SPLC files lawsuits against 2 private prisons for youth...MS and FL

[madfloridian]

Good for them. I am impressed by their work. As so many states outsource and privatize services that were once their responsibility, we will see more of this.

Destroying Young Lives Should Not be Profitable

But when we create a profit motive to imprison children we risk creating a public safety crisis. The bottom line is that private prison companies make money when young people fill their facilities. A private prison company has no incentive to provide rehabilitative services that—if done correctly—could decrease the demand for prison beds. These companies similarly have no incentive to question whether the children in their custody could be better served with far less expensive community based interventions. These realities can stymie reform and create a costly, self perpetuating cycle of imprisonment.

The Southern Poverty Law Center recently filed two federal lawsuits that demonstrate in graphic detail the dangers of imprisoning children for profit—often that means corners are cut, duties are shirked and young lives are irreparably damaged.

In Mississippi, several private entities profit off the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility—a place that has become synonymous with violence and abuse. Prison staffers beat the youths in their custody. They sold drugs to them. They even engaged in sexual relationships with them. Young men languished without medical care and others have been beaten and raped.

And another lawsuit filed in Florida.

At the Thompson Academy juvenile prison in Broward County, Fla., children suffered abuse and neglect as well. But when these youths attempted to contact lawyers, they were intimidated and coerced into signing statements ending or declining legal representation. Apparently, allowing these young people to recount their experiences to a lawyer would be bad for business.

These lawsuits are only two examples of a greater problem across this country. Our juvenile justice system is being undermined by for-profit prison companies.

The MS facility is tied to the Geo Group.

Federal Lawsuit Reveals Inhumane Conditions at For-Profit Youth Prison

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Jackson, MS civil rights attorney Robert B. McDuff today filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the for-profit operators of Mississippi's Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility (WGYCF), charging that the children there are forced to live in barbaric and unconstitutional conditions and are subjected to excessive uses of force by prison staff.

Among the named defendants in the lawsuit, filed on behalf of all the teenagers and young men in the facility, are the Walnut Grove Correctional Authority and the Geo Group, Inc., the second largest private prison company in the country. The facility houses youth between the ages of 13 and 22 who have been tried and convicted as adults.

Here is a map of the Geo Group facilities from their website:

Map of Geo Group facilities

I knew I had recently read more about that group. I found the article. Several Florida politicians, including Senator Marco Rubio, are named in an investigation of that Geo Group by the FBI and the FDLE.

Marco Rubio's prison problem

Rubio—as well as other state GOP lawmakers and party contributors—are currently the likely subjects of multiple wide-ranging state and federal investigations conducted by the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) into improper use of credit cards issued by the Republican Party of Florida, as well as tax evasion and improper budgetary appropriations.

Some of the legislative actions reportedly being investigated by federal authorities are those that led to the development of the state’s largest private prison, the Blackwater River Correctional Facility (CF), which opened its gates for operation in November 2010. The prison was designed and is operated by Florida-based Geo Group, the nation’s second-largest private prison operator.

More on that topic:

To date, investigations into members of the Florida Republican Party, as well into party donors, have resulted in multiple indictments. On November 2, 2010- election day—federal investigators subpoenaed the party’s financial records.

Perhaps the most notable individual charged to date is former Rep. Ray Sansom (R-Destin), who while serving as Rubio’s budget chief inserted language into the Florida’s 2008-2009 budget for what was to become Blackwater CF.

It appears that facility took needed funds from publicly run prisons.

Will Milton’s New Private Prison Pay Out?

But construction time has been the least of hurdles for the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC).

The spring legislative session brought a wave of new fears that more than 1,000 state correctional officer jobs would be cut after a proposal was made to close two facilities and bring their prisoners to Blackwater, saving an estimated $20 million. Despite an agreement being made by senate leaders to restore the money, police unions that oppose the facility say it’s still likely to be a heavy financial burden for the state.

Matt Puckett, deputy executive director for the Florida Police Benevolent Association, says that because of the new facility, local law enforcement across the state will no longer have prison work squads due to the $24 million the FDOC spent from its budget on the project.

“A lot of local governments depended on these,” he says. “We’ll take a hit because of (the Blackwater) facility.”

Jobs are being lost to privatization and outsourcing in many occupations. It is taking a toll on the public sector.

[madfloridian]

1. Looks like they also run immigration detention centers.

http://michiganmessenger.com/44611/geo-group-sued-over-inmate-death

"The family of a man who died in an immigrant detention center run by The GEO Group is accusing the company of ignoring the medical needs of inmates and placing them in solitary confinement as punishment for requesting help.

A lawsuit filed in the U.S. District court in El Paso last week says that the private prison is responsible for the death of 32 year old Jesus Manuel Galindo, who had epilepsy and died in 2008 after being put in solitary confinement at the Reeves County Detention Center in Pecos, Texas.

The Washington Post reports that according to the lawsuit Galindo constantly asked for medical help and had at least tow seizures a month including a grand mal seizure in 2008 which required treatment at a local hospital.

When Galindo returned to the prison, he was placed in isolation “for compliance of meds,” according to the lawsuit. He died in solitary confinement a month later."

That is so sad and upsetting.

[varkam]

3. Yeah, GEO Group, Corrections Corp of America and Wackenhut all...

run, among other things, ICE detention centers. Combine folks who don't exactly receive the full panoply of procedural and substantive protections of American citizens with for-profit corrections corporations and you wind up with some particularly nasty stuff.

[madfloridian]

2. 6 facilities closed in Texas

http://www.texasprisonbidness.org/immigration-detention/geo-group-sued-over-death-reeves-awarded-new-ice-contract-same-day

"The GEO Group has had at least six facilities in Texas shuttered or contracts canceled. Notable incidents include the state of Idaho pulling its inmates from the Dickens County Correctional Center in the spring of 2007 in the wake of the suicide of inmate Scot Noble Payne and a subsequent investigation into "squalid" conditions at the lock-up. Idaho also cut its contract the Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas after the 2008 suicide of Randy McCullough. In October 2007, the Coke County Juvenile Justice Center was shuttered by the Texas Youth Commission after a damning investigation into conditions at the youth detention center.

Despite that record, the company was today also awarded an Intergovernmental Service Agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to operate a new 600-bed "civil" detention center in Karnes County. The ink hasn't dried on that contract, and there will undoubtedly be a fight over the expansion of ICE's already massive detention system. We'll keep you posted on developments."

Not learning from mistakes...can be dangerous and costly.

[Overseas]

4. K&R and Many Thanks to the SPLC for highlighting another cruel failure of privatization.

I had hoped we would be de-privatizing more things by now, not stepping it up.

But we're supposed to continue pretending we don't see what we have seen. War profiteering. Health profiteering. Education profiteering. And now even more prison profiteering.

It is so tough in this country now, in which the facts don't matter enough.

[sabrina 1]

5. Thank you for this very important OP, madfloridian.

It is simply shameful, AND stupid, to privatize such institutions. It doesn't take a particularly high IQ to know what will happen when profit is the only motive for running these places.

I hope there is a backlash now against these privately run institutions. They are barbaric and it is shameful that this could happen in this country.

People are merely commodities to them. They are inhuman and inhumane.

:kick: and rec'd

[kenichol]

11. Shameful & stupid to privatize prisons, adult or juvenile

You said, "...It is simply shameful, AND stupid, to privatize such institutions...." AMEN!

[russspeakeasy]

6. Another great post by mad...

The investigation is ongoing, but eventually it will be dumped
in the basement and won't be "re-discovered" until
about 2055.

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. +1000

[Starry Messenger]

7. k&r

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. No surprise to me that this ugly trend would include Florida.

[madfloridian]

9. Here are their federal, state, and local partners..from their website.

http://www.thegeogroupinc.com/federal-state-local.asp

Federal, State, and Local Partnerships

Over the past 25 years, GEO has established itself as a world leader in the delivery of private correctional and detention management, community residential re-entry services as well as behavioral and mental health services to federal, state and local government agencies around the globe. Our success is contributed to our comprehensive quality of service, innovative operational solutions, and efficient cost-effective operations.

Federal
GEO began its partnership with the Federal government in 1987 with the award of the Aurora ICE Processing Center for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. Since then, GEO has provided operations and management solutions for federal corrections/detention agencies in the United States. Following the acquisition of Cornell Companies, GEO is now the largest provider of correctional services to the federal government.

Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
United States Marshal Service (USMS)

State
Since our first state contract with California in 1987, GEO has become a practical alternative solution for numerous state agencies across the nation in an effort to help ease budget deficits and overcrowding concerns. This is accomplished through GEO’s provision of customized correctional solutions which includes, but is not limited to, private financing, in-state and out-of-state bed management, and fixed-fee contracting.

Alaska

Arizona

California
Florida

Georgia

Indiana
Louisiana
Mississippi
New Mexico
Oklahoma

South Carolina

Texas
Virginia

[DFW]

12. I'm a proud supporter of SPLC

It's astounding what work they do with their limited resources.