by Matt Clarke

On February 11, 2016, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association's (OCSEA) challenge to the statute allowing for the private operation or sale of certain Ohio state prisons. In doing so, the court rejected the union's claim that the statute violated state constitutional prohibitions against combining multiple subjects in a single bill and co-mingling public and private property ownership. It also held that the State Employee Relations Board (SERB) had exclusive jurisdiction in determining whether private prison employees were public employees.

In 2011 Am.Sub.H.B. No. 153 (H.B. 153) the Ohio General Assembly appropriated funds to operate the state government and its programs. A section of the bill dealt with the operation, management and sale of state prisons. H.S. 153, R.C. 9.06(A)(1). In relevant part, it allowed government officials to contract for the operation, management and sale of five specific prisons.

Management and Training Corporation (MTC) and Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) took advantage of the provision. MTC contracted to operate and manage North Central Correctional Institution. As PLN previously reported, CCA contracted to purchase, operate and manage Lake Erie Correctional Facility.

OCSEA, which represents numerous former employees of the two prisons, filed a ...

by David M. Reutter

Florida is moving to privatize all of its state-run juvenile detention centers. The move comes despite allegations of abuse at two of the state’s private juvenile detention centers.

“These programs offer unique services and facilities that should be maintained. We are therefore committed to an orderly transition from public to private operation for the benefit of our employees and the youth in our care,” said DJJ Secretary Wansley Walters.

Questions abound about whether the DJJ’s quality-assurance system can guarantee the public is receiving what it pays for and whether youths are cared and treated for in a humane manner. State officials have acted to douse the fire of unconstitutional conditions by closing three youth facilities that became the focus of scrutiny of their operations.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division conducted an investigation in 2010 of the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys and the Jackson Juvenile Offender Center. Shortly after the investigation began, the DJJ closed both facilities.

That move, however, did not stop the DOJ from issuing a December 2011 report that was highly critical about not only the state’s operation of those facilities, but its oversight of them. 

“The constitutional ...

by Christopher Zoukis

The federal Bureau of Prisons agreed via stipulation to pay the attorney's fees and costs of the plaintiff who sued to stop construction of a private prison in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.

The suit, filed in May 1999 by Citizens Advisory Committee on Private Prisons (CACPP), alleged that the Bureau of Prisons violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321-4327, by failing to properly consider the environmental consequences of building a private prison in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. More specifically, CACPP alleged that the Bureau of Prisons did not prepare an environmental assessment prior to agreeing to a contract on the proposed new facility, as is required by federal law.

The contract in question, between the Bureau of Prisons and Cornell Corrections Inc., called for construction of a prison to hold 1,000 inmates on a 197 acre site consisting of previously stripped mine land. The contract had a $342,699,498.00 price tag.

As a result of the lawsuit, the Bureau of Prisons temporarily halted all work on the facility and prepared an environmental assessment. Not surprisingly, the Bureau concluded that the construction of the new prison would not have a significant effect on the local environment.

Despite ...

The Supreme Court of Oklahoma affirmed a trial court’s ruling granting summary judgment to Armor Correctional Health Services for the award of payment for medical services provided to Oklahoma prisoners and detainees. The court retained the appeal so that it could address the public interest issue concerning services mandated by the Oklahoma Constitution.

Armor, a Florida based contractor, entered an agreement with the Board of Commissioners of Oklahoma County to provide medical services for the county’s prisoners and detainees from January 2014 through June 2015. After Armor had fulfilled its obligations, the county refused to make its payments. Armor was forced to file a lawsuit seeking the payment of medical services already provided.

The county admitted it had entered an agreement, and it had failed to pay over $3 million dollars of that bill. It argued that no judgment could be entered because Armor had failed to prove availability of funds to pay the bill. Such proof was required by 62 O.S. 2001 §§3621 and 3632, which govern claims involving government contracts. Armor argued that judgment was proper based on the evidence presented in its summary judgment materials. It also argued that the suit was not based on “indebtedness”, as governed ...

by Christopher Zoukis

James Dimora, 61, was a Cuyahoga County, Ohio commissioner when he was indicted on federal racketeering and corruption charges in April 2012. While awaiting trial at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, operated by Corrections Corporation of America (now known as CoreCivic), Dimora was involved in a slip and fall accident and suffered injuries. He sued CCA, the facility and the federal Bureau of Prisons for negligence, premises liability and emotional distress.

During the pendency of the litigation, Dimora was convicted and sentenced to 28 years in federal prison.

The Northeast Ohio Correctional Center and the Bureau of Prisons were dismissed from Dimora’s lawsuit, and CCA moved for summary judgment. The company argued that Dimora had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies, that the water he slipped on was “open and obvious,” and that their actions were not extreme or outrageous.

The federal district court made short work of the argument that the case should be dismissed because Dimora did not exhaust his administrative remedies. There was a major flaw with CCA’s position: they had neglected to plead failure of exhaustion as a defense to the suit, so the court did not consider it.

The district court also ...

by Christopher Zoukis

A captain at the Coastal Bend Detention Center in Texas was awarded $283,549 in damages against the private prison company LCS Corrections Services, Inc. on May 21, 2013.

Captain William O. Soto alleged in his lawsuit that he assisted a female co-worker with filing a sexual harassment ...

by David M. Reutter

Florida’s Correctional Medical Authority (CMA) declared a health care emergency at the Florida Women’s Reception Center (FWRC).  The crisis at FWRC is just another red flag since Florida officials privatized it in 2013.

CMA conducted an audit of FWRC between September 15-17, 2015.  The number and seriousness of the deficiencies “could not be properly addressed with the standard corrective action plan process due to the lack of organizational structures apparent at this institution and an emergency notification was utilized," states the October 12 report.

“The [s]urveyors had difficulty getting the needed records for review.  When received, the records were disorganized, with necessary documentation frequently misfiled or missing altogether."

FWRC held 958 prisoners during the audit, and 558 of them were in a chronic are clinic that requires assessment every six months.  Another 119 require assessment every three months.   Several areas of physical health care were found to be deficient in their treatment.

Among them were “multiple examples” where prisoners were evaluated and treated less frequently than required by their assigned medical grade.  The surveyors found numerous instances of “delays in care were noted in consultation, follow-up for diagnostic services, the review of abnormal labs, and prescription ...

by Derek Gilna

Although most of the discussion in the past several months has been the continuing decrease in the number of prisoners in the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to slightly more than 200,000, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) actually confines more than twice as many,  approximately 400,000 individuals each year. The evidence shows that much of the pressure to maintain high

The two powerhouse private prison operators, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and the GEO Group, spend millions of dollars every year to lobby local, state, and federal correctional decision-makers, which has undeniably led to steadily increasing revenues for both organizations.

In the period from 2004 and 2014, CCA and GEO spent  $18 million and $4 million, respectively with $8.7 million and $1.3 million to lobby members of Congress. Most of this money found its way into the coffers of Congressmen who would later vote on Department of Homeland Security appropriations.

These appropriations bills contain language that almost guarantees the profits of the private prison operator,  mandating in 2010 that DHS "maintain a (daily) level of not less than 33,400 detention beds." This "bed mandate" or "bed quota" has since increased to 34,000. It is no surprise ...

by Christopher Zoukis

Following demands from the Afrikan Black Coalition (ABC), the University of California has agreed to terminate $475 million worth of contracts with Wells Fargo Bank. According to a press release from ABC, the terminated contracts include a $25 million commercial paper contract, a $150 million interest rate contract and a $300 million line of credit.

ABC began lobbying the University of California system to divest its assets from Wells Fargo after determining that the bank finances CoreCivic and GEO Group, the nation’s two largest private prison companies. ABC also alleged that Wells Fargo engaged in unfair lending practices in minority communities.

“Wells Fargo is the syndicating agent for CoreCivic’s (formerly Corrections Corporation of America) $900 million line of credit, a trustee for the GEO Group’s $300 million corporate debt, and are notorious for grossly discriminatory and predatory lending practices targeting Black and brown communities, evidenced by many related lawsuits and settlements,” the advocacy group wrote in a press release.

University of California representative Ricardo Vasquez and Wells Fargo representative Ruben Pulido confirmed the divestment, with Pulido noting that the bank has supported the UC system for decades and “[stands] ready to provide that ... support in the ...

In October 31, 2017, CoreCivic, formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the nation’s largest for-profit prison company, announced via a press release that it was launching an initiative to advocate for policies designed to reduce recidivism.

Those policies include “ban the box” initiatives to help ex-offenders obtain employment, more funding for reentry programs, social impact bond programs and “reduced legal barriers to make it easier and less risky for companies to hire former inmates.”

Additionally, the company said it would “make support for reentry policies one of the criteria considered by its political giving committee when determining financial support for candidates for office.” CoreCivic self-reported $781,800 in political donations and $1.5 million in lobbying expenses in 2015; it has not yet released data for 2016.

CoreCivic executives lauded the initiative, which stemmed from commitments made by the company in 2014 to encourage rehabilitation and reduce recidivism.

“A lot of folks would assume that we have a view that the status quo is fine, and that’s just not our view,” remarked CoreCivic executive vice president Tony Grande. “We want to be a part of the solution.”

However, PLN managing editor Alex Friedmann, who served six years at a CCA-operated ...