October 2007

The Austin Chronicle recently weighed in on the Coke County scandal that plagued the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) last month. Senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D-McAllen) continues to hold GEO Group accountable for the horrible conditions uncovered at the private youth lockup.

"I'm not surprised at what we found at Coke," said Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, author of last session's TYC-reforming Senate Bill 103. "GEO Group has a long history of problems and litigations, not only in Texas but around the country."

It is clear from the way that horrid conditions at Coke County came to light a great deal needs to be done in terms of improving oversight of private prisons throughout Texas.

According to officials involved at all levels, three investigations were conducted at Coke County over several weeks. Those investigations were conducted by three separate agencies that included the Harris County TYC Review Monitor, the Independent Ombudsman Office, and TYC's Internal Audit Division.

The Harris County Juvenile Probation Board established a TYC Review Monitor position when the TYC scandals were widely publicized in media outlets earlier this year. Using statutory authority that requires agencies to share information, the TYC monitor travels to youth prisons around the state to insure that Harris County youth are confined in safe and humane conditions.

The Independent Ombudsman office was created as a part of the omnibus reform package passed during the 80th Legislature -- SB 103. The Ombudsman reports to the Conservator. The office is staffed by Will Harrell, the former Executive Director of the ACLU of Texas. At a recent hearing, Harrell stated that the lines of authority for his office were not clear, but that when he completes investigations of youth lockups he sends the reports to the Governor's office and the Conservator. However, it is clear that how the Ombudsman works with TYC officials to improve conditions issues must still be worked out. According to Jim Hurley, TYC Spokesperson:

Hurley applauded his [Harrell] report's content, he was concerned that he did not receive a copy until after his office's own investigation was complete. "If I'm the ombudsman, and I'm out there, I'm not going to go away, write a report, and then not send it to the one person who can actually make changes."

At a recent TYC oversight hearing convened by the House Corrections Committee, Harrell stated he would start sending reports to TYC's Acting Executive Director - Dimitria Pope.

Another layer of oversight includes TYC's own Quality Assurance Monitors who are supposed to insure compliance with private contractors. Yet, it was these monitors -- four hired to oversee Coke County -- who were found to have serious conflict of interests that covered up the squalid conditions at the facility.

According to Hurley, the most worrying fact is that the on-site quality-assurance monitors had given the facility a clean bill of health. In his report, Harrell singled them out for criticism, writing, "With so many Q/A's assigned to this single facility, more than my staff for the entire state, why do these problems persist?"

Pope has promised at recent legislative hearings, that a review of the agency's contract monitoring system is underway. As this new information surfaces we will keep you informed.

This morning's San Antonio Express News has an excellent story from reporter Hernán Rozemberg about the lack of mental health care in Texas private detention centers.

According to the article, cases of untreated mental illnesses are rampant in detention centers in south Texas. The story uses two separate cases from GEO Group's Pearsall detention center to make the case:

One was diagnosed with schizophrenia. The other was manic-depressive. But as far as the federal immigration detention system is concerned, the pair say, their illnesses were checked at the door.

The cases of two immigrants in South Texas reflect the systematic medical maltreatment detainees face across the country as the government rushes people in and out to save a buck by skipping treatment, said Javier Maldonado, a San Antonio immigration lawyer.

Maldonado is representing Miroslava Rodríguez Grava and Isaías Vásquez Cisneros, Mexican immigrants held at the South Texas Detention Complex, a 1,904-bed federal immigration prison in Pearsall.

The article also reveals that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an agency of the Organization of American States, will investigate conditions at detention centers in the U.S. this December, including CCA's infamous T. Don Hutto family detention center in Taylor.

According to the story:

The attention extends beyond U.S. borders. Florentín Meléndez, president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, said he received U.S. approval this month to visit immigration prisons, including the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility near Austin, starting in December.

"It's really worrisome to see all these reports," Meléndez said by phone from El Salvador. "We're interested in making sure people are being treated well — they're human beings before they're illegals."

Hopefully, ICE won't turn away this international inspector as it did last spring with U.N. Rapporteur Jorge Bustamante last spring.

Management and Training Corporation, a private prison corporation operating several prisons in Texas, has posted "tremendous growth" according to company statement posted online last month.

Part of that growth is due to the expansion of the Willacy County "tent city" detention center in Raymondville. According to the statement,

The Willacy County Texas Commissioners Court approved the IGSA with the Department of Homeland Security for a 1086-bed expansion of the Willacy ICE facility. The targeted start-up for that project is January 2008.

The statement doesn't mention that Willacy County went another $50 million in debt to fund this expansion. That debt, added to the county's already staggering debt from previous prison projects, means the county is $8,700 in debt for every person residing in Willacy County.

The statement also doesn't mention the numerous cases of maggots found in prisoners' food or the protests and prayers held outside the prison.

Another protest walk to the detention center is scheduled for later this week: From the Texas Civil Rights Review,

Raymondville Walk II. October 26-27. Friday and Saturday. From the Harlingen Travel Center to Raymondville, the seat of the corruption ridden Willacy County Commissioners Court.

The MTC statement also says the company is planning to profit off of the expansion of the company's East Texas Intermediate Sanction Facility, which currently holds 300 parole offenders. According to the company,

Also in May, MTC completed construction of the 1160 bed East Texas ISF facility. The new construction added 860 beds. MTC is negotiating to fill up these additional beds with more ISF inmates or parolees.

We'll keep you updated on whether recent hearings on private prison operations and oversight will affect whether this MTC prison will be filled in the near future.

As we’ve reported, LCS Corrections co-owner Patrick LeBlanc was running for state representative for Louisiana House District 43. LeBlanc lost Saturday's election and the ongoing scandal over Texas commissary and detention contracts may have influenced the eleection. According to the Daily Advertiser:

The involvement of his opponent's company in a Texas jail contract investigation may have helped Page Cortez capture the House District 43 race in Saturday's election.

Complete but unofficial returns show Cortez, R-Lafayette, with 7,742 or 55 percent of the vote and Patrick LeBlanc, R-Youngsville, with 6,218 or 45 percent.

As Nicole wrote last month, now-indicted former Bexar County Sheriff and his longtime campaign manager John Reynolds are accused of receiving money and a Costa Rica golf trip in exchange for awarding Premier Management, another comany owned by LeBlanc and his brother, the commissary contract at the Bexar County jail.

Reynolds plead guilty to a charge of felony theft, and must speak openly about his dealings with Premier, the LeBlanc Brothers, and LCS Corrections as part of the plea deal. The scandal is threatening to spill over into Kleberg and Nueces Counties where Premier and LCS have been cultivating close relationships with county officials.

The scandal became an issue for LeBlanc in the race for state house. According to The Advocate, his opponents used the issue in political advertisements:

LeBlanc, an architect who is in the private prison business, is running for the District 43 seat against Page Cortez, who co-owns a furniture store. Both men are Republicans.

Cortez is supported by state Sen. Mike Michot, R-Lafayette and state Rep. Joel Robideaux, I-Lafayette, who have formed a political action committee called Leadership for Louisiana. LeBlanc’s company, Premier Management Enterprise, gave money to a phony charity run by the sheriff’s associate, who made sure Premier was awarded a commissary contract.

The sheriff eventually pleaded guilty to not reporting a fishing and golf trip in Costa Rica that LeBlanc’s company paid for. While the San Antonio District Attorney’s Office has announced its work is finished, federal authorities have said they are continuing to investigate the matter — though they have not named any targets of the investigation, including LeBlanc or his company.

One of Leadership for Louisiana’s ads says that voting for LeBlanc is a “risk,” with the investigation still ongoing.

Local journalists also asked tough questions. Lafayette’s The Independent ran a front-page story on Mr. LeBlanc’s candidacy and private prison and commissary connections. The story, by reporter Scott Jordan, started out by noting that the run may have been LeBlanc’s first foray running for office, but he’s far from a stranger to politics:

It’s LeBlanc’s first run for elected office, but the 53-year-old architect and co-owner of private prison firm LCS Corrections (whose predecessor is Gulf Coast Corrections, Inc.) is no stranger to politics. LeBlanc’s enterprises — LCS and Premier Management — have secured contracts with government agencies for at least 10 years.

The firm has been awarded contracts in states including Louisiana and Texas. In addition to the prison system contracts, LeBlanc is a longtime behind-the-scenes force on the local political scene. He’s contributed funds to multiple candidates over the years, most recently hosting a 2005 fund-raiser for U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany attended by Vice President Dick Cheney, and he recently contributed $4,600 to Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani.

In December 2006, LeBlanc mailed out an eight-page survey gauging local residents’ opinions on local, state and national candidates, fueling speculation that he was gearing up for a bid for office.

The paper then dove into LeBlanc’s rocky relationship with the media:

Public enemy No. 1 for Patrick LeBlanc is the San Antonio Express-News, which first reported on the Bexar County investigation in December 2005. LeBlanc filed a lawsuit against the San Antonio newspaper in 2006 alleging that it libeled him, and the suit is still pending. (A clerk at the San Antonio courthouse said last week that there has been no activity regarding the lawsuit for a year.)

The Express-News has continued its coverage of the Premier Management/Bexar County ties, and in mid-September 2007 also reported that a sheriff in Kleberg County gave Premier a contract to run its jail commissary and received consulting fees from Premier Management.

The most recent Express-News reports were picked up and commented on by the San Antonio Lightning online newspaper, which Lightning Publisher/Editor RG Griffing describes as “conservative, but we’re also muckrakers. We think that’s a lofty thing to be.”

Last month, Griffing called LeBlanc’s Lafayette campaign headquarters to speak with him. LeBlanc, through campaign worker Judy Keller, refused to comment. During the telephone call, Griffing asks Keller if LeBlanc plans to sue him, too. Griffing then later posted a recording of the phone call on the Lightning’s Web site.

LeBlanc was weary to engage The Independent, what with its critical reporting of his connection to the Bexar County/Premier scandal. If it could land an interview with Patrick LeBlanc, what would it ask?

1. What’s your primary motivation for running for District 43 state rep?
2. What are the primary differences between yourself and Page Cortez?
3. You say you’re pro-life, but you’ve been one of the biggest local supporters of the Rudy Giuliani campaign, and Giuliani has a long record of being pro-choice. How do you reconcile that dichotomy?
4. What specifically did the San Antonio Express-News write that caused you to sue the newspaper for libel?
5. You’ve been in the private prison business for more than 20 years. Why did Premier pay consulting fees to the Kleberg County sheriff and Bexar County Sheriff Ralph Lopez’s campaign manager?
6. Former Premier employee Ian Williamson left the company in late 2006. Why did he leave, and why did he call Bexar County’s Reynolds in spring 2007 after he left Premier, asking for receipts for donations Premier made to his charities?
7. How can you assure District 43 voters that the ongoing investigation in Bexar County would not distract from your legislative duties if you are elected?

We’ll keep following this story.

Our previous of LCS, Premier Management, and the Bexar County scandal:

1. Sheriff’s Confidant Pleads Guilty in Bexar County Premier Management Scandal
2. A Closer Look at LCS Corrections
3. Premier Private Commissary Scandal Keeps Growing
4. Bexar County Sheriff Indicted
5. Private Commissary Contracts Lead to Corruption in Bexar County