, crime rates appear to have reached a plateau, and no longer respond to increases in incarceration.

So what can we do to lower the crime rate further, to make American communities safer, to get smarter on crime? We need new tools – and one way to develop new tools is to look several steps past getting people into prison, and to consider what happens to people after they leave prison and reenter society.

We know that offenders who have participated in the federal Bureau of Prisons’ residential drug abuse treatment program are 16% less likely to be re-arrested, have their supervision revoked, and be returned to prison, than similar inmates who did not receive such treatment before their reentry into society. They are also less likely to use drugs once released. We also know that inmates who work in prison industries are 24% less likely to commit crimes again, compared to inmates who have not participated in such programs – which, incidentally, operate at no cost to the taxpayer. The Bureau of Prisons’ educational programs designed to address educational deficiencies – ranging from Adult Basic Education to high school level classes – are also effective in reducing recidivism: inmates who participate in these programs are 16% less likely to commit crime again as compared to their non-participating peers. And inmates who are released through halfway houses are more likely to be gainfully employed, and therefore less likely to commit crime again, as compared to inmates who are released from prison directly to the community.

That recitation of statistics might not sound exciting, but what we do with it is. We rely upon evidence-based methods to innovate in agriculture, transportation, environmental safety, and public health – and it is my belief, that the Department of Justice likewise should embrace modern, evidence-based methods for developing policy.

In particular, it is critical that we work to develop policies – rooted in data – to address what happens after incarceration. For the statistics I cited are even more compelling when coupled with another fact: most crimes in America are committed by persons who have committed crime before. About 67% of former state prisoners and 40% of former federal prisoners are rearrested within three years. Logically, if we reduce the recidivism rate, we will directly lower the crime rate. Even a modest reduction in recidivism rates would prevent thousands of crimes and save hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. In other words, being smart on crime means understanding that our work does not end when prison time begins.

Smart risk assessments can identify which offenders can safely remain in their communities and which require continued detention and more intensive supervision. Data analysis can determine which offenders pose a higher recidivism risk based on the type of crime the offender was charged with and the offender’s prior record. For example, risk assessments might determine that removing a 16-year-old, non-violent, first-time offender from his family and school and placing him in a juvenile detention facility is a bad idea because it would actually increase the risk of recidivism, and waste taxpayer dollars besides.

One specific area where I think we can do a much better job by looking beyond incarceration is in the way we deal with non-violent drug offenses. We know that people convicted of drug possession or the sales of small amounts of drugs comprise a significant portion of the prison population. Indeed, in my thirty years in law enforcement, I have seen far too many young people lose their claim to a future by committing non-violent drug crimes.

One promising, viable solution to the devastating effect of drugs on the criminal justice system and on American communities is the implementation of more drug treatment courts. Drug court programs provide an alternative to incarceration for non-violent offenders by focusing on treatment of their underlying addiction. Program participants are placed in treatment and routinely tested for drug use – with the imposition of immediate sanctions for positive tests balanced with suitable incentives to encourage abstinence from drug use. These programs give no one a free pass. They are strict and can be extraordinarily difficult to get through. But for those who succeed, there is the real prospect of a productive future.

New York has been a leader in this area, diverting some non-violent offenders into drug court programs and away from prison, and extending early release to other non-violent offenders who participate in treatment programs. And while national prison populations have consistently increased, in New York the state prison population has dropped steadily and has 12,000 fewer inmates now than it did in 1999. And since 1999, the overall crime rate in New York has dropped 27%. Other states have followed New York’s example. And most importantly, studies show significant reductions in re-arrests, from about 15 to 30 percentage points, for drug-court participants as compared to criminals simply incarcerated.

Furthermore, smart criminal justice policies are not, of course, exclusively reactive – we can also use data and evidence-based methods to prevent crime before it occurs. We have models, for example, in New York’s CompStat program: it uses data to map where crime is most likely to occur, deploy police to those areas to disrupt criminal activity, and evaluate the effectiveness of the enforcement strategies. We can also extrapolate from available data to identify youth that are highly at-risk to commit crimes in the future. For example, it seems that children who are exposed to domestic violence at home are more at-risk. Once we have identified at-risk youth, we can intervene with targeted programs, and I have asked the Department to make a priority of focusing on the issue of children exposed to violence. There is much work to be done in this area, but the underlying premise is already clear: we need to understand crime in context in order to prevent it – and with better understanding and more information, we can develop new approaches to old and seemingly intractable problems.

Although this Administration is still young, we have already started to put into practice what I believe is a data-driven, non-ideological, post-partisan approach to crime. For example, I have asked attorneys throughout the Department to conduct a comprehensive, evidence-based review of federal sentencing and corrections policy. Specifically, the group is examining the federal sentencing guidelines, the Department’s charging and sentencing advocacy practices, mandatory minimums, crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparities, and other racial and ethnic disparities in sentencing. The group is also studying alternatives to incarceration and strategies that help reduce recidivism when former offenders reenter society. We intend to use the group’s findings as a springboard for recommending new legislation that will reform the structure of federal sentencing.

I have also called upon the Department to focus on another part of the criminal justice system: the very difficult issue of indigent defense. Putting politics aside, we must address the fact that, simply put, there is a crisis in indigent defense in this country. Resources for public defender programs lag far behind other justice system programs, constituting only about 3 percent of all criminal justice expenditures in our nation’s largest counties. In many cases, contract attorneys and assigned lawyers receive compensation that does not even cover their overhead. We know that defenders in many jurisdictions carry huge caseloads that make it difficult for them to fulfill their legal and ethical responsibilities to their clients. We hear of lawyers who cannot interview their clients properly, file appropriate motions, conduct fact investigations, or do many of the other things an attorney should be able to do as a matter of course.

This growing crisis is troubling not just because of the government’s constitutional duty to ensure the right to counsel. When defendants fail to receive competent legal representation, their cases are vulnerable to costly mistakes that can take a long time to correct. Lawyers on both sides can spend years dealing with appeals arising from technical infractions and procedural errors. When that happens, no one wins. Addressing the American Council of Chief Defenders last month, I committed to several steps to help improve the indigent defense system, including hosting a national conference with the goal of developing a set of best practices and practical solutions.

I have also made it clear that this Department of Justice will use the available data to improve our handling of the forensics sciences – such as fingerprints, trace evidence, firearms matching. We are studying a recent report from the National Academies of Science that diagnosed problems in the use of forensics sciences and suggested ways forward, and we are working with our partners in the Executive Branch and Congress to act on the report’s insights and recommendations. Our goal is to ensure that forensic science is practiced at the highest level possible, and always in the pursuit of truth. Because we put a premium on truth-seeking – because, indeed, this Administration is committed to using the best science possible whenever possible, including in criminal justice – I also believe that defendants should have access to DNA evidence in a range of circumstances. DNA testing has an unparalleled ability to exonerate the wrongfully convicted as well as to identify the guilty. Federal law already guarantees access to DNA evidence held by the federal government under specific conditions, and I hope that all states will follow the federal government’s lead on this issue.

Many of the things I have mentioned in these remarks are still in early stages or under review. There are numerous areas I have not even mentioned – for example, the prevention and detection of economic crimes and on-line crimes – where we can similarly get smarter with a research-driven approach. I am already certain, however, that change is both necessary and it is possible – if we are willing to make it. Challenges have changed with time: Prison populations are at an all-time high and still climbing, yet the crime rate is no longer declining. States are in serious financial distress. But opportunities have changed too. We are able to compare the cost and suitability of different criminal justice strategies. We no longer must choose between more crime and more prisons: we can reduce crime rates and reduce our dependence on incarceration, and at the same time increase the integrity of our criminal justice system. We can harness science and data to tackle emerging problems and also to preserve our foundational principles. The more we know, the better we can do, the more sophisticated we can be. With the help of the scholars and experts in this room, state and local law enforcement, corrections officials across the country, judges, victims of crime, and always with the fine work of attorneys at the Department of Justice, there is no question that a smarter and better criminal justice system is within our grasp.

Thank you very much.

Posted by lois at 07:15 PM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2009

Review of The Real Cost of Prisons Comix in Feminist Review

Thursday, July 9, 2009
The Real Cost of Prisons Comix
Edited by Lois Ahrens
PM Press

As activists know all too well, crafting a political message and effectively mobilizing an audience is an elusive task. In The Real Cost Of Prisons, Lois Ahrens and her contributors beautifully stage a difficult dialogue—about mass incarceration, mandatory sentencing, and the “war on drugs”—with comics. Comics are an accessible, popular form of education, and most importantly, addictive, and hence become a subversive way to raise awareness. The Real Cost of Prisons Project has distributed 115,000 comics to the incarcerated, affected families, and social justice organizations free of charge. Comics are just one part of the organization’s mission to end mass incarceration; since Lois Ahrens founded organization in 2000 a coalition of artists, activists, and researchers has produced and distributed educational materials about the costs—material and affective—of the prison industrial complex and it’s devastating impact on family preservation, women’s reproductive rights, rural economies, and much more.

“What does it cost to lock up 2.3 million people each day in the world’s biggest prison system?” ask Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Craig Gilmore in the introduction to The Real Cost Of Prisons. In addition to the staggering economic costs (the U.S. spends $60 billion per year on prisons) that could otherwise be directed at health care, public education, and other social services, the human costs are immeasurable. In the comic “Prisoners of a Hard Life: Women and Their Children,” illustrated by Susan Willmarth, we learn about the cost of incarceration for women and their children:

*One out of every 109 women in American is incarcerated, on parole, or on probation.
*Half of all women in prison are incarcerated more than 100 miles from their families.
*Seven million children have a parent in prison, on probation, or on parole.
*Seventy-nine percent of all women in New York State’s prisons are Black or Hispanic.

The Real Cost Of Prisons documents the vital efforts of the movement to end mass incarceration, and is an exceptional resource for all activists seeking creative ways to build and sustain a political movement.

Review by Jeanne Vaccaro

Posted by lois at 04:14 PM | Comments (0)

July 09, 2009

MI/CA: Guards hope for prisoners from CA

He's blunter about Michigan's plan to release thousands of inmates earlier than would once have been the case. "Lock your door and load your guns -- you're going to need it," Tylutki said.

Corrections officers conducted "informational picketing" Tuesday outside the soon-to-close Muskegon Correctional Facility.
by John S. Hausman|Muskegon Chronicle
Wednesday July 08, 2009, 8:23 AM

MUSKEGON -- For Phil Olson, it's a foregone conclusion: His prison job is doomed.

With one year on the job, the corrections officer has nowhere near enough seniority to keep it when Muskegon Correctional Facility closes Oct. 1.

"I left a good job to come here a year ago. I came here for the security, and now they're closing the doors," the 34-year-old Olson said. "And the state didn't see this coming a year ago when they hired 500 of us (statewide)?"

Olson was one of a group of "informational picketers" Tuesday outside the prison at 2400 Sheridan.

The goal of the picketing, organized by the Michigan Corrections Organization, was to "educate the public" about what that union calls a danger to public safety: the state's decision to parole up to 4,000 inmates after their minimum sentence is served -- sooner than would previously have been the case -- thus allowing it to close MCF and other prisons.

The state has said up to two-thirds of the 250 jobs at the Muskegon prison could be lost. More than 150 of the prison's employees are corrections officers. The exact number of layoffs won't be known until close to the closing date.

Corrections officers at MCF with more seniority will be allowed to "bump" into the jobs of less-senior officers now working at Muskegon's two other state prisons, Earnest C. Brooks and West Shoreline correctional facilities.

The picketing seemed mostly a chance to vent and solicit supportive honks from passing cars. None of the picketers interviewed held any real hope that public pressure would change state officials' minds about the early releases and consequent prison closings.

But many were more optimistic about a new state initiative to try to persuade California officials to begin housing overflow inmates at vacant Michigan prisons, possibly including MCF. California corrections officials are planning to tour the Muskegon facility next week.

If a California deal were to happen, it could save a substantial number of the jobs otherwise to be lost, though probably not all of them.

"I think it's a good plan to keep the officers working," said state union President Tom Tylutki, who was with the Muskegon picketers.

He's blunter about Michigan's plan to release thousands of inmates earlier than would once have been the case. "Lock your door and load your guns --Â you're going to need it," Tylutki said.

State corrections spokesman Russ Marlan, contacted by phone, disputes the union's position that the earlier releases and prison closings endanger public safety, and denies that saving money is the motive.

The prison plan is based on a study released earlier this year by the Council of State Governments on Michigan's prison system, Marlan said. That study advocated using fewer public-safety resources for long-term maintenance of prisoners, and more for police, prosecutors and crime prevention, as a better way to protect public safety.

"The side effect is that prisons are going to close, and people are going to lose their jobs," Marlan said. "So I can understand them saying this is not the way to go. It's very emotional."
http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2009/07/corrections_officers_co
nducted.html

Posted by lois at 09:14 PM | Comments (0)

MA: Letters to the Editor of the Boston Globe on jail "riot"

OVERCROWDED INMATES
Middlesex Jail prisoners reached a breaking point
July 9, 2009

RE “PRISONERS force evacuation of jail: Vandalism was cause of flooding, sheriff reports’’ (Metro, July 6): The conditions under which we hold prisoners awaiting trial at Cambridge’s Middlesex Jail - prisoners who supposedly are presumed innocent until proven guilty - are scandalous. Instead of the legally guaranteed speedy trial, those awaiting trial can be held for months under confinement more severe than even the miserable conditions in our state prisons. Now we find out in the Globe that the jail held two and a half times more prisoners than the facility was intended to.

We blame the prisoners for the destruction of property that took place after nine detainees damaged a fire-suppression system. And in America we tend to hate anyone arrested for crimes, whether they are guilty or not. But at some point any of us would snap under such conditions and insist that we must be treated as human beings.
Paul Shannon
Somerville

OVERCROWDED INMATES
Facilities shrouded in secrecy
July 9, 2009

IF MASSACHUSETTS jails and prisons were not so shrouded in secrecy, perhaps the detainees at the Middlesex Jail would have found an alternative to vandalism to expose their conditions of confinement (“Prisoners force evacuation of jail’’). Massachusetts legislators need to bring back uncensored and unchaperoned media access to prisons and jails, and reestablish an independent oversight commission that would create transparency and accountability in the prison system. The public could then understand the real reasons for prison overcrowding and support solutions other than endless expansion.
Nancy W. Ahmadifar
Boston

7-9-09
FAMM's response to jail "riot" in Middlesex County MA
To the Editor:

Leslie Walker, director of Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, and others are right on target when they connect prison overcrowding – and resulting disturbances such as occurred at the Middlesex County jail – to mandatory drug sentences ("Prisoner crowding is cited after riot," July 7). Indeed, in recent weeks the sheriffs in Norfolk, Worcester and Suffolk counties have spoken out about the need for sentencing reform. At the state level, Correction Commission Harold Clarke has made the same argument about overcrowded state prisons.

Unfortunately, Berkshire County District Attorney David Capeless oversimplifies the issue when he claims that mandatory drug sentences aren’t a problem because they represent a relatively low percentage of those incarcerated each year. It’s not just a question how many people go into prison in a given year; it’s also a matter of how long they stay. The 949 defendants who were sentenced to mandatory drug sentences in 2008 join the 943 sentenced in 2007, the 929 sentenced in 2006 and so on. Given that drug offenders routinely receive state prison sentences of 10, 15 or more years – often longer than for crimes of violence – the cumulative affect is great. The harm to devastated families and the taxpayers who foot the bill is even greater.

At least 10 bills have been filed to reform some aspect of current drug sentencing laws, including the Governor’s proposal for parole eligibility. These bills give the Legislature many options for rewriting our ineffective, costly and outdated drug policies.
Barbara J. Dougan
Massachusetts Project Director
Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM)

Posted by lois at 06:27 PM | Comments (0)

July 07, 2009

Middlesex Jail in Cambridge MA: Prisoner crowding is cited after riot. Population is up fivefold since 1980

Prisoner crowding is cited after riot
Population is up fivefold since 1980

By Jonathan Saltzman
The Boston Globe / July 7, 2009

The weekend riot at the Middlesex Jail in Cambridge has put a spotlight on overcrowding at Massachusetts jails, where the total population has soared more than 500 percent since 1980 and has pushed many institutions well beyond their capacity.

The Middlesex Jail, which occupies the 17th through 20th floors of the otherwise vacant 22-story former courthouse on Thorndike Street, was built for 161 people but has long exceeded that population. Last September it held 415 detainees, nearly 2 1/2 times its capacity, according to the state Department of Correction’s most recent quarterly report on overcrowding at prisons and jails.

“The fact of the matter is the jails are brutally overcrowded in Middlesex County,’’ said David W. White Jr., a Boston lawyer who chaired a Massachusetts Bar Association task force that released a study in April on overcrowding.

While the cause of Sunday’s riot appeared to stem from detainees’ concerns about a possible swine flu outbreak, prisoner advocates and jail officials said severe overcrowding is also creating tremendous stress in detention centers across the state, making violence more likely.

“We have a facility that was built for 160, and yesterday we had 403,’’ Scott Brazis, superintendent of the jail, said yesterday. “When you have a place that is just so overpopulated . . . [disturbances] can happen at any facility at any time across the country, and this facility is no different.’’

Other county facilities whose populations last September were well beyond capacity included the Bristol County jail in Dartmouth, the Essex County jail in Middleton, and the Nashua Street jail in Suffolk County, according to the state’s quarterly report.

Bristol was at nearly four times its capacity, with 1,173 inmates; Essex was more than 2 1/2 times its capacity, with 1,355 inmates; and Nashua Street was more than 1 1/2 times its capacity, with 756 detainees, according to the report.

“It’s obviously reached crisis proportions,’’ said Leslie Walker, executive director of Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, which provides legal services to people in jail and prisons. She is among several critics of the situation who contend that overcrowding stems from state laws that impose mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug-related crimes.

The number of pretrial detainees at county facilities and convicted inmates at county houses of correction rose 522 percent from 1980 to 2008, according to the April study. The state prisons are also grappling with overcrowding, with their population rising by 368 percent in the same period.

All told, more than 25,000 people are incarcerated in Massachusetts jails and prisons.

State Senator Cynthia Stone Creem, a Newton Democrat, has filed a bill for the third time that would seek to relieve overcrowding in houses of correction and prisons by relaxing mandatory minimum sentences of five to 10 years for people convicted of nonviolent drug crimes.

Under her bill, such inmates would be eligible to apply for supervised parole once they completed two-thirds of their sentences. The Massachusetts Sheriffs’ Association has endorsed the bill in the past, she said.

But the bill has garnered a mixed reaction from district attorneys. Berkshire District Attorney David F. Capeless, president of the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association, said it would do little to relieve overcrowding.

He said statistics he recently saw from the state prison system showed that only 3 percent of the convicted criminals sent to prisons and houses of correction in 2007 had received mandatory minimum drug sentences. Instead, he said, overcrowding stems from rising crime in general. A more effective remedy, he said, would be to provide more treatment for people with substance abuse problems who are responsible for many crimes.

“I don’t think the reaction to overcrowding is to let out people who have been properly sentenced to incarceration,’’ Capeless said. “They’re there for a reason.’’

The riot at the Middlesex Jail on Sunday, say top officials there, appeared to stem from concerns about swine flu.

On June 30, a detainee was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital complaining of flulike symptoms. The detainee was treated and told in discharge papers that he most probably had H1N1 influenza, or swine flu. On his return to the jail, he was quarantined and given Tamiflu and over-the-counter medicine.

Ten more detainees showed flulike symptoms Saturday and were moved to a quarantine unit and treated with Tamiflu. Two correction officers have also been diagnosed with flu. But none of the 13 cases was confirmed as swine flu, said jail officials.

On Sunday, nine detainees apparently upset about the flu outbreak “started acting out, throwing paper and trash,’’ and then tore down sprinkler heads and pipes on the 18th floor, Middlesex Sheriff James V. DiPaola said. Water flooded several floors of the jail and cascaded through elevator shafts to the basement.

Last spring, during a tour of the jail - which at the time housed 427 people - DiPaola called overcrowding a “consistent issue’’ that has plagued his 12-year tenure as sheriff. Prisoners are not only packed tightly into cells but also sleep in corridors, a recreation center, and a chapel. He has lobbied the state unsuccessfully to build a new jail.

As a result of the flooding on Sunday, 193 of the most dangerous detainees were evacuated and bused to the Middlesex House of Correction in Billerica and to jails in Essex, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk counties, said Michael Hartigan, a spokesman for the sheriff. About 200 detainees remained at the jail yesterday.

Authorities turned off the electricity at the jail Sunday because of the flood. They restored power yesterday but were still repairing water damage. The flood knocked down ceiling tiles and disabled elevators.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/07/07/detainee_overcrowding_is_cited_after_cambridge_jail_riot/?page=full

Posted by lois at 09:43 AM | Comments (0)

July 06, 2009

Jim Webb’s attack on American Gulag

Jim Webb’s attack on American Gulag
By Alexander Cockburn
Published: Monday, July 6, 2009

Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia introduced his bill to set up a bipartisan National Criminal Justice Commission. "We find ourselves as a nation," Webb declared, "in the midst of a profound, deeply corrosive crisis," vis., "the national disgrace of our present criminal justice system" and "the disintegration of this system, day by day and year by year." This "is dramatically affecting millions of lives, draining billions of dollars from our economy, destroying notions of neighborhood and family in hundreds of communities across the country, and — most importantly — it is not making our country a safer or a fairer place."

True words.

The goal of Webb's legislation? To establish a national commission to examine and reshape America's entire criminal justice system, the first such effort in more than 40 years. Its aims as outlined by Webb are to refocus incarceration policies on criminal activities that threaten public safety; to lower the incarceration rate; to decrease prison violence; to improve prison administration; to establish meaningful re-entry programs for former offenders; to reform drug laws; to improve treatment of the mentally ill; and to improve responses to international and domestic criminal activity by gangs and cartels.

Webb compared the implications of his bleak data to the financial meltdown that has already eaten a trillion dollars of public funds and the "War on Terror" that has eaten another trillion, plus tens of thousands of lives.

America has 5 percent of the world's population but 25 percent of the world's known prison population; 7.3 million incarcerated, on probation or on parole; 2.38 million are in prison — five times the world's average rate. Imprisoned drug offenders are up from 41,000 in 1980 to 500,000 by 2008, a significant percentage of them with no history of violence or high-level drug activity. There is extreme disproportion in the drug sentencing — blacks have roughly the same drug-use rate as whites but are seven times more likely to go to prison where there's hopeless overcrowding with all hope abandoned and extremely high recidivism rates. Four times as many mentally ill people are in prisons than in mental health hospitals, roughly 350,000 compared to 80,000.

One very important omission from Webb's profile of crisis was the crisis in prison medical (non)care, now so dreadful in California as to be taken out of California hands and managed by a court-appointed federal judge. This is clearly a contentious issue since Jerry Brown plans to run for governor on a platform that denounces medical care for prisoners as a frivolous expense.

Gov. "Moonbeam" Brown has learned his lesson and become No-Nonsense Jerry, who rejects prison medicine as "holistic" silliness. Considering the ever-growing number of three-strike lifers vegetating in their own organic manure who have Alzheimer's and can't remember their names let alone their crimes, the cynicism of Jerry Brown — whose family has lived off the people in every possible "job" they could "run" for (after) for over 50 years — is unfathomable.

What hope of reform? For 30 years, the political economy of the American gulag has had irresistible allurements: the "tough on crime" Seal of Approval for political candidates from police chiefs, prison guard unions and the victims' lobby. What governor, given the fate of Dukakis of Massachusetts or Ryan of Illinois, dares to pardon or even parole? In my recollection, only Mike Huckabee, governor of Arkansas, released substantial numbers from prison.

"Reform of the justice system" is now on lips that would otherwise disdain those words because of economic crisis, which has enabled reform of New York's terrible Rockefeller drug laws: The prisons housing the swelling flood of convicts become the darling of upstate New York. What legislator would vote to kill all those rural jobs, however counterproductive? Before the fiscal meltdown, hardly any; since the fiscal meltdown, a solid majority. New York State cannot now afford the huge workfare program that developed in the upstate counties around Rockefeller's prison-packing program. The money just isn't there. So, soon thousands of those convicts who shouldn't have been there in the first place won't be there either.

Aside from the spur of fiscal crisis in every state, the only apparent opening political wedge discernible in Webb's opening statement is the issue of organized Mexican gangs that supposedly exist in "hundreds" of American cities. "There are an estimated 1 million gang members in the United States, many of them foreign-based," Webb declared. "Every American neighborhood is vulnerable. Gangs commit 80 percent of the crime in some locations. Mexican cartels, which are military-capable, have operations in 230-plus U.S. cities. U.S. gangs are involved in cross-border criminal activity, working in partnership with these cartels."

Yet the organized gangs of prison guards and cement contractors who control all the state legislatures are far more powerful.

Webb's stark recitation of the grim facts was all the more dramatic since it was devoid of editorial comment. It reminds one of Machiavelli's little theorem: the more difficult the diagnosis, the easier the cure; the easier the diagnosis, the harder the cure. When it is obvious to all, there is no cure.

Alexander Cockburn is co-editor with Jeffrey St. Clair of the muckraking newsletter CounterPunch. He is also co-author of the new book "Dime's Worth of Difference: Beyond the Lesser of Two Evils," available through www.counterpunch.com.

http://www.atmoreadvance.com/articles/2009/07/06/opinion/columns/column2.txt

Posted by lois at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)

July 04, 2009

Especially awful editorial on proposal by Michigan's govenror to cage CA prisoners

Editorial: Win-win: Sending felons to Michigan
Wednesday, Jul. 1, 2009
Sacramento Bee

In the depths of the worst recession since World War II, California may be giving birth to a new export industry. It's an export in which California appears to have important competitive advantages. And it may be recession-proof.

The export is prison inmates.

California has something of a head start in this market. The state already has sent 7,600 inmates to private prisons in Arizona, Tennessee, Mississippi and Oklahoma. But it hasn't yet sent inmates to public prisons in other states.

Like other economic innovations, this one required a visionary leader
willing to think outside the box. For prisons, it appears to be Gov.
Jennifer Granholm of Michigan. Her state is closing several prisons ­ not, it says, because of the recession but because an innovative re-entry program has sharply cut recidivism.

California's predicament is different. It has 168,000 inmates in a system built for half that number. A judicial panel's tentative ruling has called for the release of as many as 55,000 of those inmates.

Granholm and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had already informally discussed the fact that the two states' predicaments offered the chance for a mutually beneficial relationship. On Monday, Granholm formalized the offer in a letter.

An agreement wouldn't just ease some of California's prison overcrowding. It would also likely save the state money. Our per-inmate cost, $45,000, is the highest in the nation. Michigan's is $32,500 per year. Some of that difference would presumably flow back to the general fund. Sending inmates to the Midwest would also save the jobs of some Michigan prison workers slated to be laid off.

We don't think inmates should be the basis of a long-term export industry for California. Eventually, the state will have to align the number of inmates in its prisons with its capacity to provide them with housing and health care. But in the short run, sending inmates to Michigan could help both states.

In a time of crisis, it's help that neither state is in a position to
refuse.

http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/story/1990757.html

Posted by lois at 03:59 PM | Comments (0)

June 29, 2009

MI-CA: Gov. Granholm offers to cage some of California's prisoners

State may take Calif. inmates
By Dawson Bell • Free Press Lansing Bureau • June 29, 2009
LANSING – Gov. Jennifer Granholm offered empty beds in Michigan prisons to house inmates from California today as the Golden State seeks solutions to prison overcrowding and a massive budget deficit.
Advertisement

Granholm sent a letter to California Gov. Arnold Schwarznegger after speaking to him personally, in which she called the offer an “opportunity (that) has great potential and could be mutually beneficial.” Granholm said several empty facilities and soon-to-be-vacated prisons in Standish and Muskegon could be available.

California faces the prospect of being forced to release tens of thousands of inmates to ease overcrowding, even as it addresses a $24.3 billion deficit.

Granholm’s letter said terms of a prison space sharing plan could be worked out in negotiations.
http://www.freep.com/article/20090629/NEWS06/90629052/Granholm+offers+prison
+space+for+Calif.+inmates

Posted by lois at 08:56 PM | Comments (0)

Mass. prison system overcrowded; Patrick aims to fix it

"The presence of inmates in the system taxes an already stretched prison system at a higher cost to the taxpayer. It costs $2,500 to supervise a person through parole, while it costs about $43,000 annually to incarcerate someone. And unsupervised transitions from prison lead to more crime and more victims, as an ex-inmate without parole supervision is twice as likely to go back to prison than a released inmate who goes on parole.
With the state taking away the option of doing more time for no post-release supervisions, "consequently we free up beds," Burke said.
The Patrick administration wants to make the matter a non-issue by requiring mandatory supervision for all who serve a state prison sentence equal to 25 percent of their sentence, with a minimum of nine months parole and a maximum of five years parole."

Mass. prison system overcrowded; Patrick aims to fix it
By Dan McDonald/Daily News staff
The MetroWest Daily News
Posted Jun 28, 2009
FRAMINGHAM —

The prison system in the state is overtaxed, and MCI-Framingham is no different.

As of last week, the Southside prison held 593 inmates - its capacity is 452.

The state system is at 146 percent capacity, state Public Safety Secretary Kevin Burke said. While the state considers creating "better space" inside the prison, "There isn't anyone you talk to who says we can build our way out of this."

Instead, state officials like Burke seek policy tweaks.

Gov. Deval Patrick's administration is pushing reform that allows for a loophole letting prisoners opt to spend more time in jail and avoid parole supervisions upon release.

Some prisoners chose that option, which Burke's office says bogs down the system and causes higher recidivism rates.

More than 500 prisoners annually who are up for parole choose to stay in prison for the length of their terms, so that when they get out there is no parole supervision.

"It sounds strange, but it does happen. Whatever the reason, we've got to get those folks under supervision," Burke said.

All told, 965 inmates left correctional institutions unsupervised in 2008 because of sentencing restrictions, institutional behavior that precludes parole, or inmates opting to stay in prison for more time to avoid supervision.

The lack of parole is problematic for several reasons, state officials say.

The presence of inmates in the system taxes an already stretched prison system at a higher cost to the taxpayer. It costs $2,500 to supervise a person through parole, while it costs about $43,000 annually to incarcerate someone. And unsupervised transitions from prison lead to more crime and more victims, as an ex-inmate without parole supervision is twice as likely to go back to prison than a released inmate who goes on parole.

With the state taking away the option of doing more time for no post-release supervisions, "consequently we free up beds," Burke said.

The Patrick administration wants to make the matter a non-issue by requiring mandatory supervision for all who serve a state prison sentence equal to 25 percent of their sentence, with a minimum of nine months parole and a maximum of five years parole.

The governor is also taking aim at another prison reform that could shorten sentences and free up room inside the prisons.

State law hinders those nonviolent inmates serving mandatory minimum time for drug offenses to participate in work release-like programs, according to Burke's office.

But Patrick's administration wants to have those imprisoned to mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes to be eligible for parole after serving two-thirds of their maximum sentence.

The mandatory minimum sentences, in some cases cause nonviolent criminals to serve a sentence that is "disproportionate to the risk that these individuals pose to the community," according Burke's office.

As of Jan. 1, 26 percent of prisoners in the state system were imprisoned for drug offenses. Of MCI-Framingham's nearly 600 inmate population, 24 percent are there because of drug-related crimes.

"Mandatory drug sentences don't allow us to be as smart as we can be," he said. "Public safety shouldn't come with a price tag, but we should be smart."
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x768070128/Mass-prison-system-overcrowded-Patrick-aims-to-fix-it?view=print

Posted by lois at 05:03 PM | Comments (0)

June 28, 2009

MS: Free labor and $29.74 per day from the state...communities clamor for regional jails

Sunday, Jun. 28, 2009
Miss. communities clamor for regional jails
By JACK ELLIOTT JR. - Associated Press Writer

JACKSON, Miss. -- There are 11 county/regional jails scattered around Mississippi. With them, the Mississippi Department of Corrections has created its own cottage industry.

Locally, the prisons provide lockups for offenders, jobs for local residents and a free labor force for public works projects. So popular are they that at least three more could open within the next year.

The question is, does the state need the beds? Yes, says Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps.

"If you need a jail, what better way to get it than sign a 20-year agreement with the state?" Epps said. "The reason you want as many state inmates as you can get is because we are going to pay you $29.74 per inmate per day plus we pay medical expenses."

What about the free labor?

"These guys do things that you can't pay people to do - putting asphalt into holes, unstopping sewer lines, painting the courthouse."

Epps said another thing is important.

"You'll see that they are not wealthy counties and mostly rural places. These places did not have an approved jail. They've got one now," he said.

Chickasaw County broke ground earlier this year on its regional facility, which is to have 300 inmates, about 240 from the state.

Sheriff Jimmy Simmons said at the groundbreaking that the facility was a welcome addition.

Simmons said that the state's contracted guarantee of inmate reimbursement will effectively pay for the facility.

"We're going to have to have it and rather than spending taxpayers' money, we're actually saving taxpayers money," the sheriff said.

Statewide, the 11 regionals average about 277 inmates each. Epps said there are more at Bolivar and Kemper facilities.

Washington, Alcorn and Yazoo counties are in the process of bidding on regional jails. Hinds County recently scrapped its regional jail plan. A 75-bed expansion at Kemper County for female inmates will open this summer.

Epps said he will spend $34 million for regional facilities during the new fiscal year, which begins Wednesday.

Even though the overall inmate numbers are down about 600 from a year ago and lawmakers have approved new laws to reduce the population, Epps said he needs the beds at the regional facilities.

Epps said a state prison in Greene County is about 1,000 inmates over capacity, and one in Rankin County is 400 over capacity. That, he said, puts a strain on the infrastructure.

"If Yazoo, Alcorn, Chickasaw and Washington were ready, I could fill them from just downsizing those two. Our facilities are tearing up real badly. When you are over capacity, you're killing your facilities. Your bathrooms, showers, washers and dryers ... weren't built for that. You can't keep running them like this," he said.

Epps has applications from 16 other counties for regional jails. While he knows they don't have money to build their own jail, he doubts any more regional prisons will be approved soon.

"I have to be a good steward of taxpayer money. I can't farm out inmates when I have spaces for them. That's why I am telling them they need to look at building a jail," Epps said.
http://www.sunherald.com/218/story/1441770.html

Posted by lois at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)

June 27, 2009

CT: HOUSE PASSES BUDGET : Rell Opposes Democrats' Budget Item That Would Close 2 Prisons

HOUSE PASSES BUDGET : Rell Opposes Democrats' Budget Item That Would Close 2 Prisons
By CHRISTOPHER KEATING
The Hartford Courant
June 27, 2009

The state has fewer prison inmates than it did on the day of the tragic Cheshire killings in July 2007.

The prison population had soared by 1,200 after Gov. M. Jodi Rell froze the parole system following the triple homicide. Now, that number has fallen back completely.

As a result, in their budget proposal, Democratic legislators called for closing two prisons in an attempt to save as much as $200 million annually. But Republicans and Rell sharply questioned the idea at a time when many believe that crime is still too high in citiesthroughout the state.

The prison debate will continue because Rell is expected to veto the overall budget, which includes the prison plan, that was passed by the House on Friday, 91-48.

Neither the House nor the Senate was able to pass the Democratic budget by margins able to override Rell's expected veto. As a result, lawmakers and Rell's budget director are expected to go back into bipartisan budget talks that had been suspended until after the Democratic votes this week.

"It was bad yesterday. It's bad today," Rell's spokesman, Christopher Cooper, said of the Democratic budget Friday. "It's unbalanced, unaffordable and unfinished."

While lawmakers have spun different numbers over the past week, the legislature's nonpartisan fiscal office said the Democratic budget included $2 billion in net spending cuts over the next two fiscal years. The same budget would raise $2.5 billion through tax increases.

The discussion of the prisons was one of many topics that arose during nearly five hours of debate Friday in the Hall of the House at the state Capitol.

Rep. Craig Miner, R-Litchfield, questioned the Democratic plan and then offered a Republican alternative budget with no prison closings and no tax increases. That plan was rejected, 104 to 35, largely on party lines.

When Democrats said Rell, too, wanted to close a prison, Cooper said the difference was that Rell had called simply for studying the feasibility of closing one prison if the inmate population dropped. That was different, he said, from a proposal that would force the state to close two prisons if the Democratic plan became law.

To counter the Democratic prison proposal, Rell's office released a letter by Rep. Michael P. Lawlor dated Oct. 17, 2007, after he had toured a prison in Enfield upon the request of prison guards who worked there. The letter was written about three months after the Cheshire killings, when the inmate population had increased by 791 since the day of the triple homicide on July 23, 2007. The population increased after that point.

Two longtime criminals who were out on parole could get the death penalty in the slayings of three members of the Petit family in a crime that shocked the state and caused the legislature to make changes in the law in a special session.

"We need more prison cells," Lawlor, D- East Haven, wrote to Rell in 2007. "We need more corrections officers. ... We need more halfway house beds for nonviolent offenders with mental illness and substance abuse issues, and we need secure inpatient beds for sex offenders."

"It was accurate at the time it was written," Lawlor responded in an interview Friday. "The prison population was going up very rapidly. It got to almost 20,000. ... As it turned out, the population did come down — way down. It's lower now than it was on the day of the Cheshire murders. It went up about 1,200 and came down about 1,200."

At about $45,000 to $50,000 per year, a reduction of 1,000 prisoners could save $50 million and 2,000 fewer inmates could save $100 million per year in prison costs, Lawlor said.

"The budget doesn't require them to pick two prisons and close them," Lawlor said. "It could be a wing in five different prisons. ... The Department of Corrections has a plan to do this. They won't tell us which ones. By the way, they've already closed down some wings of some prisons because the population has come down."

Cooper did not buy Lawlor's explanation.

"How is that going to save any money?" Cooper asked. "Five different wings? What's that going to change? You still have to heat the whole place. It's like many of their cuts: 'Governor, you figure it out.'"

During the lengthy debate Friday, lawmakers took a major detour in the middle of the day to battle over campaign finance reform. Rep. Corky Mazurek, D-Wolcott, offered an amendment to strip $61 million in public financing from the budget. Many lawmakers believed that issue had been settled years ago, and the measure was defeated after about 1 hour and 20 minutes of debate.

The budget bill also calls for these tax changes:

•Increasing the state's cigarette tax by 75 cents per pack on July 1.

•Imposing a 30 percent surcharge on the estate tax that is paid by family members if a person dies with more than $2 million to their name.

•Increasing the state income tax on couples earning more than $500,000 annually and individuals earning more than $265,000.

But all those tax increases would be moot under Rell's expected veto.

As the final speaker before the vote, House Majority Leader Denise Merrill of Mansfield offered the Democratic summary by saying that the party restored funding for prisoner re-entry programs, nursing homes, college scholarships, and the Life Star medical helicopter.

"We reversed the governor's decision to close courthouses" in Norwalk, Derby, Putnam, and other communities, Merrill said. "We couldn't figure out what would happen if we closed these courthouses. ... The judicial branch told us it would be very, very difficult to imagine" how cases would be handled with fewer courts.

" Connecticut will emerge from this economic crisis," Merrill said. "That's what we have to remember today. ... We can't cut everything."

Copyright © 2009, The Hartford Courant
http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-house-budgetvote-0627.artjun27,0,4730350.story

Posted by lois at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)

June 26, 2009

CA: Governor dumps plan to build prison hospitals

Governor dumps plan to build prison hospitals
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, June 26, 2009
(06-25) PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger disowned a tentative agreement Thursday to build prison hospitals to settle lawsuits over shoddy health care for inmates, saying the state won't borrow $1.9 billion for the effort while it's slashing other services.

"It's just not the right time," state Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate said, four weeks after he announced the plan to build two hospitals for 3,400 inmates, refurbish existing medical centers and start returning control of prison health care from federal courts to the state. "At this time, we're going to have to live within our means."

Schwarzenegger issued a statement saying he "cannot agree to spend $2 billion on state-of-the-art medical facilities for prisoners while we are cutting billions of dollars from schools and health care programs for children and seniors."

As Cate acknowledged, however, the agreement would not have worsened California's $24.3 billion general fund deficit, the focus of a partisan deadlock in the Legislature that could force the state treasurer to start issuing IOUs to creditors next week.

The health care money would have come from other sources: bonds for the new hospitals, and already-appropriated prison construction funds for the renovations to existing medical centers.
'Not backing away'

Cate said the state needs more prison hospital beds but will have to find another way to pay for them. He insisted that the Schwarzenegger administration is "not backing away from our dedication to improve health care to meet constitutional standards."

But Thursday's development returns the initiative to federal judges, one of whom has already threatened to order the state to spend more on prison mental health care.

Another judge has begun contempt-of-court proceedings against Schwarzenegger for defying his order to turn over $250 million that the Legislature has approved for prison construction, but which the state has not allocated. The state says federal judges lack authority to order California to spend money on prison construction.

"This will make the courts have to intervene more, because the state has said it won't do even what the secretary (Cate) says is necessary," said Donald Specter, a lawyer for inmates who sued in 2001 over health care in California's 33 prisons. "It shows, once again ... a completely dysfunctional system."

There was no comment from Clark Kelso, the receiver appointed by a federal judge to manage the state prison health system. "This is now a matter for the courts," said Luis Patino, Kelso's spokesman.
One death a week

U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson of San Francisco removed the $1.1 billion health system from state control in 2005, saying an average of one inmate a week was dying because of inadequate care and that the state was unable to meet constitutional standards.

In a separate case, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton of Sacramento has found prison mental health care grossly substandard and ordered improvements.

Kelso has submitted a 10-year plan to build between 5,000 and 10,000 hospital beds, at a cost of $4 billion to $8 billion. He reached a tentative agreement with Cate last month to limit the plan to four years, reduce the number of beds and start returning some management functions to the state.

Schwarzenegger's rejection of the deal was disclosed in a letter from Cate to Kelso, citing the state's "precarious financial condition" and saying it wasn't clear whether all the new construction was "necessary to achieve constitutionally adequate medical care."
Population could be cut

The letter noted the governor's proposal to remove 19,000 of California's 170,000 prisoners by transferring undocumented immigrants to federal custody and releasing some elderly or seriously ill inmates to hospitals, local programs or electronic monitoring.

The courts may have more to say about prison population, however. A three-judge panel, including Henderson and Karlton, has concluded after extensive hearings in San Francisco that overcrowding at the prisons, now filled to twice their designed capacity, is the chief cause of poor health care. The panel has tentatively ordered the release of between 37,000 and 58,000 inmates to local custody, treatment programs or parole.

The Schwarzenegger administration has said it will appeal any final release order to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Karlton, meanwhile, said at a hearing June 16 that unless the state approved Cate's tentative agreement, or came up with an alternative to improve prison mental health care in the next three months, "I'm going to start eating into their budget in a real dramatic way."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/26/MNE718E0D4.DTL

Posted by lois at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)

June 25, 2009

FL: Powerful business lobby calls for a halt to prison construction & change in sentencing policies

Change sought in Florida prison system
A movement among powerful Florida leaders to overhaul the state's prison system is gaining steam as lawmakers grapple with shrinking resources.

BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER
Miami Herald
06.24.09

A call by Florida's most powerful business lobby to halt prison construction and reform the criminal justice system is gaining surprising traction among policymakers in the wake of a deepening budget crisis and growing evidence that building new prison beds will not reduce crime.

Four months after the head of Associated Industries of Florida stunned lawmakers with his plea to slow prison growth, a who's-who of business, religious and political leaders are asking Gov. Charlie Crist to consider alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offenders, particularly drug addicts.

Crist and state lawmakers this week received an ''open letter'' from opinion-makers calling for a ``bold and serious conversation about justice reform.''

The statement was signed by three former Florida attorneys general -- Jim Smith, Bob Butterworth and Richard Doran -- along with retired Department of Corrections secretary James McDonough and the heads of the Florida Association of Counties and the Florida Catholic Conference.

''At a time when Florida is in serious recession and facing a deep state budget crisis, the $2 billion-plus budget of the Florida Department of Corrections has grown larger; and without reform, that budget will continue to grow at a pace that crowds out other mission-critical state services such as education, human service needs, and environmental protection,'' the group wrote.

Calling itself the Coalition for Smart Justice, the group is asking state leaders to bolster education, drug and alcohol treatment and faith-based and character-building programs both within the state prison system and in community settings as an alternative to prison.

Coalition members also want Crist to ''immediately implement'' a bill passed by the Legislature in 2008 that created ''the much needed'' Correctional Policy Advisory Council to offer new directions for criminal justice administration.

Staying the course, coalition members wrote, will lead to ``too many non-violent individuals being incarcerated, too many prisons needing to be built at astounding public cost [and] too many young people moving from the juvenile justice system into the adult justice system.''

BREAKING CYCLE

At the root of the state's failures, the group says, is the unwillingness of lawmakers to invest in programs -- such as job training, education and substance-abuse treatment -- that can break the cycle of crime and reduce recidivism.

McDonough, the state's former drug czar and prisons chief, said Florida can avoid the need to build a new $100 million prison each year by spending one-fifth that amount on drug treatment. ''The math is irrefutable,'' McDonough said. ``That's $100 million right there that you don't have to spend immediately.''

Gretl Plessinger, DOC's spokeswoman, said the equation is far more complicated. Since the prison system runs on a five-year cycle based on ''strategic projections,'' the corrections agency cannot simply ``stop construction on a dime.''

''Several projects are nearing completion,'' Plessinger said. ``We've already spent money, and to stop construction now would cost taxpayers quite a lot of money.''

DOC Secretary Walter McNeil does not favor the early release of inmates, Plessinger said, but does agree with the coalition's goal of increased spending on drug treatment and other programs designed to aid offenders' safe return to their communities. Close to 90 percent of state inmates eventually are released, she said.

''Secretary McNeil knows inmates who receive basic education, job skills training and substance abuse treatment are less likely to commit another crime and return to prison,'' Plessinger said. ``Through re-entry [programs], we can reduce our recidivism rate which will increase public safety and lower our inmate population.''

Sterling Ivey, a Crist spokesman, declined to discuss the letter in depth. ''We have received the letter and we are currently reviewing the information,'' he said.

A driving force in the coalition is J. Allison DeFoor II, an admittedly unlikely prison reform activist as a former Monroe County sheriff, prosecutor, judge and reelection running mate for former Gov. Bob Martinez. Now an ordained Episcopal priest, the colorful politician tends a ministry at Wakulla Correctional Institution near Tallahassee.

Among DeFoor's gripes: though faith-based programs at Wakulla have reduced recidivism among inmates from 33 percent to just 7 percent, Florida's waiting list for such programs has grown to 10,000-strong. ''I've seen everything that doesn't work,'' he says. ``And I've seen what does work.''

''I can flatly tell you that 75 percent of the people in the system -- probably more than that -- have substance abuse and psychological problems,'' and treatment, education and counseling can help many of those men and women stay out of prison, he said.

PREVENTION

Butterworth, a former Broward sheriff, prosecutor and 20-year attorney general, said his two-year stint as secretary of the Department of Children & Families reinforced his belief in the value of prevention dollars -- which are typically the first to be cut during lean years.

''Sometimes the worst dollar we spend,'' Butterworth said, ``pays for bricks and mortar.''

Florida still will need prisons for violent felons, Butterworth said. But spending $1 billion over the next decade to build new prisons for drug addicts and people with mental illness, he added, is ``nuts. There's just got to be a better way.''

Steve Seibert, a former Pinellas County commissioner and secretary of the Deparment of Community Affairs under Gov. Jeb Bush, said he discovered another reason for reform while touring an Overtown community center: Leaders told him 70 percent of the neighborhood's men were ex-felons.

'That was an `Aha' moment for me,'' said Seibert, who as director of policy for the Collins Center for Public Policy is a coalition leader.

``All the affordable housing, economic development, parks, water and infrastructure-type stuff doesn't mean squat when 70 percent of the men in a community are ex-felons.''

And most Americans appear to agree with him. A just-released poll by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency showed that nearly eight in 10 Americans favor probation, restitution and community service over prison for ''nonserious, nonviolent, nonsexual'' offenders.

McDonough, who calls himself a pragmatist, said that ultimately the most powerful winds steering reform are financial.

''I think the recession probably will bring the pendulum swing to its highest point and it will start to swing the other way,'' he said. ``Legislators don't want to spend that much money.''

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/v-fullstory/story/1111002.html

Posted by lois at 08:40 PM | Comments (0)

June 23, 2009

MI: A new low? A candlelight vigil and prayers to keep a max security prison open

Standish Prison Candlelight Vigil Planned
Residents Continue Fight To Keep Prison Open
June 22, 2009
Standish Prison Candlelight Vigil Planned
STANDISH, Mich. -- Resurrection of the Lord is organizing a vigil with Standish area leaders over Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s plans to close the Standish Maximum Correctional Facility.

The candlelight vigil, 423 W. Cedar St., will be led by Fr. James Fitzpatrick beginning at 7 p.m.

The maximum security prison employs about 300 people and is Arenac County’s largest employer.

It’s slated to close on July 28.

The Standish prison is one of three maximum security prisons, along with five prison camps, expected to close as a way to save the state money.

Organizers of the vigil said there will be updates regarding recent events and a presentation on options for future protests.

Members of the Arenac County community have already taken a stand against the closure of the 19-year-old prison with a petition drive and past protests.

Combined, the closure of the eight prisons and prison camps will result in the layoff of an estimated 1,000 employees.
http://www.wnem.com/news/19820631/detail.html

Posted by lois at 09:59 AM | Comments (0)

June 17, 2009

FL: 3rd new juvenile prison to open in one county--privately run

3rd juvie prison to open
Old detention center to become facility for high-risk youth
By CHAD SMITH Thursday, June 11, 2009 ; Updated: 5:59 AM on Thursday, June 11, 2009

St. Augustine's juvenile detention center will close at the end of the month and will be replaced with a penitentiary for youthful offenders from around the state, meaning local youths will be held in Jacksonville while they await trial.

The state-run St. Johns Regional Juvenile Detention Center, on Avenue D near the county jail, is being shuttered to cut costs in the Department of Juvenile Justice and to make room for Florida's growing population of juvenile convicts, department spokeswoman Samadhi Jones said Wednesday.

It will become the county's third juvenile prison, ranking St. Johns among 14 other counties with three or more.

As of July 1, the 50-bed detention center will be divvied up between the St. Johns Youth Academy, designed for "moderate-risk" youth, and the St. Johns Juvenile Correctional Facility, a privately run prison for "high-risk" youth that is in the same complex as the current detention center.

The youth academy will get 34 beds, and the correctional facility, which currently can hold 32 inmates, will get the other 16.

Jones said the St. Augustine detention center was selected for conversion into a youth academy because it is relatively new and has "state-of-the-art" equipment.

"We're going to use it now for what we really need in the state of Florida, which is a high-risk residential facility," she said.

The St. Johns Youth Academy will serve as a replacement for the Santa Rosa Youth Academy, a 25-bed facility in the Panhandle that is being closed.

John A. Alexander, St. Johns County's chief administrative judge, said he was "irate" about the way the Department of Juvenile Justice has handled the transition.

Before the change goes into effect, Alexander and other judges, along with the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, will need to coordinate with the Duval County detention center to sort out how the suspects will be booked, transported and monitored.

But, he said, very little of that has been discussed.

"Certainly nobody from Tallahassee has contacted the judicial system," the judge said. "We run a good program here. And I'm not a Pollyanna. I understand that you're going to cut programs. But let's coordinate the cuts."

Jerry Cameron, the county's assistant administrator, said the Sheriff's Office is looking into the possibility of setting up its own detention facility on the site.

While there is an average of about 35 youth in the detention center on a given day, about a third of them live in St. Johns County, and the majority come from Jacksonville or Putnam County.

What the county is proposing to do, Cameron said, is establish and operate a 12-bed facility where it could house its own youth and easily transport them between court appearances and the jail.

But, he said, it still isn't clear whether the county can legally run its own facility or whether the state would want to give up the money the county pays DJJ to house its youth, which amounts to between $700,000 and $800,000 annually.

"That takes care of the legal problem, and that takes care of the money problem," Cameron said.

Counties with three or more juvenile prisons:

Brevard - 3 (1 low, 2 moderate)

DeSoto - 3 (1 low, 2 moderate)

Duval - 3 (2 moderate, 1 high)

Hillsborough - 6 (5 moderate, 1 high)

Jackson - 4 (2 moderate, 1 high, 1 high/maximum)

Madison - 4 (4 moderate)

Manatee - 3 (2 moderate, 1 high)

Miami-Dade - 5 (1 low, 4 moderate)

Okaloosa - 5 (3 moderate, 2 high)

Okeechobee - 5 (2 low/moderate, 1 moderate, 1 high, 1 high/maximum)

Pasco - 5 (moderate)

Polk - 3 (moderate)

Santa Rosa* - 3 (1 low/moderate, 2 moderate)

St. Johns* - 3 (2 moderate, 1 high)

Volusia - 3 (2 moderate, 1 moderate/high)

* The figures for Santa Rosa and St. Johns counties will be current after the St. Johns juvenile detention center is converted into a residential facility, replacing the one in Santa Rosa.

Source: Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.

Posted by lois at 09:07 PM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2009

AZ: Public vs. Private prisons in economy budget

Legislators want private firms to run prisons
By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
PublishedMay 20, 2009 - 02:15:48 am MST

PHOENIX — Republican legislative leaders are crafting a plan to farm out operation of three state prisons to private companies as a method of balancing the budget.

Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said he believes companies would pay the state at least $100 million in up-front cash for the right to operate the prisons.

That would help lawmakers deal with an anticipated $3.3 billion deficit this coming year.

And Kavanagh, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, said the annual savings to the state for operating these three facilities could be $40 million.

At this point, lawmakers are looking at the state prison in Yuma which now houses about 2,300 inmates, the Perryville facility which has more than 4,000 beds, and the Eyeman unit of the state prison complex in Florence which at last count had close to 5,000 inmates.

The proposal is likely to get a fight from Democrats — and not just on philosophical grounds.

Senate Minority Leader Jorge Garcia, D-Tucson, called the savings “funny money.” He cited studies done by an outside consultant for the state Department of Corrections which show that, when all elements are considered, it actually costs taxpayers less to have the state operate prisons than it would to have them run by private companies.

Senate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, said he put little stock in that report, saying it was prepared during the administration of Democrat Janet Napolitano who never was a supporter of private prisons.

The idea of privately run prisons is not new. The state already contracts with private companies to house some inmates.

But those deals involve facilities that private companies build on their own, with the state paying a specific daily charge for each inmate housed there.

This would involve turning over already built — and paid-for — state facilities to private companies to operate, with the price the state pays based on bids received.

At last count, about 4,300 of the state’s more than 40,000 inmates were housed in private prisons in Arizona. Another nearly 4,900 are housed in private prisons in other states

Gov. Jan Brewer said she believes it is appropriate to house inmates in private prisons “in certain circumstances.”

The plan, scheduled for a vote today in the Senate Appropriations Committee, essentially builds on existing efforts by Republicans to plug the gap between anticipated revenues this coming year and expenses.

State sales and income tax collections have taken a nosedive as the national and state economies have gone into a recession, people are being laid off and consumers are buying less. GOP budget crafters are relying heavily on cuts to spending.

One new wrinkle is a plan to reduce state aid to cities and counties by up to $190 million.

Burns acknowledged that transfers some of the state’s fiscal problems onto local governments which have their own revenue issues. But he said the state’s problem is so big that it cannot afford to share as much as it has in the past in what it collects in vehicle license taxes.

Republican legislators have generally frowned upon a proposal by Gov. Jan Brewer to bridge the gap with a temporary tax that would raise $1 billion a year for three or four years. But House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, said all options — including taxes — remain on the table.

Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, said lawmakers are looking at one other way to get more dollars: Hire back some of the auditors and collectors the state let go earlier this year from the Department of Revenue. How much that could raise, however, is debatable.

House Democrats have said more staffers could bring in $150 million. Kavanagh puts the figure at $50 million; Pearce said $35 million would be more realistic.

Kavanagh acknowledged that the size of the deficit could force lawmakers to adopt some accounting maneuvers that really do not solve the problem. These include taking certain expenses due in the coming fiscal year and pushing off payment into the following budget year, a move that technically “balances” the books as constitutionally required but does not actually cut spending.
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2009/05/20/news/state/doc4a13a7e8908d5390322661.txt

----------------------------------------------
Saving the state's budget: The Governor's plan
Balanced, realistic budget will preserve our critical services

Jun. 7, 2009 12:00 AM- Special for the Republic

Arizona's state budget deficit is one of the worst per capita in the United States.

With the new budget due in three weeks, Arizona has a deficit of roughly $4 billion, or 40 percent of last year's general fund expenditures.

We have so little cash that the state has to borrow millions just to pay monthly bills. The threat to vital services is so acute that a bold budget plan is absolutely critical to avoiding an economic catastrophe.

I have a plan that leads our state to the path of recovery, a plan that will bridge Arizona's troubled economic waters without destroying our schools, public safety, or the final safety net that sustains our most vulnerable populations.

Your state government is spending dramatically less. With my new fiscal year 2010 budget plan, roughly $600 million in cuts will be implemented, in addition to the $400 million in reductions I signed into law shortly after taking office.

This budget slashing is unprecedented in Arizona history. Thousands of state employees have lost jobs or have been furloughed. Services and programs have been curtailed. Any further significant cuts, however, would begin to unravel our public education, safety, health and/or corrections systems.

The majority of legislators seem unwilling participants in such recklessness, and I can assure you that I won't preside over the destruction of essential services within our great state.

Along with $1 billion in spending cuts, I propose using the maximum available of federal stimulus funds in fiscal year 2010, approximately $1 billion. My application of these funds will particularly protect K-12 education funding, our state universities, and our community colleges. Each of these systems are doing more with less money, but federal stimulus funds will help us bridge the gap without devastating our state's future - our children.

In addition to spending cuts and federal stimulus funds, my plan includes $1 billion in a 1 percent sales-tax increase, and roughly $1 billion in state long-term financing moves. My plan creates a spending cap to limit government when future revenues return, and cuts onerous taxes in the future to promote economic activity and job growth.

Some representatives and senators unfortunately propose nearly $1 billion in revenues that are completely unrealistic, including a plan to create a 50-year private contract to "operate" all Arizona prisons, including Arizona's death row. It also includes a large tax increase, but hides it by forcing cities and counties to be the tax collectors. The legislators' proposal also threatens the closure of numerous rural Arizona hospitals.

Only an authentic, balanced budget can bridge our financial-crisis gap, and only with additional revenues will we properly operate the vast majority of our general-fund operations: our schools, our prisons, and our critical health systems.

Jan Brewer is governor of Arizona.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/2009/06/06/20090606brewer07.html

Posted by lois at 08:47 AM | Comments (0)

June 14, 2009

Testimony at Senate Hearing on national prison reform Commission introduced by Jim Webb

Testimony at Senate Hearing on national prison reform
June 13,2009

The U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs convened a hearing on proposed national prison reform legislation. Virginia Senator Jim Webb introduced bill S.714 in March to create a commission to thoroughly review the entire criminal justice system and make recommendations for reform in several areas of significant concern.

Since being introduced, the bill already has widespread support with 29 cosponsors in the Senate including Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA) and Ranking Member Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Judiciary Committee member Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT). Numerous organizations, currently numbering 42, now endorse the legislative endeavor with interest continuing to expand as public awareness increases.

Other than Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC), Senator Mary L. Landrieu (D-LA), and Senator Mark R. Warner (D-VA), no other senators from the southeastern states, including Georgia and Florida, have as yet expressed their support for this bill as cosponsors.

Speaking at the June 11 hearing, entitled “Exploring the National Criminal Justice Act of 2009,” Senator Webb compared the condition of the criminal justice system to be no less critical than have been the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. and the economic crisis the country faces. The senator asserts, “…the disintegration of this system, day by day and year by year, and the movement toward mass incarceration, with very little attention being paid to clear standards of prison administration or meaningful avenues of re-entry for those who have served their time, is dramatically affecting millions of lives, draining billions of dollars from our economy, destroying notions of neighborhood and family in hundreds of communities across the country….” The proposed legislation is the first major effort to examine and reform the United States criminal justice system in more than forty years.

“We need to take a comprehensive look at our criminal justice system…. As a nation, we can spend our money more effectively, reduce crime and violence, reduce the prison population, and create a fairer system. It is time to take stock of what is broken and what works and modify our criminal justice policies accordingly.” (See related article: ‘Pew “1 in 31” report on corrections: Challenges and opportunities.’)

Collaboration between Senator Webb’s office and more than 100 organizations that represent prosecutors, judges, defense lawyers, former offenders, advocacy groups, think tanks, victims’ rights organizations, academics, prisoners, law enforcement, and numerous church organizations has generated significant interest and support for advancing this legislation.

Several experts in the legal, law enforcement, and volunteer services communities testified at the hearing, including Chief William Bratton of the Los Angeles Police Department, Professor Charles J. Ogletree of Harvard Law School, Pat Nolan, Vice President of the Prison Fellowship, and Brian W. Walsh, Senior Legal Research Fellow at the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies of The Heritage Foundation.

Serving as vice president of the volunteer service organization the Prison Fellowship, Pat Nolan testified, “My work has given me a close up view of our criminal justice system across the country; and I must tell you our prisons are in crisis. Corrections budgets are literally eating up state budgets, siphoning off money that could be going to schools, roads and hospitals. The crisis in our criminal justice system is national in scope; and only a national commission can conduct the type of review that will help guide us into better policies and safer communities.”

Brian W. Walsh with The Heritage Foundation encouraged support in saying, “Reform experts who are serious about criminal-justice reform should draw encouragement from Senator Webb’s efforts to date to reach out to elected officials on both sides of the aisle and to criminal-justice reform advocates across the conservative-to-liberal spectrum.”
http://www.examiner.com/x-7357-Atlanta-Criminal-Rehabilitation-Examiner~y2009m6d13-Testimony-at-Senate-Hearing-on-national-prison-reform

Posted by lois at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)

June 09, 2009

NC: Education and Prison/Jail Spending

Education budgets outweigh prisons
Catherine Pritchard
Fayetteville Observer

Q: With the state so strapped for cash for the schools, I would like to know how much do we actually pay for our prison systems as compared to what we pay for our schooling? J.S., Fayetteville

A: Well, it all depends on who you mean by “we” and what you mean by “how much,” among other things. After all, public schools get funding at the federal, state and local level. And there are federal prisons, state prisons and county jails (where, we should point out, many of the inmates are awaiting trial and have not been convicted of a crime).

And any numbers we provide will inevitably include funds that are not going directly to what might be considered “prisons” or “schools.”

That said, here are some basic numbers from budget proposals for the 2010 financial year.

At the federal level, President Obama is proposing $46 billion for education and $7.6 billion for the Bureau of Prisons, including oversight of the system and prisoner re-entry programs.

North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue’s proposed budget for 2010 includes $11.4 billion for education and $1.3 billion for the Department of Correction, which includes prisons, parole and probation.

Closer to home, Cumberland County Manager James Martin’s budget proposal includes $75.4 million for schools and $11.5 million to run the county jail.

Housing one inmate does cost more than educating students, according to the state’s per-person estimates. The Department of Public Instruction in Raleigh estimated statewide spending per pupil at $8,552 this year, while the state Department of Correction lists a yearly cost per inmate of $27,911 for 2008.

But then prisoners live in prisons under armed guard, whereas students get to go home after school.
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=328546

Posted by lois at 09:23 AM | Comments (0)

MI: Closing 8 prisons by executive order of Gov.

"I'm just not that comfortable letting this many convicted felons out into a poor economy," said Senate Minority Leader Mike Prusi, an Ishpeming Democrat who is "furious" prison facilities in his Upper Peninsula district will be closed."

"Mel Grieshaber, executive director of the Michigan Corrections
Organization, a labor union for corrections officers, said too many inmates are being let out too quickly. The public better lock their doors," he said.

Michigan closing 8 prison facilities to save money
By DAVID EGGERT (AP)

LANSING, Mich. -- Three state prisons and five prison camps will be closed to save $120 million as budget-conscious Michigan moves toward incarcerating its lowest number of inmates in a decade, Gov. Jennifer Granholm's administration said Friday.

The closings will result in layoffs, though it was unclear how many. The Department of Corrections will try to move as many of the 1,072 affected employees as possible into open jobs at other facilities.
said."

Theprisons and camps house about 4,600 inmates who will be transferred to other facilities if they still are incarcerated at the time of the closures. The Democratic governor wants to reduce the prison population of 47,550 to below 45,000 by Oct. 1, the lowest head count since 1999.

Critics warned the public is in danger and said the state's budget problems are driving corrections policies when it should be the other way around.

"I'm just not that comfortable letting this many convicted felons out into a poor economy," said Senate Minority Leader Mike Prusi, an Ishpeming Democrat who is "furious" prison facilities in his Upper Peninsula district will be closed.

Corrections Director Patricia Caruso, however, said public safety is the agency's top priority.

"But just as we are committed to the public's safety, we are also committed to spending their tax dollars wisely and in ways that make sense," she said. "The reorganization we are unveiling today makes sense from a public safety and budget perspective."

Prisons in Muskegon west of Grand Rapids, Standish north of Bay City and Kincheloe in the eastern U.P. will close between Aug. 1 and Nov. 30.

Prison camps to be closed in the same time period are in Shingleton, Painesdale and Iron River in the U.P.; Grayling in the northern Lower Peninsula; and White Lake in Oakland County north of Detroit.

The Standish prison is maximum-security, meaning every prisoner must have his own cell.

Corrections officials have decided some maximum-security inmates can share cells, drawing the ire of corrections officers who fear the change will endanger guards and inmates. The department will convert the Alger Maximum Correctional Facility in Munising to a level IV prison so it can bunk two prisoners per cell, nearly doubling the prison's bed capacity.

The prison closings come as tax revenues are continuing to slide in a state hit hard by the recession and the auto industry's woes. Michigan faces a budget shortfall of at least $1.7 billion in the fiscal year that starts in October, and there is not enough federal stimulus cash to offset all the lost revenue.

Because the governor's '09-10 budget proposal outlined in February promised unspecified prison closings, communities and corrections workers across the state had been anxiously awaiting Friday morning's announcement. The state also closed two prisons and a camp this fiscal year.

The prison population has fallen by 4,000 inmates since peaking at a record 51,454 in December 2006. Officials credit the decline to more paroles and commutations, fewer felony convictions and prison intakes, more GPS monitoring and an expanded program to keep parolees from committing new crimes. The number of criminals entering prisons dropped 9 percent in 2008, officials said, and was down 4 percent through April of this year.

Granholm's newly expanded parole board is releasing more inmates who have served beyond their minimum sentence.

Corrections spokesman John Cordell acknowledged the department is shrinking the prison population on a quicker timetable because of the budget crisis, but he said only offenders posing the "lowest possible risk" are being paroled sooner than they might otherwise have been.

The parole board is following recommendations from independent experts who found Michigan inmates stay in prison longer than is the case nationally despite receiving similar minimum sentences. Key Democratic and Republican lawmakers backed the parole changes in January but have not yet put those requirements into law.

Mel Grieshaber, executive director of the Michigan Corrections Organization, a labor union for corrections officers, said too many inmates are being let out too quickly.

"The public better lock their doors," he said.

While prison closures in recent years led to few layoffs because workers filled vacancies at other facilities, there will be fewer openings to apply for this time, Grieshaber said.

"There are undoubtedly going to layoffs - hundreds perhaps," he said.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/06/05/ap6511712.html

Posted by lois at 08:49 AM | Comments (0)

June 01, 2009

NC: Small prison stubbornly survives through prison labor and poltical clout

Small prison stubbornly survives
The governor wants to close the 94-inmate facility to save money; it just won't go away.
May 31, 2009
BY ROB CHRISTENSEN AND BENJAMIN NIOLET, Staff Writers
RALEIGH - Union Correctional Center in Monroe is a relic from the 1930s prison road gangs that leaders in Raleigh keep trying to close.
Gov. Beverly Perdue wants to shut it down. So does the state Department of Correction. So do the efficiency experts, who say the prison is too small and antiquated to be cost-effective.

But the Union Correctional Center has survived the budget knife through a combination of insider political connections, local businesses and governments benefiting from cheap inmate labor, and preachers trying to save souls.

In the process, the Union Correctional Center serves another purpose. It is an example of how complicated and difficult it can be to cut government spending, even as the state faces a budget deficit of epic proportions.

North Carolina is facing a shortfall of as much as $4 billion, nearly 20 percent of the state's current $21.4 billion budget, in the fiscal year that begins July 1.

That deficit has grown since Perdue and the state Senate put together their budget proposals earlier this year, and the state House is now wrestling with where and how to cut spending.

But it won't be easy, as evidenced by the Union Correctional Center, a state lab that studies insects, a worker training program at the state Department of Labor and a program that monitors the Neuse River in Eastern North Carolina.

Perdue, a Democrat, proposed cutting all of those when she made her budget recommendations to the legislature, which must approve a balanced budget for North Carolina. They amounted to a small percentage of the budget deficit, but the Democrats who control the Senate declined to go along. They did not include Perdue's cuts when they approved a budget and sent it to the House.

Ran Coble, a veteran budget watcher, said it can be difficult to kill state programs, because they often have powerful political patrons, would lead to the loss of jobs or because they have well-connected policy advocates.

"Every legislator tends to protect programs in his or her own district," said Coble, executive director of the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research, a nonpartisan Raleigh think tank.

Union Correctional Center has had a bull's eye on its back since at least 1993, when an efficiency study recommended its closure. The report said North Carolina had too many small prisons -- four to six times the number of most states. Most of the prisons cited in that report have since been closed.

Perdue recommended that Union and two other small, antiquated prisons, in Haywood and Gates counties, be closed to save $3.4 million. Closing the Union County prison, which houses 94 inmates, would save $1.6 million, according to the Department of Correction.

Even though the state is facing a shortage of prison beds, state officials say inmates from the three prisons could be moved to larger, more efficient prisons where cells can house two inmates instead of one.

Efforts to close prisons, particularly in rural areas, provoke cries about jobs that will be lost. That's not the case in Union County, where only 36 people work at the prison, located in a fast-growing Charlotte suburb.

Prison labor

But the prison is popular in the business community and with local governments because it provides cheap labor. For the past decade, Union Correctional Center has hosted a work release program, where inmates are transferred in to spend the final two years of their sentences learning a trade.

Of the 94 inmates at Union Correctional Center, 65 are in the work release program with private companies, learning to become welders, electricians or other trades. Another eight inmates work for the towns of Monroe and Indian Trail, helping clean parks, mowing, picking up trash and cleaning up after storms.

More than 70 companies in Union County have used inmates during the past decade, said Ron Tarlton, the prison's superintendent. Currently, inmates are working for such companies as chicken processor Pilgrim's Pride, Showmars Restaurant, Hinson Electric, McCarter Electric, Weaver Automobile and United Process Mechanical Piping.

In some instances, companies can use the state prison system like a job placement agency. They order someone with specific skills -- such as a welder -- and a search will be made of the entire prison system. If found, the welder will be transferred to the Union Correctional Center, Tarlton said.

The inmates, who are paid slightly above minimum wage, typically work for a company for two years. The inmates are required to pay the prison $18 a day for their upkeep, pay for transportation costs to the job and, where appropriate, pay restitution. They can send any money that's left to help support their families or spend it in the prison canteen.

"The employers are highly impressed with the program," said Tarlton, who has worked at the prison for 28 years.

"The inmates are dependable and show up for work every day. These guys would rather be out on the job working than behind the fences."

The Union Correctional Center also has a powerful political patron in former state Sen. Aaron Plyler, a road contractor from Monroe. Plyler was one of the leading Democratic barons of the Senate until he retired in 2002.

Although out of office for the past seven years, Plyler, a popular, avuncular figure, mentored and did favors for many of the senators now in leadership positions. As a former appropriations chairman, Plyler knows how to work the process.

And Plyler, who has used inmates to work at his companies, thought it would be a mistake to close the prison.

"I think it would be an unusual move to close it when these people are out there making money for themselves and helping the area," Plyler said. "The city of Monroe has saved hundreds of thousands..."

So Plyler fired off letters to 20 legislative leaders, arguing that the work release program at Union Correctional Center was effective. He got the attention of the decision-makers in Raleigh.

"I don't have as much effect as I had at one time," Plyler, 82, said in a recent interview. "But I have a lot of friends."

Saving souls

For some state leaders, the motivation to keep the prison open had nothing to do with money. It was about an effort to save the souls inside the prison.

The Union County prison has been adopted by many area churches, which have an extensive prison ministry to help inmates redirect their lives.

The Rev. Al Lewis Jr., executive director of the Safer Communities Ministries, said he has sent "tons of information" to lawmakers. He said that of the 111 inmates who have gone through the program during the past three years, 90 are still out of prison.

"We are building a model that we think could go statewide," Lewis said.

As a result of the involvement of the churches, the prison has found champions among Republican lawmakers who normally might be in favor of cutting government.

State Sen. Eddie Goodall, an outspoken GOP conservative who represents Union County, is a fan of the outreach program. With the prison system over capacity, Goodall says there needs to be a good reason for closing the Union County unit.

"This ministry is a blessing to so many," Goodall wrote on the prison ministry's Web site. "God is using Al Lewis and his dedicated support team to bring new life to men who are willing to embrace the Word while learning the skills necessary to succeed outside the prison walls."

Stopped cold

Finally, Perdue's proposal to cut Union ran into a legislative iceberg in the form of Democratic Sen. John Snow, a retired district court judge from Murphy who is co-chairman of the Senate committee that oversees the prison budget.

Snow's mountain district includes Haywood County Correctional Center, one of the three prisons the governor wants to close. It is the only state prison west of Asheville. Local officials said closing the Haywood unit would deprive the western mountains of inmate work crews for roads, schools and local governments in several counties.

The Haywood County commissioners passed a resolution saying that it would cost the county $80,227, at minimum wage, to replace the 12,248 man-hours inmate work crews provide.

"Who's going to keep the highways clean if Haywood Correctional Center closes?" the commissioners asked in the resolution.

So Snow's committee put the money back in the budget for the three prisons that Perdue wanted to cut. The full Senate subsequently approved the committee's action.

It happened so fast that Democratic Sen. Ed Jones, the former mayor of Enfield, didn't know what was happening. Jones, whose district includes the Gates County Correctional Center, had been working with community leaders on plans to convert the prison into a community center and a disaster center.

He was whipsawed by the back-and-forth over the prisons.

"It's in, it's out, it's in, it's out," said Jones, a retired highway trooper.

The budget is now before the House, where Democratic Rep. Pryor Gibson, chairman of the House Finance Committee, represents the district where the Union County prison is located.

Gibson said the prison is some of the "lowest hanging fruit," making it a likely target for budget cutters. But he pledged to use all his power to save it.

"Aaron Plyler and I worked together for years to make sure it got back in [the budget]," Gibson said. "I'm tickled to death that the Senate put it back in."
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/v-print/story/1549236.html

Posted by lois at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)

May 29, 2009

AZ: Opponents Stop Federal Detention Center

SAN XAVIER DISTRICT NO LONGER CONSIDERING NOGALES HWY SITE FOR FEDERAL DETENTION CENTER
May 21, 2009
Tohono O’odham Nation and District Leaders Working Together to Identify Alternative Location

SELLS, AZ --- The San Xavier District of the Tohono O’odham Nation announced today that it is no longer seeking to construct a federal detention center on Nogales Highway, north of Pima Mine Road. The decision comes after an extensive public review process with both the Tohono O’odham Nation and surrounding communities.

The decision was finalized at a meeting that included San Xavier District representatives, the Tohono O’odham Legislative Council and Chairman Ned Norris, Jr. At the meeting, leaders voiced their support for identifying positive economic development opportunities in cooperation with regional planning efforts.

Chairman Ned Norris Jr. said, “The Nation strongly supports economic development and is committed to diversifying the Nation’s economy with projects that provide jobs and opportunities for Nation’s members and nonmembers alike. We are equally committed to pursuing economic development opportunities that compliment and expand the regional and southern Arizona economies.”

The San Xavier District and Tohono O’odham leaders are working together expeditiously to identify an alternative location for the proposed federal detention center. San Xavier District Chairman Austin Nunez said, “We appreciate the leadership role the Tohono O’odham Nation has taken in this process and its commitment to economic development in the San Xavier District. At a more suitable site, the federal detention center will bring hundreds of new jobs and millions of dollars in positive economic impacts to the area.”

The proposed federal detention center is designed for short-term detention of up to 750 individuals apprehended by the US Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other law enforcement agencies. The San Xavier District is one of eleven districts of the Tohono O’odham Nation, a federally-recognized sovereign tribe. Additional background information on the Tohono O’odham Nation can be found at http://www.tonation-nsn.gov/.

Posted by lois at 12:07 AM | Comments (0)

May 28, 2009

CA: CCA to build prison for illegal immigrants in San Diego Co.

San Diego County approves immigrant prison
SAN DIEGO, May 26, 2009 (UPI) -- Local officials in the San Diego area have approved a private company's plans for a prison to house more than 2,000 illegal immigrants.

The 40-acre site on Otay Mesa is close to a San Diego County prison and to the San Diego Correctional Facility, which Corrections Corp. of America already operates under contract to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

CCA's plans call for 1,488 beds in the first phase of the new facility and 684 in the second, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Tuesday. The existing immigrant detention center holds 700 people. The county planning commission approved the plans last month, the newspaper said.

The existing CCA facility is on land with a lease that expires in 2015. The company has bought the site for the new prison.

"In order to retain federal inmate populations we currently manage in the San Diego Correctional Facility, we may be required to construct a new facility in the future," the company said in a report.

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2009/05/26/San-Diego-County-approves-immigrant-prison/UPI-30141243390315/

Posted by lois at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)

May 26, 2009

More calls for California to shut down its youth prison system

More calls for California to shut down its youth prison system
By Karen de Sá
Mercury News
Posted: 05/25/2009

With California mired in near-catastrophic budget woes, a growing number of researchers are calling for the state to shut down its youth prison system, which they say has become too expensive, too mired in abusive practices, and too ineffective in enhancing public safety.

There are just six remaining prisons for the state's most serious juvenile offenders, and they house the lowest number of inmates ever recorded in modern history. That has left taxpayers in an era of deep cuts to education and social services footing a bill of a quarter-million dollars each year for each of the 1,600 youthful offenders now left in state custody.

In a report headed this week to legislators wrestling with a $21.3 billion budget shortfall, the San Francisco-based Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice describes a way out: Shut down the state prison system for youthful offenders, and turn the population back to county probation departments that are sitting on empty beds in new and refurbished juvenile halls. The report echoes similar findings of the state's own Little Hoover Commission and Legislative Analyst's Office, which have also concluded that given adequate time and resources, counties could house even the most troubled juvenile offenders in far cheaper and more effective institutions.

"These wards are going to get out. They're coming back to every one of their communities," said Stuart Drown, executive director of the bipartisan Little Hoover Commission,
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which advises the state on improving efficiency. "Why not get them the programs they need to stay out of jail and not go back? They're not getting that at the state."

Bernie Warner, head of California's Division of Juvenile Justice, argues there must always be a state system for the most serious, violent, gang-involved youth offenders, the majority of whom need specialized treatment for crimes as serious as murder and sexual assault.

"The counties do a great job in managing over 99 percent of all those in the juvenile justice system in California," Warner said, but "given who's left in the state system — the highest-risk, highest-need youth — I don't think it's in the best interest of public safety to have those youth in local detention facilities."

Burden to counties

Expanding on Warner's position, the president of the Chief Probation Officers of California says counties facing deep budget cuts simply cannot assume more responsibility. "This is probably one of those things where the state needs to stay in the business of corrections," said Don Meyer, Yolo County's probation chief. "There isn't any other place for them."

Yet in a report released late last year, the Little Hoover Commission advised the state to get out of the juvenile justice business by 2011, stating: "It is untenable to continue to invest money into a system that has failed for many years." The commission advised that Californians deserve an accounting for a poor investment by the state, given that 74 percent of youth offenders leaving the state system end up back in trouble with the law. The problems don't end there: The state also has done little to meet the requirements of a 4-year-old court order to improve conditions, according to an Alameda County Superior Court judge monitoring the case.

Now, Dan Macallair of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, has issued a report going one step further.

Using figures from the state's Corrections Standards Authority, his report states there are a sufficient number of beds in California's 58 county-based juvenile justice systems to absorb the entire state population of 1,637, "and still have nearly 600 empty beds remaining."

Even given the additional costs of creating treatment units within juvenile halls that are traditionally simply holding pens, the report says a shift to counties could result in significant savings: Counties spend about $25,000 a year on youth offenders — 10 times less than the state spends.

Counties up and down the state — including Santa Clara County — expanded their juvenile hall capacity in recent years following a mini-building boom. Now many of these facilities, including state-of-the-art high-security juvenile halls, remain partially empty. Santa Clara County has 390 beds in its juvenile hall, with a current population of about 300. Macallair's report identifies the county as one of the least-reliant on state institutions; there are now just 33 county youths in state custody, down from 328 in 2000.

Santa Clara County Probation Chief Sheila Mitchell said her department has worked hard to keep kids out of state prisons. She would not comment on the recommendation to shut down the state system, other than noting that the county's newly expanded juvenile hall — designed as a short-term detention facility — would be ill-suited for those serving years-long sentences and requiring intensive treatment.

Rehabilitation

Reformers say using surplus county beds for juvenile offenders in state custody would improve the prospects of rehabilitation, a notion many parents echo. Sharon James, a Merced transit worker, said she can only visit her 18-year-old son in a Central Valley prison twice a month, which has caused his condition — in a massive institution mired in violence — to worsen.

"I can look at him and see that he's given up on himself," James said of her son, charged with a robbery and fighting while on probation. The teen landed in a Stockton youth prison with the credits of a high school senior, but after almost two years in custody has not graduated.

"If he were closer, I could visit him every day, or as often as visits are allowed," James said. "I just don't want him to come home totally broken down — that's my biggest concern."
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_12431880

Posted by lois at 01:43 PM | Comments (0)

Budget crisis could curtail Oregon's prison boom

Budget crisis could curtail Oregon's prison boom
by Susan Goldsmith, The Oregonian
Monday May 25, 2009, 9:20 PM

With nearly 14,000 people locked up in state prisons and another 35,000 under supervision from the Department of Corrections, criminal justice has been one of Oregon's most recession-proof industries.

The department's budget has grown at a 20 percent clip each biennium since 1995, and every household in the state pays $1,414 every two years to fund corrections.

But with a $4 billion state budget shortfall, legislators have tough choices to make about crime and punishment. If any real reform is to be made, however, it must pass one giant hurdle: Voter-passed initiatives.

In 1994, the public approved a measure that mandated much longer sentences for 16 crimes. That in turn drove the number of inmates in the state much higher, while keeping them there longer.

Lawmakers face either overhauling the criminal justice system or continuing down the same path, watching corrections eat up more and more revenue.

While the state's prison population has grown to nearly 14,000 people, crime has plummeted in every category. Criminal justice advocates say Oregon's model is a success, but researchers and data from here and across the nation show something different: Only a small percentage of the drop in crime can be attributed to more prisons and longer sentences.

In Salem these days, the criminal justice debates under way are philosophical: Should the state simply let large numbers of inmates walk free to balance the budget in the short term or retool the way Oregon manages corrections?

Some legislators and even the head of the Department of Corrections, a former Republican legislator, are quietly pushing for a new approach to criminal justice -- one that allows for a range of sanctions for lawbreakers so fewer people end up in prison.

"This is a structural nightmare. This is the box the Legislature is in," said Max Williams, director of Oregon's Department of Corrections. "If we can't change the size of the box, we are going to be stuck."
Ballot-box mandates

When Oregon voters handcuffed the Legislature in 1994 with Measure 11, they imposed long mandatory prison terms for 16 violent and sex-related offenses, required juveniles be prosecuted as adults for those crimes, and prohibited any earned time credit for anyone who received a Measure 11 sentence. At the same time, voters changed the state constitution to prevent lawmakers from tampering with sentences.

Then last fall, voters approved Measure 57, which mandated longer sentences for repeat property thieves and is expected to cost the state another $74 million in the next two years alone.

"We've got to do something to slow the growth of corrections in the short term and long term," said Rep. Chip Shields, D-Portland. "There is a tendency to want to be tough on crime no matter what. I think it takes courage to be more critical about what works and what doesn't in our corrections system."

Oregon is not alone in facing skyrocketing corrections costs. A March report from The Pew Charitable Trusts found that one in 31 people in the United States is in prison or jail, or on probation or parole.

In the past two decades, Pew found that the nation's correctional spending rose by 300 percent, outpacing every other government service from education to transportation. As correctional spending soared, crime rates fell to historic lows, even in states that put far fewer people behind bars, like New York. In Oregon, violent crime has plummeted 45 percent since 1996.

But criminal justice data show that get-tough-on-crime policies, like Oregon's Measure 11, account for a small percentage of the crime decrease across the nation. Here, the state's Criminal Justice Commission credits 13 percent of the 45 percent decrease in violent crime since 1996 to Measure 11.

Explaining the dramatic declines in crime rates is complex. No one is certain exactly why crime has fallen so low, but think tanks, researchers and Oregon's Criminal Justice Commission point to numerous factors, including demographic shifts, more people behind bars, improved economic conditions throughout the 1990s, and changing illegal drug manufacturing.

But Oregon district attorneys and crime victim advocates say the state's criminal justice template should be celebrated, not eviscerated by legislators.

"To undo two decades of success in the face of a budget crisis is ill-advised and will make Oregon a more dangerous place," said Kevin Neely, spokesman for the Oregon District Attorneys Association. "Oregonians have worked hard to craft a responsible sentencing scheme that offers alternatives to incarceration for less violent offenders and incapacitates our most dangerous criminals."
Experiment in Texas

But data from other states, like New York, make for a much more complicated picture. There, crime fell 51 percent between 1995 and 2007, and people were let out of prison in record numbers. Williams, the Oregon corrections chief, wants the discussion to be data-driven and believes a Texas correctional experiment has important lessons for Oregon.

Two years ago, according to the Council of State Governments, the Texas Legislature faced a dilemma: spend half a billion dollars building and operating state prisons, or rethink criminal justice.

A bipartisan group of legislators conducted a detailed analysis of criminal justice spending and spent half the funds earmarked for prison construction on a range of strategies. They included expanding drug treatment and mental health services for those in and out of prisons, along with the creation of intermediate sanctions, facilities, and programs for offenders under correctional supervision who were at risk of returning to prison.

According to the Council of State Governments, this radical reworking yielded stunning results. In one year, the Texas prison population increased by 529 people instead of the 5,141 who would have been incarcerated had the new policies not been implemented.

Shields, the Portland legislator, has proposed a number of criminal justice reforms, several of which legislators have, so far, refused to back. He'd like to see his colleagues delay implementation of Measure 57 and take on Measure 11 sentencing so that offenders could be eligible to shave some time off their sentences through earned time credit.

He also supports a bill to allow a judicial review of juvenile sentences under Measure 11 to determine if the offender could be moved from incarceration to community supervision without impact on public safety.

Crime Victims United and the Oregon District Attorneys Association oppose both options.

Neely's group and Crime Victims United have proposed a one-time release of nonviolent, low- and medium-risk offenders who were not sentenced under Measure 11 and are within six months of completing their sentence. They say this proposal will save the state between $78 million and $99 million during the next two years.

David Rogers, executive director of the nonprofit group Partnership for Safety and Justice, would like legislators to look at what other states have done to reduce prison costs. "States all over the country have woken up and found they are dumping way too much money into incarceration, and it's the most expensive and least effective way of maintaining public safety."

Oregon's revised budget numbers, released late last week, require the Department of Corrections to reduce spending by $77.8 million in the next two years -- a 9.3 percent cut.

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Michael Marcus hopes the grim budget picture will prompt legislators to engage in a much more vigorous analysis of sentencing decisions.

"We should find out what's working and require that we drive our decisions that way," said Marcus, who has studied sentencing in Oregon for decades. "We use prisons the way addicts use drugs. The more prisons you build, the more you need."
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/05/budget_crisis_could_curtail_or.html

Posted by lois at 01:41 PM | Comments (0)

May 23, 2009

Bid to divert California prisoners to county jails denounced

From the Los Angeles Times
Bid to divert California prisoners to county jails denounced
Local officials say they don't have the room or the funding to house the low-level felons that the governor wants to send them.
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Richard Winton

May 23, 2009

Local officials have vowed to fight a proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to shave $1 billion from the state budget by shifting 23,000 state prisoners to overcrowded local jails during the next three years.

"This presents a serious danger to public safety," said Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley. "We are putting in jeopardy gains that have resulted in crime plunging in L.A. to its lowest level in 50 years."

The state's 33 prisons house about 155,000 inmates and are under a federal court order to relieve overcrowding. If state officials do not address the problem soon, a panel of three federal judges could set a cap on new prisoners and order thousands released.

"We are having to look at all options to reduce our population and avoid a cap or an inmate release order," said Seth Unger, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "We have in many ways cut to the bone."

The governor wants to slow the stream of offenders being sent to prison by changing state sentencing guidelines so those who commit low-level felonies such as fraud or grand theft, known as "wobblers," would be prosecuted for misdemeanors and sentenced to jail instead.

Facing a possible $24-billion state budget deficit, the governor's office estimates that changing the sentencing laws could save $99.9 million in the next fiscal year, $360 million the following year and $566 million the third year, said H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the Department of Finance.

"The goal is to have flexibility in the sentencing but to keep the hardest offenders behind bars," Palmer said.

Before the proposal could take effect, state legislators would have to approve sweeping changes to the penal code, which some local officials hope is unlikely given the current gridlock in Sacramento. Lawmakers have, however, agreed to stem the flow of inmates to state prisons in recent years by prohibiting any legislation that would convert misdemeanor crimes into felonies.

Members of the governor's staff have been preparing legislation to support the proposal that they plan to present to legislative leaders during budget negotiations in coming days, Palmer said.

Local officials said much of the cost saved by the state would be passed on to them.

"It's another example of the state taking their problems and pushing it down to the local level even though all of us have equal economic problems," said William T Fujioka, Los Angeles County's chief executive.

The governor's plan would force counties to house the equivalent of the populations of four state prisons, including about 12,000 drug offenders.

Los Angeles County has about 19,000 inmates in its seven jails and is among 20 California counties that face court orders to relieve jail overcrowding.

The governor's office had not released estimates this week of how many prisoners would be sent to L.A. County under the plan, but local officials estimate that the number would be at least several thousand in the first year alone. In the last fiscal year, the county sent about 4,500 "wobbler" offenders to state prison, more than half for property crimes such as vehicle theft or receiving stolen property, according to county court records.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca met with state Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate last week to discuss the governor's proposal, which Baca said would force him to release inmates early to make room for the influx.

Los Angeles County Chief Probation Officer Robert Taylor said the plan, which he called unrealistic, would also strain the county's underfunded system for supervising probationers.

Civil rights advocates who have pushed to improve conditions at local jails said the proposal would worsen inmates' plight.

"Local jail overcrowding is already an unconstitutional epidemic in California," said Melinda Bird, senior counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

Many of the state's most powerful law enforcement groups have vowed to fight the plan. They include the Chief Probation Officers of California and the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents L.A. police.

Paul Weber, the union's president, said many "wobbler" offenders are dangerous criminals who belong in prison, not jail. "The label 'low level' for offenders is often misleading," Weber said. "A great number of criminals currently designated low-level have serious criminal records or have plea-bargained to avoid more serious arrest charges."

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky agreed, saying the plan could overwhelm jail and probation systems statewide.

"To have this extent of an infusion of state prisoners to a system that can't handle them capacity-wise or management-wise would be really problematic, not just for L.A. but for San Francisco, Yolo, Mono" counties, Yaroslavsky said. "County jails are not state prisons."

Don Meyer, probation chief in Yolo County and president of the statewide council, said that for smaller counties, the governor's proposal amounts to an untenable budget cut.

Yolo County is considering closing one of its two jails, Meyer said, and won't have anywhere to put state prisoners.

The governor also proposed several other cost-cutting measures for state prisons last week after statewide ballot measures failed and the budget gap widened. Those include transferring 19,000 illegal immigrants to federal custody and releasing 26,000 nonviolent offenders 20 months early.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-jails23-2009may23,0,5415230.story

Posted by lois at 09:39 AM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2009

MI: Several More Prisons to Close & More Parole

Monday, May 18, 2009
Michigan inmates fall to seven-year low
Charlie Cain / Detroit News Lansing Bureau

Lansing -- Michigan's prison population is at a seven-year low and for the first time a limited number of maximum security prisoners are being double-bunked as a way to save money.

The state has 47,706 inmates, down more than 7 percent from the record population of 51,454 in December 2006.

Corrections officials say they are on track to reduce the population to 44,000 by Oct. 1. That should allow the state to close several prisons besides the two prisons and one prison camp that have ceased operations this year.

With tax collections tanking, Gov. Jennifer Granholm and state lawmakers are eager to trim prison costs, which at $2 billion annually account for about one-fifth of all general fund spending.

The governor's budget plan for the upcoming fiscal year that starts on Oct. 1 calls for a $120 million cut in prison spending.

"We have been paroling inmates at a rapid rate and the prison intake is down as well," said Russ Marlan, spokesman for the Corrections Department.

He said it looks like 1,070 people will be paroled from prison during May -- up 30 percent from last year.

Granholm beefed up the size of the parole board this year to speed up the release of non-violent inmates who have served longer than their minimum term.

There are 1,400 empty beds in state prisons that were once filled to capacity.

Last week, corrections officials closed three housing units at two Upper Peninsula facilities to save $1.3 million by Oct. 1.

The 184 inmates at two closed units at Alger Maximum Correctional Facility in Munising were shipped to other state prisons.

Another unit with 103 inmates was closed at Marquette Branch Prison in Marquette. More than 60 inmates were transferred, while 50 were moved to other units at the facility to share cells with other inmates, a first for the state.

"We won't double-bunk maximum security inmates who will be a danger to other inmates or corrections officers," Marlan said.

But Mel Grieshaber, executive director of the Michigan Corrections Organization, which represents 8,500 prison officers, said he fears the move will endanger inmates and guards.

"We totally oppose double-bunking maximum security inmates because it compounds an already dangerous situation," he said.

"They are bad guys, the real worst of the worst. When trouble starts in places like that, it spreads very quickly.

"This just increases the danger of the situation out there."

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090518/METRO/905180331/1409/METRO/Michigan-inmates-fall-to-seven-year-low

Posted by lois at 06:47 PM | Comments (0)

May 18, 2009

AZ: Community activists, immigrant-rights advocates, tribal critics and local elected officials don't want to see a federal detention center

Tucson Region
Prison plan opposition grows
County's help sought to fight US facility slated for O'odham land near Sahuarita
By Erica Meltzer
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.18.2009

Community activists, immigrant-rights advocates, tribal critics and local elected officials don't want to see a federal detention center built near Pima Mine Road on the San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation.

Opponents, including residents of Rancho Sahuarita and the Rev. Robin Hoover of Humane Borders, asked the Pima County Board of Supervisors last week for the county's help in stopping the prison's construction.

The county's power lies only in raising questions and asking the federal government to require more study of the impact before signing off on the project. The county has no direct jurisdiction over projects built on sovereign Indian territory.

Pima County Supervisors Ramón Valadez and Sharon Bronson joined County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry in sending a letter Friday to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. They raised numerous concerns about the project, including impacts on regional flooding, archaeological r