Vested interests: AZ Regents are prison profiteers

Excellent editorial - the abuses at Arizona's CCA prisons and detention centers alone are appalling. Regent Anne Mariucci should also resign from the CCA board. If both she and DiConcini fail to do so, I think it's time for direct action....

who wants more prisons?

AZ Regents do...

-----------from the Arizona Daily Wildcat-----------

Regent DeConcini should resign from CCA board

By ELISA L. MEZA, 
GABRIEL M. SCHIVONE, 
RAUL ALCARAZ OCHOA  
Published March 27, 2012

From statewide political rhetoric and policy proposals to the national Republican debates, there is no doubt that a raging anti-migrant sentiment is spreading across the nation, including the Arizona Board of Regents.

As students at the UA, we are bombarded by this rhetoric. So who profits from targeting and criminalizing the migrant community?

Regent Dennis DeConcini, a former senator, is also on the Board of Directors for the Corrections Corporation of America. 

The CCA is the nation’s largest for-profit prison corporation, holding approximately 75,000 state and federal inmates in more than 66 facilities around the country. This includes six prisons here in Arizona that import prisoners from the states of California and Hawaii, but most importantly the prisons import non-citizen detainees in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

As a publicly owned corporation traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the CCA’s sole purpose is to make profits for its stockholders through increased incarceration. Indeed, DeConcini is a shareholder who shares in the earnings generated by the CCA. 

Furthermore, public records and recent reports show the CCA invests heavily in lobbying at the federal and state levels and makes substantial contributions to candidates for political office through lobby consulting firms and its political action committee. More people behind bars means more contracts for the CCA, and Senate Bill 1070 proved to be a good way to get more contracts.

The CCA, through its lobbyists and Political Action Committees, made donations to Gov. Jan Brewer and legislators sponsoring SB 1070. Moreover, both Sen. Russell Pearce and the CCA were members of the public safety committee of the American Legislative Exchange Council, where SB 1070 was approved as “model legislation.” 

DeConcini publicly declared his opposition to SB 1070. However, through his service on the board of the CCA, he directly profits from the incarceration of undocumented families. If DeConcini truly opposes the separation of families, he should resign from his position on the CCA board.

The CCA is an unrepentant profiteer, operating at the expense of prisoners, their families, local communities and the public. Specifically, the CCA immorally profits from depriving hard-working families of their liberty and violating their human rights. The CCA manipulates public policy through lobbying efforts and campaign donations to political candidates via PACs. 

Trusting incarceration to a private entity unnecessarily compounds prisoners’ suffering. Private prison operators’ push for efficiency, and seeking profit inevitably leads to severe violations of prisoners’ most fundamental rights. 

The solution is not in trying to reform an inherently broken system, but rather in working toward achieving a society that no longer sees criminalization and incarceration as the de-facto response to every social problem.

DeConcini has worked for many years in public office and continues to hold leadership positions affecting student life in Arizona as a member of the Board of Regents. His support of an industry that profits from depriving human beings of their liberty stands in sharp contrast to his public statements in which he’s portrayed himself as a champion of the underserved. As a CCA shareholder, he personally benefits from policies driven by racism and corporate greed.

Anne L. Mariucci, another member of the Board of Regents, is also a member of the CCA’s Board of Directors.

Today, UA groups including No More Deaths/No Más Muertes, Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine are running a similar divestment campaign to support migrant and Palestinian rights. These groups have joined a community-based coalition demanding that university leaders oppose profiting from the prison industry.

A new community coalition of local organizations called Fuerza Comunitaria Contra la Industria Carcelaria — including Corazón de Tucson, The Restoration Project, Coalición de Derechos Humanos, American Friends Service Committee, Tucson Childcare Collective, the Southside Worker Center, UA Jewish Voice for Peace, Students for Justice in Palestine and No More Deaths UA Chapter — call for former DeConcini to resign from Board of Directors of the Corrections Corporation of America.

We actively organize toward a society based on the principles of equality, justice, respect and freedom for all. As students at the UA, we need to hold our own representatives accountable.

As we rally against Pell Grants being taken away, tuition hikes and rising textbook prices, we also need to stand in solidarity with the broader community that we are a part of.

— Elisa L. Meza and Gabriel M. Schivone are former Daily Wildcat employees.

AFSC and NAACP protest newest private prison plans

Rock ON!!! These folks have been on this privatization thing like glue, so follow the blog linked to below to keep up with prison privatization issues in AZ - not me.

---------from the Tucson Citizen's CELL OUT ARIZONA blog --------

AFSC Files Protest with State Procurement Office: Says Private Prison RFP Violates State Law, Procurement Code

March 6, 2012

In an unprecedented move, the American Friends Service Committee has filed a protest with the State Procurement Office over the Request for Proposals (RFP) issued by the Department of Corrections for 2,000 private, for-profit prison beds.

The AFSC was joined by the NAACP of Maricopa County in filing the protest.

The protest letter, sent to the Department of Corrections’ Chief Procurement Officer as well as the head of the Arizona State Procurement Office, argues that the state of Arizona does not need and cannot afford more prison beds, and that the existing prison contracts violate state statutes requiring  private prisons to cost less and provide the same or better quality of service as state prisons.

The groups cite Arizona Department of Corrections cost studies that show that some private prisons are more expensive than equivalent state units.  They also point to a host of security inspections, Auditor General Investigations, and other published data that reveal that private prisons have inferior safety standards, including faulty alarms.

The group also argues that the private, for-profit prison corporations are in violation of their contracts with Arizona.  They specifically cite Uniform Contract Terms and Conditions that require the private prisons have adequate staffing levels.

The state has fined both Management and Training Corporation (which operates prisons in Kingman and Marana) and GEO Group (which runs Florence West, Phoenix West, and the Central Arizona Correctional Facility) for failing to fill staff vacancies quickly enough.  The state’s Biennial Comparison Review, completed in December of 2011, also showed that all the state-contracted private prisons have high staff vacancy and turnover rates.

The current prison contract terms also specifically cite recidivism rates as an “outcome measure,” yet none of the private, for-profit prison corporations even measure recidivism.

Caroline Isaacs, the Director of the American Friends Service Committee’s Arizona office, says that the group’s research clearly shows that private prisons are not making good on the promises they made to state taxpayers.  “They do not save money, they are not safe, and they are not rehabilitating prisoners.  If those were the justifications for privatization, it’s clear this experiment has been a failure.”  She cites a 100-page report on private prisons in Arizona the group released in February.

The groups are asking the State Procurement Office to immediately halt the prison RFP process while the SPO Administrator reviews the protest.  They then have requested that the state formally and permanently cancel the RFP and award no contracts for new private prisons.

Hawaii AG report blasts "humonetarianism" and dependence on private prisons

This document could go a long way towards changing the Hawai'i prison system; I'm impressed that it was released by the state Attorney General. That, in turn, could have ripples elsewhere - certainly in Eloy, AZ, where Corrections Corporation of America incarcerates nearly 2000 Hawai'ians.  Eloy has real problems - as does CCA.18 Hawai'ian prisoners are suing employees at Saguaro prison there for torture, and one is suing for sexual assault (the guard who perpetrated it was actually prosecuted).  

All either Eloy or CCA seem to be concerned with is the money they can make in Arizona, of course, not reducing crime or victimization in Hawai'i or human rights abuses in their own community. If Hawai'ian legislators don't get on the ball with sentencing and prison reform, they should be called out as either incompetent or corrupt - no one can afford for any of them to be indifferent to the prison crisis anymore.


Read the report this links to, then find your state legislators here.


Call or write to them here:


Senate Clerk's Office

State Capitol, Room 10
415 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808)586-6720 phone
(808)586-6719 fax
sclerk@capitol.hawaii.gov

---

House Clerk's Office
State Capitol, Room 27
415 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808)586-6400 phone
(808)586-6401 fax
hclerk@capitol.hawaii.gov


The key term is "evidence-based practice". Good luck. I hope you manage to wage a successful boycott of Eloy and CCA by the time this battle is over. Israel outlawed private prisons because the profit motive is in direct opposition to human rights concerns - maybe Hawai'i will abandon them as well, for all the right reasons.

---from Hawaii.gov---

Hawaii’s Imprisonment Policy and the Performance of Parolees 

Who Were Incarcerated In-State and on the Mainland

Here's the Executive Summary:


This study examined the records of the 660 persons who were released on parole in the State of Hawaii between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2006 (Fiscal Year 2006). It addresses two main questions: What are the demographic and criminal history profiles of parolees who have been incarcerated in Hawaii and in private prisons out of state? And, how do the recidivism rates of these two groups compare? Using records obtained from the Hawaii Paroling Authority, the Department of Public Safety, and the Department of the Attorney General, parolees were tracked for three to four years after their release from prison.

The study found that:

- 54 percent of Hawaii’s prisoners are incarcerated in private prisons on the mainland — the highest percentage among all U.S. states.

- As of the end of 2009, it cost approximately $118 per day to incarcerate an inmate in Hawaii, and at least $62 per day to incarcerate him or her in a private prison on the mainland. Note, however, that unlike the in-state per day cost, the private prison cost estimate is not all-inclusive.

- 75 percent of Fiscal Year 2006 parolees never served time in a private prison on the mainland, while 25 percent did serve time there.

- Of the one-quarter of parolees who have been imprisoned on the mainland, 70 percent served half or more of their time there.

- The average time served on the mainland was 3.5 years.

The analysis of the parolees’ demographic and criminal history profiles found that:

- Parolees averaged 56 total prior arrests and 24 convictions per parolee, including an average of 20 prior felony arrests and 8 felony convictions.

- Parolees in the mainland cohort had somewhat more felony arrests and felony convictions per person than did parolees in the Hawaii cohort.

- Parolees in the mainland cohort had been convicted of fewer property and drug crimes, and more violent and “other” offenses, than had the parolees in the Hawaii cohort.

- The average maximum sentence for parolees who had been incarcerated on the mainland was longer: 10.9 years, versus 8.5 years for the Hawaii cohort.

- The average time served by the mainland cohort was longer: 6.2 years, versus 3.2 years for the Hawaii cohort.

- The mainland cohort included substantially more males than did the Hawaii cohort: 20 male parolees for every female parolee in the mainland group, versus 4 male parolees for every female parolee in the Hawaii group.

- As compared to their male counterparts, female parolees in both cohorts were more likely to be property and drug crime offenders.

- There were no statistically significant differences in ethnicity between the two parole cohorts. Most notably, Native Hawaiians comprised 40 percent of each cohort.

The analysis of recidivism found that:

- Parolees in the mainland cohort received significantly lower scores on the Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R). Hence, mainlanders had fewer needs for service and a lower average risk of recidivism than did parolees in the Hawaii cohort.

- In the aggregate, the LSI-R scores predicted recidivism fairly well.

- A little more than half of parolees in both cohorts failed on parole within three years.

- The average time to recidivism in both cohorts was about 15 months.

- The recidivism rate for the mainland cohort (53 percent) was slightly lower than the recidivism rate for the Hawaii cohort (56 percent), but this difference is not statistically significant.

- There was more recidivism among the mainland cohort for parolees in the higher-risk LSI-R categories.

- There was more recidivism among the mainland cohort for violating conditions of parole.

- Nearly half of all rearrests were for violating the conditions of parole.

- In both cohorts, older people recidivated less than did younger people. Age is a powerful ally of efforts to stop criminal offending.

- There were few significant differences between the two cohorts in acts of misconduct committed while in prison.

- Parolees in the mainland cohort were more likely to violate parole conditions than were parolees in the Hawaii group.

- Furlough programs were related to significantly lower rates of recidivism among mainland parolees, but not among parolees who were imprisoned only in Hawaii.

Recommendations from this study:

- Since there is no empirical justification for the policy argument that private prisons reduce recidivism better than public prisons, the State of Hawaii should decide whether to continue, discontinue, expand, or contract its reliance on private prisons based on other criteria. While cost is one criterion, it is not the only one that is important to consider.

- It is ill-advised to rely on a framework for thinking about corrections (herein termed humonetarianism) that stresses short-term financial savings at the expense of programs aimed at improving the prospects for offenders’ rehabilitation and the satisfaction of their basic needs and rights. Long-term savings are often found in forward-thinking policies and programs.

- The State of Hawaii needs to calculate more inclusive and accurate estimates of the cost of incarceration in-state and in private prisons on the mainland.

- Much more research needs to be done in order to adequately describe the contours and consequences of Hawaii’s correctional policy. One high priority is a study that explores who gets sent to prison (and where). The present study examined only persons who were released on parole.

- The State of Hawaii should conduct more research about its correctional policies and outcomes, especially given a policy world that is increasingly evidence-based.

- The Department of Public Safety and the Hawaii Paroling Authority need an integrated records management system. At present, inmates’ records are often incomplete, scattered, and difficult to locate.

CCA Idaho: "Gladiator School" settlement remains sealed.

More on Correction Corporation of America's appalling management of their state prison in Idaho...

--from the Associated Press, as posted by National Public Radio---

Judge: Public Can't See Idaho Prison Settlement

by The Associated Press

 

BOISE, Idaho December 15, 2011, 07:25 pm ET
 
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A federal judge has refused to unseal a settlement agreement between an Idaho inmate and a private prison company involving allegations of rampant violence at a lockup near Boise known as "Gladiator School."

The Associated Press had asked the court to unseal the settlement between Marlin Riggs and Corrections Corp. of America.

However, U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge said Wednesday the interests of Riggs and the company in keeping the settlement confidential outweighed the interest the public has in learning its terms.

The AP's West regional editor, Traci Carl, said the news organization's attorneys were reviewing the ruling and considering the legal options.

"The AP is disappointed with the ruling and believes the public has a right to know the terms of the settlement," Carl said.

Neither Riggs' attorney James Huegli nor CCA's attorney Kirtlan Naylor immediately returned messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Riggs initially asked for $55 million in damages, saying the Idaho Correctional Center was nicknamed "Gladiator School" and that guards knew Riggs was about to be attacked but failed to protect him.

The AP contended the lawsuit raised profound and far-reaching issues of public interest. In his written ruling, Lodge acknowledged that the operation of a prison raises issues of public concern, but he said he feared releasing the document would place Riggs at risk for intimidation or assault in prison. He also said future litigants would be discouraged from participating in judicially supervised settlement conferences if they believed the outcome could be made public.

The judge also noted that a settlement agreement in a "companion lawsuit" between other inmates at the prison and CCA was released to the public. In that case, the inmates were alleging the same types of civil rights violations that Riggs claimed, but they didn't ask the court for any monetary damages. Instead, the inmates wanted changes to the way the prison is run — and in the settlement agreement, CCA agreed to make those changes, though the company did not acknowledge any guilt or liability. Both CCA and the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho, which was representing the inmates, agreed to make that settlement public.

"The present case now involves only a single prisoner seeking monetary damages for an assault," Lodge wrote. "The public's interest in knowing the precise terms of his agreement with CCA is outweighed by the parties' interest in confidentiality as a means of minimizing the serious risks that the Court has found to exist."

Another AZ Regent profits from prisons: DeConcini and CCA

I posted details on the whole CCA board awhile ago, but this one bears repeating DeConcini is also (in addition to  Anne L. Mariucci) on the AZ Board of Regents, and will help select the next University of Arizona president...

---from Corrections Corporation of America---

 

Dennis DeConcini

Dennis DeConcini, the former U.S. Senator from Arizona, was elected as an independent member of CCA's Board of Directors in February 2008. Senator DeConcini currently serves as a Director of Ceramic Protection Corporation, a publicly traded company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

He is a partner in the law firm of DeConcini McDonald Yetwin and Lacy in Tucson, Arizona, which he co-founded in 1968. DeConcini also is a Principal in the lobbyist consulting firm Parry, Romani, DeConcini & Lacy P.C. in Washington, D.C. Senator DeConcini served three terms, from January 1977 through January 1995, representing the State of Arizona in the United States Senate. As Senator, he served on the Senate Appropriations Committee, where he chaired the Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service and General Government.

He also served on the Subcommittees of Defense, Foreign Operations, Energy and Water Development, and Interior and Related Agencies. Prior to his service as a U.S. Senator, DeConcini served one elected term as the County Attorney for Pima County, Arizona.

He also is a member of the Arizona Board of Regents, a position to which he was appointed in 2006 by Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Senator DeConcini received his B.A. from the University of Arizona in 1959 and his L.L.D. from there in 1963. He also is a member of the Arizona Board of Regents, a position to which he was appointed in 2006 by Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Senator DeConcini received his B.A. from the University of Arizona in 1959 and his L.L.D. from there in 1963.

 -----------from the Tuscon Citizen-----------

Here's the Tucson Citizens' Three Sonorans' reporting on the significance of DeConcini's role on the AZ Board of Regents from August: 

UA Presidential search committee headed by CCA board member and former SALC president

by DA Morales on Aug. 16, 2011, under Immigration news

The puzzle becomes clearer as more pieces are put together.

One co-chair of the UA presidential search committee is the former SALC president, and the other is a board member of CCA, the Corrections Corporation of America, member of ALEC and one of the groups behind SB1070.

Arizona’s plan for the future seems to be less education funding and more prison funding. We knew this was true of the Republicans, but also of the Democrats?

Consider Arizona’s former Democratic Senator, Dennis DeConcini, who has the Border Patrol’s port of entry in Nogales named after him.

Corrections Corporation of America, the nation’s largest provider of corrections management services to government agencies, announced today that Dennis DeConcini, the former U.S. Senator from Arizona has been elected as an independent member of CCA’s Board of Directors.
“Senator Dennis DeConcini has a distinguished career serving the state of Arizona and the U.S. government,” said William F. Andrews, chairman of CCA’s Board of Directors. “We are extremely pleased to bring Dennis onto our Board. His extensive knowledge and understanding of government, coupled with his experience with other directorship positions, make him ideally suited to help lead management’s initiatives to enhance government’s utilization of public/private partnership in corrections.”

The press release goes on to say:

Senator DeConcini, age 70, is a partner in the law firm of DeConcini McDonald Yetwin and Lacy in Tucson, Arizona, which he co-founded in 1968. DeConcini also is a Principal in the lobbyist consulting firm Parry, Romani, DeConcini & Lacy P.C. in Washington, D.C.

The law firm may look familiar as it is the same law firm that TUSD has hired to defend it against Huppenthal’s ruling which demands the immediate end of Ethnic Studies in Tucson or else TUSD will be faced with 10% budget cut.

Talk about a win-win situation. If the appeal goes down, the likelihood of making more profits for the largest private prison corporation in America increases, and Dennis DeConcini still wins.

Respected Arizona Democrats on the board of CCA, the Arizona Democratic Party having a policy of staying silent on SB1070 and immigration… makes you wonder if it really is a two-headed beast.

AZ Regent elected to CCA Board of Directors

AZ Regent Anne L. Mariucci
For education or incarceration?

Something's wrong with this picture; this is really troubling. It would seem to be a conflict of interest to be on the Arizona Board of Regents while also serving on the board of one of the largest for-profit incarcerators in the world. How can anyone truly committed to higher education not have a conflict with the private prison industry? Hasn't she heard of the school-to-prison pipeline?

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

WALL STREET JOURNAL - Market Watch

press release

Dec. 9, 2011, 9:00 a.m. EST

Corrections Corporation of America Elects Anne L. Mariucci to Its Board of Directors

NASHVILLE, TN, Dec 09, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- CCA (Corrections Corporation of America) CXW +3.36% , America's leader in partnership corrections and the nation's largest provider of corrections management services to government agencies, announced today that Anne L. Mariucci has been elected as an independent member of CCA's Board of Directors.

"We are very pleased to announce Anne Mariucci as our newest board member. CCA is strongly committed to finding the best people to lead our company and help our industry become an increasingly valuable component of our nation's corrections system," said John Ferguson, chairman of CCA's Board of Directors. "Anne brings a significant amount of real estate knowledge and expertise as well as a strong financial background. I believe her experience, vision and leadership will provide a unique perspective and make her well suited to help oversee management's initiatives and will benefit our organization for years to come."

Ms. Mariucci spent the majority of her career in the large-scale community development and home building business. Anne was employed by Del Webb Corporation from 1984-2003 and served in a variety of senior management capacities, including serving as President following its merger with Pulte Homes Inc., which created the nation's largest homebuilding company. Since 2003, Ms. Mariucci has been affiliated with the private equity firms Hawkeye Partners (Austin, Texas), Inlign Capital Partners (Phoenix, Arizona), and Glencoe Capital (Chicago, Illinois).

Ms. Mariucci received her undergraduate degree in accounting and finance from the University of Arizona and completed the corporate finance program at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. She presently serves on the Arizona Board of Regents, and is its immediate past-chairman. She also serves as a director of Southwest Gas Company, Scottsdale Healthcare, Arizona State University Foundation, and the Fresh Start Women's Foundation. She is a past director of the Arizona State Retirement System and Action Performance Companies, as well as a past Trustee of the Urban Land Institute.

About the Company

Corrections Corporation of America is the nation's largest owner and operator of privatized correctional and detention facilities and one of the largest prison operators in the United States, behind only the federal government and three states. We currently operate 66 facilities, including 41 company-owned facilities, with a total design capacity of more than 90,000 beds in 19 states and the District of Columbia. We specialize in owning, operating and managing prisons and other correctional facilities and providing inmate residential and prisoner transportation services for governmental agencies. In addition to providing the fundamental residential services relating to inmates, our facilities offer a variety of rehabilitation and educational programs, including basic education, religious services, life skills and employment training and substance abuse treatment. These services are intended to reduce recidivism and to prepare inmates for their successful re-entry into society upon their release. We also provide health care (including medical, dental and psychiatric services), food services and work and recreational programs.

CCA takes no responsibility for updating the information contained in this press release following the date hereof to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date hereof or the occurrence of unanticipated events or for any changes or modifications made to this press release.

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=1826665

CCA Eloy: Transgender prisoner sues over sexual assault by guard

CORRECTIONS CORPORATION OF AMERICA:

Sadly, the following press release comes as little surprise...good for the ACLU-AZ for picking this case up and seeing the victim through - they've been busy with our state prisons of late, too.

For those who haven't been paying attention to all the glory and acclaim that Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) has brought to the prison town of Eloy, recall the lawsuits alleging torture of 18 Hawaiian prisoners, as well as the sexual assault of a prisoner by a guard (who was subsequently prosecuted). Then there are the problems with their California prisoners - and what happened in Idaho...

Needless to say, anyone thinking about having CCA move into their backyard (and take over their town council) should really think twice: their leadership clearly fails to set and demand professional - or even humane - standards of treatment for prisoners.

---from the American Civil Liberties Union----

ACLU of Arizona Files Lawsuit on Behalf of Transgender Woman Sexually Assaulted By CCA Guard

December 5, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

PHOENIX – The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona today filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of a 28-year-old transgender woman who was intimidated, harassed, and sexually assaulted by a Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) guard while she was in immigration custody at the CCA-owned and operated Eloy Detention Center. CCA is the largest operator of immigration detention centers in the country and detains almost half of the 33,000 people in federal custody on any given day.

The lawsuit, filed against CCA, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, and the City of Eloy, charges that local and federal officials failed to protect Tanya Guzman-Martinez from abusive male staff members at the facility in Eloy, even after being notified about the sexual attack and ongoing harassment by staff and other male detainees.

“Tanya left Mexico to seek refuge from the persecution she suffered because of her gender identity, and was exposed to even greater trauma at the hands of immigration officials who failed to take appropriate measures to protect her while she was in their custody,” said ACLU of Arizona Immigrant Rights Attorney Victoria Lopez.

During her 8-month detention at Eloy, one of the largest ICE facilities in the country, Guzman-Martinez was sexually assaulted twice. One incident occurred on December 7, 2009 and involved a detention officer who after repeated harassment, maliciously forced Guzman-Martinez to ingest his ejaculated semen and threatened to deport her back to Mexico if she did not comply with his demands. Guzman-Martinez immediately reported the assault to detention staff and the Eloy Police Department and the detention officer was later convicted in Pinal County Superior Court of attempted unlawful sexual contact.

Despite this attack, immigration officials did nothing to protect her from further abuse. In a separate incident that took place on April 23, 2010, Guzman-Martinez was sexually assaulted by a male detainee in the same all-male housing unit where she was subjected to the first assault. She didn’t report the assault to local police until about a week later because she feared retaliation by detention staff and other detainees. Soon after she reported the second assault to the police, Guzman-Martinez was released from ICE custody.

Although Guzman-Martinez was released from detention more than a year-and-a-half ago, she still suffers from the emotional pain she endured while at Eloy.

“When we tout our country as a beacon of freedom, fairness, and individual liberties for all, the United States, as well as state and local governments, and the people and entities with whom they routinely contract, must live up to those values, especially for those people who seek refuge in this country because of those values,” added ACLU of Arizona cooperating attorney Kirstin Story of the law firm of Lewis and Roca LLP. “Unfortunately, that did not occur in the Tanya Guzman-Martinez case and in many others. We hope that this lawsuit is a step toward remedying these failures.”

Today’s lawsuit alleges that CCA, Eloy, and ICE personnel failed to take basic steps to protect Guzman-Martinez’s physical safety and emotional well-being, to properly train and monitor the staff at the center or to implement best practices to house transgender detainees and prevent the sexual assault of vulnerable populations.

Incidents of sexual abuse in immigration detention, particularly among vulnerable women and LGBTQ detainees, are widespread, the ACLU said. In October, the ACLU of Texas filed a federal class-action lawsuit on behalf of three immigrant women who were sexually assaulted while in ICE custody at the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Center in Taylor, Texas. The lawsuit was filed following the release by the ACLU of government documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act that confirmed 185 allegations of sexual abuse of immigration detainees jailed at detention facilities across the nation since 2007 alone. According to those documents, 16 allegations of sexual abuse were lodged in Arizona facilities – the third largest number of allegations after Texas and California. Of those 16 allegations in Arizona, 8 were from the Eloy Detention Center. In addition, the ACLU of Arizona documented five cases involving transgender or gay detainees who were sexually assaulted or treated in an abusive manner while in detention in Arizona facilities. The case examples are highlighted in the ACLU-AZ report entitled "In Their Own Words: Enduring Abuse in Arizona Immigration Detention Centers," which includes an entire section highlighting the array of problems confronting LGBTQ detainees.

Despite mounting documentation of widespread sexual abuse in immigration detention centers, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has proposed a rule that explicitly excludes immigration detention facilities from coverage under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). Congress enacted PREA to protect all persons in custody by setting standards for preventing, detecting, and responding to sexual abuse. “Without PREA's protection, immigrants in detention such as Tanya Guzman-Martinez, remain vulnerable to abuse,” added Lopez.

In response, the U.S. Congress will hold a briefing on December 7th titled: the Prison Rape Elimination Act and the Crisis of Sexual Abuse in Immigration Detention.

Lawyers on the case, Tanya Guzman-Martinez v. CCA, et al., include Daniel Pochoda, ACLU of Arizona Legal Director, and ACLU of Arizona Cooperating Attorneys Kristina N. Holmstrom and Kirstin A. Story of the law firm of Lewis and Roca LLP.

Click here to read the complaint.

The ACLU of Arizona’s detention report is available here.

More CCA exploitation of prisoners and families.

It's the families this really takes the toll on, not the prisoners - except that it means many prisoners will be even more cut off from those who could help them stay out of prison than before. There's an upside to that, though - recidivism (i.e. more crime and victimization) increases profits for CCA, too...

Maricopa County Jail: Tent City
Phoenix, AZ (April 2011)

Margaret Jean Plews

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

Inmates In Private Georgia Prison Charged Five Dollars Per Minute For Phone Calls

The Huffington Post Harry Bradford First Posted: 11/18/11 12:25 PM ET

For inmates at one Georgia prison, a one minute phone call could cost them five times more than they earn for a day of work.

The Correction Corporation Of America's Stewart facility, a private prison in Lumpkin, Georgia, is forcing prisoners to pay five dollars per minute to use the phone, Alternet reports (h/t ThinkProgress). The exorbitant rate would break most people's budget, but it's especially costly for inmates that the prison who make just one dollar per day to work at the facility.

Faced with huge budget shortfalls, states are increasingly relying on privatized prisons to house criminals in their state and the for-profit corporations behind those prisons are coming up with various ways to maximize revenue. The money the Stewart prison is collecting from its 2,000 prisoners to use the phone helped the prison net profits of $35 to $50 million a year, ThinkProgress reports.

Compared to the total earnings of CCA that sum may seem small, however. Last year, the private prison company raked in $1.7 billion in revenues, according to FOX Business. GEO Group, another for-profit prison corporation headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, saw $1.3 billion in revenues in 2010.

The telephone rates are just one way private prisons are maximizing revenues. To help keep their facilities stocked with inmates, the private prison industry helped to draft Arizona's tough immigration law and lobbied aggressively to get it passed, NPR reports. Indeed, while they make up only 10 percent of prisoners nationwide, according to a separate NPR report, the number of prisoners in private prisons has increased 1,600 percent from 1990 to 2009, the American Civil Liberties Union reports.

An even more controversial private prison source of income is the what federal prosecutors are calling "Kids for Cash," -- owners of private juvenile detention giving kickbacks to judges to sentence minors for benign offenses in an effort to boost revenue -- FOX Business reports. In Pennsylvania, two judges were recently sentenced to over 40 years in prison combined for accepting kickbacks from the owner of a juvenile detention center.

The judges sentenced minors for offenses that included a 10-year-old girl accidentally lighting her room on fire and a 13-year-old boy throwing food at his mother's boyfriend, according to Fox Business.

Prisons are for profit, not for the People.

Another good piece by Bob Ortega at the AZ Republic, asking why we need to build more prisons...the short answer is that we don't - it's just that our politicians have already been bought by the private prison lobby in this state. Prison industry leaders like Corrections Corporation of America influence the drafting of criminal justice legislation to fill their beds with live bodies, not to reduce victimization, crime or incarceration rates. They do this through lobbying, funding organizations such as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and - in league with prosecutors - promoting and disseminating propaganda that plays on the public's fears.

In fact, every effort made to implement diversion programs for certain populations (like drug addiction) or evidence-based sentencing cuts into their profits, as the evidence shows that mass incarceration is not the answer to our social ills. In essence, the private prison industry is invested in perpetuating crime and punishment, not reducing victimization. I believe that the primary reason that the AZ Department of Corrections still hasn't completed their mandatory study on the costs and effectiveness of prison privatization is because the research will show that the only parties who benefit are corporations and the legislators they own - not the state or the people. That also translates into corporate and legislative resistance to expanding health care coverage for the poor, investments in community-based treatment options for the addicted, and meaningful efforts to address things like poverty, unemployment, and high school drop-out rates in our communities.

For those convinced that crime can only be stemmed by mass incarceration, please check out INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence for more information on how the prison industrial complex perpetuates societal violence and what can be done about it.

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Decline in Arizona inmate numbers raises questions

Push for more private-prison beds concerns some

by Bob Ortega - Nov. 4, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

For two years, Arizona's Department of Corrections has been trying to award a contract for 5,000 more private-prison beds.

Last year, the department canceled an initial round of bidding so it could beef up security requirements after three inmates escaped from a privately run prison.

Last month, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge removed the latest obstacle, dismissing a lawsuit by a prison-watchdog group seeking to block the contract award.

But now, after the delays, the Corrections Department faces a scenario that has been unfamiliar for 40 years: a decline in its prisoner population. And while Corrections officials continue to forecast an increase in prisoners, key factors the department itself cites to explain the recent decline suggest less certainty.

State auditors estimate that the beds would cost $585 million over the next five years.

"The fact we're moving forward with this outdated plan is mind-boggling to me," said Democratic state Rep. Chad Campbell, the House minority leader.

Before moving forward, he said, "we need a comprehensive review of the prison system and especially the private prisons and the need for any more private prisons in this state."

When the contracts were first proposed in the fall of 2009, the state's prisons were rapidly approaching capacity. For decades, the number of inmates in the state prison system had grown at a far faster rate than the state's population, peaking at 40,778 inmates that October.

But over the two years since that peak, the state's prison population has fallen 1.6 percent, to 40,116 as of Oct. 31.

Corrections Department officials, who say the extra beds will help ease crowding, project an additional 3,800 inmates by June 2015. Spokesman Barrett Marson said the department uses several data sources and methods to make prison population-growth projections. These include historical growth, county jail data, court filings, bookings and demographic data. Marson said the department also looks at less predictable factors such as possible changes in the economy, pending legislative action and changes in funding or policy within the criminal-justice system.

But the reasons behind the recent decline raise questions over whether the prison population will reach the state's projections.

Reasons behind decline

In its fiscal 2011 information report, the Corrections Department cited three factors for the recent drop in prisoners:

- Fewer convicts are coming in through the Maricopa County jails. The number of people awaiting trial in Maricopa County jails on felony charges has dropped 19 percent over the past two years. As Arizona's most populous county, Maricopa accounts for two-thirds of convicts flowing into the state's prisons.

When or whether the numbers of convictions and felons may rise again is uncertain. Crime-rate trends do not necessarily correlate with conviction rates, criminologists say, meaning one can't be predicted from the other. Over the past decade, the number of felony cases filed in Maricopa County climbed 90 percent even as crime rates fell by a third.

Court administrators don't make projections of criminal-charge or conviction rates, said Karen Arra, Maricopa County Superior Court spokeswoman.

- Fewer convicts are being sent back to prison for violating probation. Across the state, probation programs have significantly cut the number of convicts who have their probations revoked for technical violations. While some changes in probation have been in the works for nearly a decade, the big recent impetus for this drop in revocations seems to have been the 2008 "Safe Communities Act." Under that act, the state promised to kick back to the counties 40 percent of any money saved if they could reduce revocations by sending people back to prison only for substantial violations. Even though the Legislature didn't wind up providing the promised funds, and later canceled the program, counties have managed to cut revocations by more than 40 percent over the past three years, sending 1,328 fewer probationers back to prison in the fiscal year that ended June 30 than three years earlier.

Kathy Waters, the director of adult probation services for the Arizona Supreme Court, said she expects a further drop in probation revocations this year and next.

- Fewer non-citizens are in state prisons. The number of what the Corrections Department calls "criminal aliens," or non-citizens, sent to state prisons has fallen by more than a third over the past two years. There were 942 fewer non-citizens in state prisons at the end of last month than at the end of October 2009.

Corrections officials could not provide a breakdown of those who had been in the country legally versus without documentation at the time of their arrest; legal residents can lose their residency status when they are convicted of a crime.

The decline in non-citizens in the prison system coincides with the statewide drop in undocumented immigrants.

The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Immigration Statistics estimates that the number of undocumented immigrants in Arizona has fallen by roughly 100,000 over the past three years. Jeffrey Passel, senior demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center, said that while tougher immigration enforcement is having an impact, it's Arizona's sluggish economy, and the lack of jobs, that is the biggest factor.

History suggests that as long as the economy remains weak, immigrant numbers are unlikely to rebound, Passel said.

Preparing for the future

Even if the prison population were not to rise in the coming years, Corrections Director Charles Ryan has said that his department could use additional beds.

The department wants to replace the 5,266 temporary beds now counted in the prison system's housing capacity. Many of these temporary beds - extra bunks squeezed into dormitories or second beds crammed into cells meant to hold one prisoner - have been in use for decades.

However, the population decline means that 1,666 of those temporary beds were empty as of Monday.

And some lawmakers, such as Campbell, have called for putting the contracts on hold, saying it isn't in the state's best interest to expand Arizona's private prisons now.

Under its current plan, Corrections would bring the 5,000 contract beds on in phases, beginning with 2,000 by the end of April 2013 and the remaining beds by mid-2015.

It is unclear when the department plans to award any contract. Corrections officials say they expect to complete, by January, the first of the studies that were the subject of the lawsuit dismissed last month.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Arthur Anderson ruled that the prison-watchdog group, the American Friends Service Committee, lacked legal standing to sue the state. The committee tried to block any contract award until Corrections complies with a state law requiring biannual studies that compare the quality of services and the costs of private prisons to those run by the department.

Caroline Isaacs, the Arizona program director for the group, said the committee will consider legal action.

As The Republic first reported in August, Corrections has never conducted the studies, which are supposed to analyze costs, the security and safety of each prison, how inmates are managed and controlled, inmate discipline, programs, health and food services, staff training, administration and other factors as compared with state facilities.

The department, which previously had said it would award the contracts after Sept. 16, has asked the four finalists - Corrections Corp. of America, Geo Group, Management and Training Corp. and LaSalle Corrections - to keep their bids open until Nov. 22.

CCA "Gladiator School" settles with prisoners

Idaho inmates settle lawsuit over prison violence

By REBECCA BOONE, Associated Press – Sep 20, 2011

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A potential class-action lawsuit against the nation's largest private prison company over allegations of violence at the Idaho Correctional Center has been settled in federal court.

The agreement between the inmates and Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections Corporation of America was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Boise.

In it, CCA doesn't acknowledge the allegations but agrees to increase staffing, investigate all assaults and make other sweeping changes at the lockup south of Boise. If the company fails to make the changes, the inmates can ask the courts to force CCA to comply.

The inmates, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, sued last year on behalf of everyone incarcerated at the CCA-run state prison. They said the prison was so violent it was dubbed "Gladiator School," and that guards used inmate-on-inmate violence as a management tool and then denied prisoners medical care as a way to cover up the assaults.

CCA has denied all the allegations as part of the settlement, but the agreement is governed under a section of the Prison Litigation Reform Act which only applies in cases in which prisoners' constitutional rights have been violated.

As part of a prepared statement written by the ACLU and approved by CCA, both sides said that rather spending time and resources trying to litigate allegations of past problems, the groups would work toward improving future conditions at the prison. Those steps include hiring three additional correctional officers, ensuring prison staffing meets state requirements and following standard operating procedures already set up by the Idaho Department of Correction.

The agreement came after both sides spent three days in federal mediation sessions last week. Federal oversight of the settlement will last for two years.

In the lawsuit, the inmates cited an Associated Press investigation that found the private prison had more cases of inmate-on-inmate violence than all other Idaho prisons combined.

"The unnecessary carnage and suffering that has resulted is shameful and inexcusable," the ACLU wrote in the lawsuit. "ICC not only condones prisoner violence, the entrenched culture of ICC promotes, facilitates, and encourages it."

While the prison is owned by the state, it is run for a profit by CCA under a contract with the Idaho Department of Correction. The inmates claimed the company made decisions based on profit rather than on "responsible administration of the prison."

The prisoners' lawsuit didn't ask for money, just changes in the way CCA runs the lockup.

Under the settlement, the company has agreed to leave more prison beds open so it can easily move threatened inmates to new cellblocks when necessary. It also agreed to report all assaults that appear to amount to aggravated battery to the Ada County sheriff's office, to increase the level of training given to guards and to discipline staffers who don't take appropriate measures to stop or prevent assaults.

"This settlement is in the best interest of our clients, CCA and the state of Idaho," ACLU senior attorney Stephen Pevar said in the prepared statement.

Idaho Department of Correction Director Brent Reinke said he was pleased with the settlement, because he thinks it will improve the sometimes adversarial relationship the state has had with CCA. Idaho has increased the number of employees it has monitoring operations at the private prison and in the past has fined CCA thousands of dollars for failing to meet contract requirements. Still, Idaho officials decided to renew CCA's contract to run the prison and the state has even added more than 600 beds to the lockup, making it the state's largest prison.

"We are working with the contractor, rather than against the contractor, which is huge — it's huge — when you can try to get things resolved," he said.

Reinke said he was also pleased that ICC warden Timothy Wengler was one of the CCA officials who signed the settlement agreement.

"I respect those in Tennessee (CCA's headquarters). But I really want to have a good manager here," Reinke said. "The fact that he's stepping up and has signed the agreement, well, his name is on the line now."

The Department of Correction was originally named as a defendant in the case, but the inmates agreed to drop the allegations against the agency after state officials agreed to enforce any of the court's actions.

Idaho officials will closely review the 18 key items listed in the settlement to make sure they comply with the contract between CCA and the state, Reinke said. If not, the contract may be adjusted to add the requirements.

CCA spokesman Steve Owen said his company is "turning a page and looking forward" and the settlement reflects "how pleased we are with the progress that's been made at the facility."

Any costs associated with the increased staffing, investigations and training aren't a concern, he said.

"I think we view all those things that are being done as positives," he said.

CCA has faced several lawsuits in Idaho over violence and assaults at the prison. Security cameras from the facility showed one attack, in which guards watched while an inmate named Hanni Elabed was beaten unconscious and then stomped in the head multiple times. The company reached an undisclosed settlement with Elabed, who was left with brain damage and likely permanent disabilities from the attack.

Many of the attacks listed in the ACLU lawsuit happened while former warden Phillip Valdez was leading the prison. CCA eventually reassigned Valdez to the assistant warden post at the Leavenworth Detention Center, a prison the company runs for the U.S. Marshals Service in Kansas.

Just last week, CCA reached a settlement with an inmate named Marlin Riggs, who was the lead plaintiff in the potential class-action lawsuit in Idaho until the court split the case into two lawsuits. He contended he warned guards that he was about to be attacked by other inmates but they refused to move to him to another unit or give him any other protection. Shortly after returning to his cellblock, Riggs was beaten so badly that bones in his face were broken and his blood was splattered across the walls and ceiling of his cell.

CCA's settlement with Riggs was sealed by the court.

Florence CCA prison stabbing...

No comment from CCA in response to my inquiries so far...

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2 officers assaulted by inmates at Florence prison

abc15.com

Posted: 09/03/2011

By: Deborah Stocks

FLORENCE, AZ - Officials say two correctional officers at a Florence prison were injured when they were assaulted by two inmates Friday afternoon.

The incident happened at the Florence Correctional Center as the officers were escorting two State of Hawaii inmates back to their cells from the segregation recreation yard.

Staff responded immediately and ended the assault quickly, according to officials.

The facility was placed on lockdown as a precaution and law enforcement and Hawaii Department of Public Safety authorities were notified.

The officers were taken to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

The incident is being investigated and the names of the officers were not released.

The facility is owned and operated by Corrections Corporation of America and primarily houses federal inmates and detainees for the U.S. Marshals Service and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Buying the Vote: Corrections Corporation of America

Can you be trusted?

Arizona Attorney General's Office, Phoenix
October 2010

Thanks to Bob Ortega, who continues to do a great job covering the private prison issue for the Arizona Republic...hit the site and check out their previous articles:

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More on the private-prison system

Read the documents
Arizona private-prison delay urged
Coolidge voices desire to land new prison
2010 escape at Kingman an issue for MTC's bid
La. firm says prison escapes led to changes
Private-prison bidder Geo's record an issue
Proposal to build private prison in Goodyear draws fire
Firm presents Arizona prison proposal
Arizona prison oversight lacking for private facilities
Kingman prison empty bed payments
Documents show security lapses in prisons
Public hearings on prison plans
State to expand private prisons
Kingman private prison slow to fix flaws
Arizona DOC faces systemwide security lapses

Arizona prison businesses are big political contributors

by Bob Ortega - Sept. 4, 2011 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Corrections Corp. of America, the country's largest private-prison operator, says it thrives by offering better service at a lower cost than state-run prisons. It's an argument echoed by the three smaller rivals bidding on a 5,000-bed private-prison contract with the state of Arizona.

But when it comes to other ways of winning business, such as employing platoons of lobbyists, doling out campaign contributions and working through political connections, CCA stands head and shoulders above its competitors, in Arizona and across the country.

Read prisons cost report

It isn't easy to disentangle the complicated political and financial connections between a company and the public officials whose policy decisions can help or harm its business. But critics accuse CCA of using its financial might and political connections to influence decision makers and muscle its way to multimillion-dollar deals behind closed doors.

"They spend a lot of money, and clearly, they spend it because it benefits their interest, which is winning contracts," said Bob Libal, a senior organizer at Grassroots Leadership, a Texas group that opposes prison privatization.

The company says its lobbying activities are meant only to educate lawmakers. Critics who argue that putting prisons in private hands creates a perverse incentive for companies to push for tougher prison terms level similar charges against competitors Geo Group Inc., Management and Training Corp., and, to a lesser extent, LaSalle Corrections, the other companies bidding for new Arizona contracts.

Arizona's Department of Corrections plans to award one or more contracts after Sept. 16 for an expansion of private prisons ordered by state lawmakers and signed by Gov. Jan Brewer last year. This follows a failed effort in 2009 that would have allowed privatization of all but one of Arizona's 10 state-run prisons.

Just before a series of recent community hearings to assess competing bids, Geo and MTC hired additional lobbying and public-relations firms in Arizona. But both are playing catch-up to the efforts of Nashville-based CCA, which has outspent its rivals in campaign contributions and has cultivated more political connections.

Political footprint

The nation's largest and oldest corrections company, CCA runs more than 60 prisons and immigrant-detention centers across 19 states and the District of Columbia. It has by far the largest political footprint of the dozen or so companies that operate private prisons in the U.S.

CCA has spent about $17.6 million lobbying Congress and federal agencies over the past decade, according to records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan organization that tracks the effect of money on U.S. politics. The agencies include the Department of Homeland Security and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement division, which contract with private operators such as CCA for immigration-detention centers.

Thirty of CCA's 35 lobbyists on Capitol Hill previously worked for members of Congress or for federal agencies. Two CCA senior executives are former directors of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, including Harley Lappin, whom CCA hired in June as chief corrections officer a week after his retirement from the bureau. CCA is a major bureau contractor. Another CCA vice president, Bart VerHulst, previously worked as chief of staff for then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee.

Since 2000, the company has won $3.84 billion in federal contracts, including just under $546 million for federal contracts in Arizona, according to government records. CCA's six prisons in Arizona hold inmates from other states, federal prisoners and immigration detainees. Its bid calls for moving out prisoners from Hawaii and California at its existing Red Rock and La Palma prisons in Eloy and moving in Arizona prisoners.

CCA lobbies heavily on the state level, employing 178 lobbyists in 32 states over the past eight years, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, a nonpartisan group that gathers lobbying and campaign-finance data.

In Arizona, the company has cultivated high-level connections. Former U.S. Sen. Dennis DeConcini sits on CCA's board of directors. Perhaps the highest profile among CCA's 22 registered lobbyists in Arizona belongs to Chuck Coughlin, president of HighGround Public Affairs Consultants and a senior political adviser to Gov. Jan Brewer. Besides CCA, HighGround's 23 lobbying clients include Maricopa County and Salt River Project.

Coughlin served as chairman of Brewer's transition team when she took office in 2009 and as her campaign manager in 2010. He also has managed election campaigns for Senate President Russell Pearce.

Other heavy hitters with ties to CCA include Paul Senseman, a lobbyist with Policy Development Group, who served until last fall as Brewer's spokesman and whose wife, Kathryn Senseman, lobbied for that group while he worked for Brewer; and Bradley Regens, who joined CCA in 2007 after nine years as an Arizona legislative staffer, including two years as director of fiscal policy for the state House of Representatives.

Brewer has advocated for privatizing Arizona prisons. But even other privatization supporters say her CCA connections raise red flags.

"I've questioned Brewer's choice of staff in the past for the same reason; she has a lot of contract lobbyists, and I have a problem with that," said Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City. "At the very least it gives the public the appearance that these companies have too much influence, and you have to wonder what's going on when they leave Brewer's office and go right back into lobbying."

Brewer's office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Since 2003, CCA employees and affiliates have given nearly $2 million in campaign contributions to state-level candidates and ballot issues across the U.S.

In Arizona, CCA associates and its political-action committee have reported giving about $35,000 in political donations over the past decade to Brewer, Pearce, former House Speaker Kirk Adams, House Speaker Andy Tobin and many others. A big chunk of that, $11,520, was given for last year's election campaigns.

Arizona lobbying firms that represent CCA made about $35,000 in political contributions in the 2010 election cycle. Whatever influence contributions may bring, they are wielded on behalf of many clients.

CCA has spent far more in other states as has its nearest rival, Geo Group.

"They don't have to spend the money here," said Rep. John Kavanagh. "They don't really have to convince us."

In his view, a majority of the state legislators philosophically support the notion of privatizing government services when it makes economic sense. Kavanagh said he believes that Corrections Department studies in recent years showing private-prison beds cost more than state-run prisons "don't properly take into account secondary expenses," such as pensions for state corrections officers and differences in insurance rates. However, several academics who study corrections said Arizona conducts the most thorough cost comparisons of any state.

Corporate ties

CCA has other connections with legislators in Arizona and elsewhere, most notably as a longstanding corporate member of the American Legislative Exchange Council.

The council describes itself as a nonpartisan national association of state legislators; in fact, it is a partisan vehicle that brings together about 300 large corporations and 2,000 predominantly Republican legislators on task forces that produce model bills that lawmakers can introduce in their state legislatures.

Recent ALEC policy initiatives focused on an anti-regulatory, anti-union, anti-Obama health-care, pro-free-trade agenda.

The council doesn't release corporate or legislative membership lists. But a May 12 e-mail from Rep. Debbie Lesko, ALEC's public-sector Arizona chairwoman, lists 51 current Arizona legislative members, more than half of both the state Senate and state House. There are 50 Republicans and one Democrat, Rep. Richard Miranda of Tolleson. Lesko's e-mail, inviting lawmakers to the council's annual meeting in New Orleans, was leaked and posted online by a Tucson blogger; Lesko confirmed its contents.

Corporations, from Walmart and Exxon Mobil to Koch Cos. and Salt River Project, provided 98 percent of the council's funding last year, according to a tax filing obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Lawmakers pay $50 a year to join; corporations pay from $7,000 to $25,000 a year for membership, plus more to sit on task forces, or to sponsor events hosting legislators and, often, their families. Corporations also fund ALEC "scholarships" that pay for lawmakers' travel and lodging.

CCA spokesman Steve Owen said his company left ALEC last year. But for the past two decades, a CCA executive has been a member of the council's Public Safety and Education Task Force as it produced more than 85 model bills and resolutions that required tougher criminal sentencing, expanded immigration enforcement and promoted prison privatization. Laurie Shanblum, CCA's senior director of business development, was the private-sector chair of the task force in the mid- to late '90s, when it produced a series of model bills promoting tough-on-crime measures that would send more people to prison for a longer time.

They included a "Truth in Sentencing Act" requiring that convicts serve at least 85 percent of any sentence, and 100 percent of a sentence for violent crimes; a "Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Act," imposing longer, mandatory sentences for all drug offenses; a "Third Strike" law mandating a life sentence for a third violent felony conviction; and dozens of other bills that called for violent juveniles to be tried and sentenced as adults, and for longer sentences for child-porn crimes, drunken driving, repeated retail theft and many other crimes.

Critics, many with ties to public-union or human-rights groups, have charged that such bills, by sending more people to prison longer, drove up demand for the prison space and services CCA sells.

Starting in the 1990s, the ALEC task force also produced model bills directly promoting prison privatization. These included bills to let private prisons house inmates from other states without permission of local governments, require privatization of prisons and correctional services and encourage contracting for prison labor.

Council members from Arizona, including Pearce, and a long list of former legislators going back to the early 1990s including Wes Marsh, John Verkamp, Jay Tibshraeny and Thayer Verschoor, subsequently introduced bills here that were near-duplicates of the ALEC model bills.

Lobbying costs

Geo Group Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla., the country's second-largest private-prison firm, has spent freely in recent years on lobbying and political contributions as it has tried to compete with CCA.

Geo, which is in the running for the new contract, operates 53 correctional and immigration-detention facilities in 17 states, plus an immigration facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In Arizona, Geo operates three contract state prisons: the Central Arizona Correctional Facility and Florence West, in Florence, and Phoenix West.

Geo has spent $2.4 million since 2004 lobbying Congress and federal agencies including Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Two of Geo's four federal lobbyists formerly worked on Capitol Hill.

Geo has won $2.69 billion in federal contracts over the last decade, according to government records.

On the state level, Geo Group has used 68 lobbyists in 16 states over the past eight years, according to the National Institute for Money in State Politics. Over that time, Geo employees and affiliates spent more than $2.6 million in campaign contributions at the state level across the country.

In Arizona, Geo has seven registered lobbyists, including three at KRB Consulting Inc., a firm it hired in early July in advance of Department of Corrections hearings on the pending private-prison contract. KRB's Kristen Boilini worked for the Mofford and Symington administrations from 1989 to 1994; the firm's Nick Simonetta is a former state Senate staffer. Geo also recently hired the Arizona publicity firm of Leibowitz Solo. The firm's principal, David Leibowitz, is a former Republic columnist. Another Geo lobbyist is former legislator John Kaites, at Public Policy Partners.

In the 2010 election cycle, Geo Group's lobbyists made about $39,000 in campaign contributions to Brewer, Pearce, Adams, Kavanagh and others. Most of those firms also represented many other clients.

Geo associates and its political-action committee have given more than $28,000 in campaign contributions over the last decade, including at least $7,960 before last year's election. Geo employees focused their 2010 contributions on then-House Speaker Adams and Majority Whip Tobin.

The two leaders, along with Pearce, co-sponsored a bill signed by Brewer in September 2009 that mandated the 5,000 private-prison-bed expansion, the privatization of the Department of Corrections' health-care services, and ordered Corrections to seek potential bidders to take over up to nine of Arizona's 10 state-run prisons.

That last provision was intended to raise at least $100 million, but it failed to attract a qualified bidder and was repealed in March 2010 after some lawmakers had second thoughts when Corrections Director Charles Ryan raised security concerns.

Smaller competitors

In contrast to CCA and Geo, the much smaller and privately held Management and Training Corp. of Centerville, Utah, and LaSalle Corrections of Ruston, La., have spent just under $350,000 combined on federal lobbying over the past decade.

LaSalle, the smallest of the bidders, operates 12 prisons in Louisiana and Texas. It is the only company that doesn't hold any Arizona or federal contracts; and there is no record that it has registered lobbyists or made political contributions in this state. LaSalle's managing partner, Billy McConnell, and his family have given just under $59,000 in political contributions in Louisiana since 2000.

MTC's prison operations are a little more than a third the size of Geo's or CCA's. It runs 20 facilities in seven states, including two prisons under contract with Arizona's Department of Corrections, at Kingman and Marana. However, the company, which also runs Job Corps job-training centers for the U.S. Department of Labor, has amassed $3.26 billion in federal contracts since 2000. About $466 million of that amount is corrections-related.

MTC also has spent less than its larger rivals on lobbying and campaign contributions in recent years, though it recently ramped up its efforts. On Aug. 10, MTC hired the Dunn Stewart Group as lobbyists. Terry Stewart, a former Arizona Department of Corrections director under whom current director Ryan served as deputy, represented MTC at recent public hearings in San Luis and Coolidge. MTC also employs former Corrections assistant director Carl Nink.

MTC won the bid in 1993 for Arizona's first private contract prison, at Marana. The idea was championed by then-Rep. Bob Burns, an ALEC leader in the state. The debate over prison privatization in Arizona dates from at least the mid-1980s, when Govs. Bruce Babbitt and Rose Mofford three times vetoed proposals. Throughout the 1990s, privatization supporters in the Arizona Legislature consistently have been affiliated with ALEC.

"You can follow the money and connect the dots and there are a lot of troubling connections," said Rep. Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix, the House minority leader.

Campbell has asked Brewer to delay any new contracts until the Department of Corrections completes a study, due in January, to provide a comprehensive comparison of private and public prisons. Such biennial studies are required by state law but have not been conducted to date.

"I don't see the governor or legislative leadership complying with the law. . . . I don't see any evidence they're doing the due diligence to make sure this is a good deal for the taxpayers," Campbell said.