While ALEC legislators still insist on implementing ALEC experimental
policies and legislation claiming they are cost effective. But, at the same time, the public is being
inundated with more and more research that privatization of governmental
agencies does not benefit anyone – except the ALEC corporate profit sector
member who gets the state contract or buys state assets.
Two of the on-going experimental legislative projects that
ALEC has pushed for several decades includes
Privatization of
governmental goods and services
“government cannot provide goods or services as
cheaply as the private sector can.”
and
Turn Capital Assets
into Financial Assets: Sell or Lease Government Assets and Enterprises
“states own over $226 billion in infrastructure assets
that could be sold to the private sector.”
Current case in point of the on-going privatization issue:
Michigan could send inmates to a troubled private prison or
privatize other prisons as part of an effort to trim costs in the state's $1.9
billion corrections system.
The
legislation is a potential boon for the GEO Group, the nation's second-largest
for-profit prison operator, which owns a now-vacant youth prison in rural Baldwin, Mich.
Ever since the state canceled its contract with GEO in 2005, company executives
have unsuccessfully tried to find inmates to fill the 1,725 empty prison beds.
The company boosted its spending on political lobbying in Michigan more than fivefold last year.
But the
Baldwin prison has a checkered past. The state
closed the facility, its only private prison, in 2005, following a series of
audits and investigations that found high levels of assault, frequent staff
vacancies and operating costs that exceeded those in comparable state prisons.
Privatization - A
Waste of Tax Payer $$$
Multiple reports have documented that privatization of our
prison system – which has been financially beneficial for ALEC corporate
members CCA, Wackenhut and GEO Group
- is wasting taxpayer
money.
More expensive in Arizona
More expensive in Ohio
I could go on and on and on – but why?
It should be evident to all Americans – that the
experimental privatization policies of the American Legislative Exchange Council are a public policy failure.
But today – I want to look at more than just money.
Today I want to look at the determination and historical progression
that underlie a disastrous example of an ALEC promulgated privatization scheme.
ACLU wants state help for privatized Ohio prison
JULIE CARR SMYTH - AP Statehouse
Correspondent (AP)
Posted January 11, 2013 at 4:23 p.m.,
updated January 11, 2013 at 7:04 p.m.
COLUMBUS,Ohio (AP) — A spike in criminal activity near a recently privatized Ohio prison
prompted calls for state help Friday from the American Civil Liberties Union
and local officials.
The
ACLU said policing the perimeter of the Lake Erie Correctional Institution in
Conneaut along Lake Erie is overburdening
local authorities and creating unsafe conditions. Eight people have been
arrested allegedly attempting to get contraband into the facility in the past
three days.
ACLU
spokesman Mike Brickner said the group has documented a similar pattern of
increased criminal activity around other U.S. prisons taken over by private
operators
This is What Life Inside a Private
Prison Looks Like |
FromSeptember 18-20 Ohio’s Bureau of Internal
Audits and Standards Compliance conducted a full internal management audit of the
Lake Erie institution. The team “evaluated
compliance levels with audit standards by reviewing both prepared accreditation
files and observing institution operations throughout the facility.”
The
privately owned and operated facility was found in compliance with 94.7 percent
of the American Correctional Association’s (ACA) relatively accommodating
standards. This isn’t exactly laudable,
however, because in 2011 all of Ohio’s
public facilities achieved an ACA compliance level of 100 percent. Worse is
that CCA’s institution only achieved a compliance level of 66.7 percent on more stringent
state-based corrections guidelines. According to the report, “A total of twenty
(20) of the Ohio standards were found in
non-compliance, and an additional eighteen (18) of the Ohio standards was judged to be
non-applicable. A total of 68 Ohio
standards were reviewed during the internal audit.”
In
scholastic terms a 66.7 translates to a “D.” And a “D” indicates deficiency.
11.28.12
Conditions Continue to Worsen at
Privately Owned Lake Erie Correctional
Institution
Inmate Death and State Audits Illustrate
Flaws in Private Prisons
CONNEAUT, OH - The American Civil Liberties
Union of Ohio is calling on the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and
Correction (ODRC) and the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) to fully investigate
a series of troubling reports emanating from Correction Corporation of America's (CCA)
privately owned Lake Erie Correctional Institution, including today's report of
an inmate death, possibly from a drug overdose.
The September audit at Lake
Erie Correctional discovered unsafe conditions not only for
inmates, but for prison staff as well. Highlights from the list of nearly 50
violations included inadequate medical care, dirty living conditions, and lack
of staff training.
ALEC Experimental Privatization Agenda
Public Policy Failure
Corporate Success
Timeline (easier to follow than doing this in sentence/paragraph form)
The players
in this little tale are
John Kasich
Don Thibaut
Gary Mohr
CCA - Corrections Corporation of America
ALEC
1973
ALEC Begins
Among those who were involved with
ALEC in its formative years were: Robert Kasten and Tommy Thompson of
Wisconsin; John Engler of Michigan; Terry Branstad of Iowa, and John Kasich of
Ohio, all of whom moved on to become governors or members of Congress.
1979 – 2000
Don Thibault - State senate aide and then congressional
chief of staff to John Kasich
Congressional records show that
Thibaut earned $99,000 as Kasich’s chief of staff and more than $29,000 as an
aide for the House Budget Committee -- which Kasich headed at the time -- in
2000, Kasich’s last year in Congress.
1992 - 2011
1992, first available
documentation of Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) being a member of ALEC
In 2011, both ALEC and CCA denied
CCA participation in ALEC – even though documentation of CCA’s participation
exists.
1994
ALEC FYI Newsletter February 23,
1995
November 2, 1994
ALEC released its long-awaited
Report Card on Crime and Punishment
… ALEC legislators used the
findings to emphasize the need to take a tougher stand against criminals by
increasing prison terms through "truth-in-sentencing" and "three
strikes, you're out" laws.
1995
ALEC FYI Newsletter July 1995
Within the Criminal Justice Task
Force, the legislation that had the most enactments was the Truth in Sentencing
Act, which became law in 25 states. It was introduced 34 times; no other ALEC
bill recorded nearly as many enactments, Other ALEC bills that were enacted in
double figures include: the Habitual Offender/Three Strikes Act (11
enactments).
Coincidentally this was the exact
same article that included this quote
"This was a landmark legislative
year in ALECs history," said ALEC Executive Director Samuel A. Brunelli.
"With our success rate at more than 20 percent, I would say that ALEC is a good investment. Nowhere else can you get a return that high."
1998
ALEC Annual Meeting Program
ALEC Task Force
Chairs and Private Sector Chairs
Criminal Justice
Representative Michael Nye, Michigan
John Rees, Corrections Corporation of America
2000
ALEC Annual Report (my emphasis)
ALEC developed model
criminal justice policies that kept criminals off of our streets for longer
periods of time and allowed private industry to use its expertise to help
states meet their growing incarceration needs. Model bills like the Truth in
Sentencing Act, which requires inmates to serve at least 85 percent of their
sentence; and the Habitual Violent Offender Incarceration Act, or “three
strikes” legislation ensured that violent criminals served more time behind
bars. ALEC’s Private Correctional Facilities Act allowed states to contract
with private industry to house their growing criminal populations. ALEC has been supporting common-sense
solutions like these since the early 90’s. A majority of states now have
some type of “truth in sentencing” or “three strikes” laws on their books.
Also, as of January 2000, 28 states have authorized the use of private prisons
to house inmates
2000
After serving 18 years in the U.S.
House of Representatives John Kasich retired in 2000 and took a managing
director position in Ohio
with Lehman Brothers
In 2000, a Lehman-backed deal
helped CCA avoid bankruptcy; since then, Lehman Brothers has played an
essential role in CCA's survival and expansion.
2000 - 2007
Policy and political organizations
associated with Kasich’s New Century Project have paid Thibaut more than
$700,000 over the past decade, according to filings.
He [Thibaut] later worked part-time for U.S.
Rep. Pat Tiberi, according to the documents.
2001 – 2008
John Kasich joins Lehman Brothers
2002
April 9, 2002 (12:18 PM) Hours
after a press conference calling on Lehman to withdraw from plans to help
industry leader Corrections Corporation of America refinance $800 million in
debt, activists got an answer: Drop dead!
The answer came in the form of a
CCA press release announcing that the prison company had secured a commitment
from Lehman Brothers “to provide CCA with a new $695.0 million senior secured
credit facility,” to be combined with a $150 million notes offering.
2003
In 2003 Lehman Brothers, at a
substantial profit, arranged a $785 million refinancing package for CCA.
Prior to 2005
Gary Mohr served as a deputy
director for the [Ohio] corrections department for two different administrations. He's
also been warden at three Ohio
prisons.
2007 – 2009
Gary Mohr works for Corrections Corporation of America (CCA)
2008
Lehman goes bankrupt
2009
May 1, 2009, Kasich filed papers
to run for Governor of Ohio
March 24th 2010
On March 24, 2010 this headline
ran in The Dispatch: “Governor’s race: Kasich leads Strickland 42-37% in new
poll”.
On March 24, 2010 Credo Company
Llc was registered in Ohio
- Donald Thibaut, Founding partner
Sometime in 2010 (reported in January 2011)
CCA spokesman Steve Owen said the
company hired Thibaut's firm, The Credo Company, to share the benefits of
private prison operations with the new governor and state lawmakers.
November 2010
Kasich elected governor of Ohio
January 2011
Kasich hires Gary Mohr as director
of Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
February 2011
CCA lobbyist Robert Kovey brings Corrections Corporation of America to meet with Gary Mohr
March 2011
Kasich announces privatization of additional
prisons in Ohio
September 2011
Department of Rehabilitation and
Corrections (DRC) announced today that they would be selling the Lake Erie
Correctional Institution, goes to CCA
First prison ever in the US
sold to a private company.
January 2012
Corrections Corporation of America,
the nation's largest operator of for-profit prisons, has sent letters recently to 48 states offering to buy up their prisons
All the parties involved purport that there is nothing
nefarious involved with the turn of events in Ohio.
If you want to believe that
….
ALEC Experimental Privatization Agenda
Public Policy Failure
Corporate Success
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