This site contains over 2,000 news articles, legal briefs and publications related to for-profit companies that provide correctional services. Most of the content under the "Articles" tab below is from our Prison Legal News site. PLN, a monthly print publication, has been reporting on criminal justice-related issues, including prison privatization, since 1990. If you are seeking pleadings or court rulings in lawsuits and other legal proceedings involving private prison companies, search under the "Legal Briefs" tab. For reports, audits and other publications related to the private prison industry, search using the "Publications" tab.
For any type of search, click on the magnifying glass icon to enter one or more keywords, and you can refine your search criteria using "More search options." Note that searches for "CCA" and "Corrections Corporation of America" will return different results.
Hawaiian Women Prisoners File Suit Over Sex Abuse, Torture in Oklahoma PrivatePrison
by Lonnie Burton
When the State of Hawaii opted in 1998 to send its female prisoners to a privately run
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Suicides, Staff Negligence Plague Private Arkansas Juvenile Prison by Lonnie Burton In October 2001, a just-completed state investigation concluded that Houston-based Cornell Company, the private firm that runs Arkansas's Alexander Youth Services Center, was negligent for failing to monitor an at-risk youth who committed suicide. The suicide was the second …
department violated Shaw's rights by killing him. A jury agreed and awarded Dowdy $377,500 in damages. $187,500 in damages was awarded against Davidson County; $187,500 was awarded against PrisonHealth
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, and then persuaded a guard to write a report claiming the attack was in self-defense.
CCA, the largest privateprison company, operates the WCF, which houses mostly prisoners from Wisconsin.
After the attack
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of organization makes resource and cost control increasingly difficult. [See cover story.]
In an independent investigation, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel documented a variety of questionable prison health
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23 Escape from Wackenhut Prison in Caribbean by Gary Hunter 23 Escape From Wackenhut Prison in Caribbean by Gary Hunter A rash of escapes have fueled investigations into negligence and possible corruption at a Wackenhut prison. In less than two months, 23 prisoners have escaped from Curacao's Koraal Specht prison …
of prisoners, many states turned to privateprison companies like Wackenhut Corrections, Corrections Corporation of America, and CornellCorrections. But the prison-building boom of the 1990s has now evolved
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in Malesko v. CorrectionalServicesCorp. [CSC], 229 F.3d 374 (2 nd Cir. 2000) [ PLN, July 2001, "PrivatePrison Corp. Can Be Sued In Bivens Action"], the high court declined to extend Bivens v. Six Unknown
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Pubic Hair Search by Medical Personnel Constitutional by The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has overturned a district court's order that held as unconstitutional a Sheriff's policy of searching a prisoner's pubic hair prior to release. PLN previously reported the district court's order. (See: Skurstenis v. Jones , …
in that privateprison than he's seen the whole five years he's been in. He says the brutality is horrible. It's a harsh, harsh life."
In recent years, a variety of other, alarming revelations have beset
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CCA Settles New Mexico "Failure To Protect" Suit For $41,885 by CCA Settles New Mexico "Failure To Protect" Suit For $41,885 In February 2001, representatives for the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) agreed to settle a prisoner lawsuit for $41,885. Marco Lopez filed the suit in a federal district court …
Indiana Prisoners Riot in CCA Prison by On July 6, 2001, hundreds of Indiana state prisoners held at the Otter Creek Correctional Complex in Wheelwright, Kentucky, rioted. The prison is owned and operated by the private, for profit, Corrections Corporation of America. The riot lasted nine hours and involved prisoners …
, Colorado.
The lawsuit was brought against Correctional Medical Services, Inc. (CMS) who had a contractual obligation to provide medical services for prisoners and detainees at the facility. The mother
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Corp., and Houstonbased CornellCorrections, Inc., along with fourteen other service providers with a stake in the privateprison industry.
The privateprison industry as a whole has been battered
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Corrections Corporation of America Announces Closing of Youngstown Prison by Ronald Young Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) announced it would close its Youngstown, Ohio prison on August 18, 2001. The shutdown means the loss of more than 500 jobs. So much for the recession-proof industry. The 2,016-bed Northeast Ohio Correctional …
conviction, finding that he was a "public official" for purposes of the federal bribery statute.
Shannon Thomas was employed as a guard at a privateprison in Texas, owned and operated by Corrections
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of America, a privateprison conglomerate with facilities worldwide.
A special response team, composed of members from the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the New Mexico Sheriff's department, was called
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Arizona CCA Prison Found 'In Turmoil' by Ronald Young Hawaii officials found a prison "in turmoil" while inspecting a Florence, Arizona prison where about 560 Hawaii prisoners are being warehoused. The prison is operated by Nashville based Corrections Corporation of America. An inspection of the prison conducted in April 2001 …
recently lost contracts in North Carolina because of its inability to find qualified guards. The same problem cost Civigenics, a privateprison company out of Massachusetts, a contract in Ohio. While
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sting, according to the Washington Post .
The indictments signaled the end of a twoyear federal investigation into corruption at the privateprison. Federal prosecutors said the guards accepted
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