March 2008

Several readers have contacted us over the last month with concerns about developments at Corrections Corporation of America's Mineral Wells pre-parole transfer facility. The facility, housing state prisoners awaiting transfer, was the site of a major multi-day disturbance last fall.

This time readers, including some with family members in the prison, are worried that CCA is constructing metal coverings over the dorm windows, creating a safety hazard. One reader sent pictures to illustrate the point.

Clearly, conditions that make prisoners and families feel unsafe are not good in prisons, a special importance at a facility like Mineral Wells which has experienced some major disturbances in the past years. We'll keep you posted on developments from Mineral Wells In the meantime, read our previous posts about Mineral Wells:

• Hidden Costs of Private Prisons

• Disturbance at CCA's Mineral Wells Private Prison

• Mineral Wells on Lockdown After Two Days of Disturbance

• Prisoners Escape CCA Prison

The Burnt Orange Report reports that the Hutto resolution, calling for alternatives to detention of immigrant children and their families, passed in over 60 Democratic precinct conventions in Senate District 26, covering Bexar County, and will be debated at Democratic County Conventions this Saturday.  If the resolution passes in a sufficient number of county conventions, it could become part of the state Democratic Party platform.  

According to BOR, the resolution passed in the following SD 26 precinct conventions:

Submitted to and Adopted by 61 precincts (1001, 1005, 1006, 1010, 1079, 1080, 1087, 1088, 1093, 1098, 1101, 1104, 1108, 1112, 1113, 2004, 2021, 2026, 2034, 2035, 2058, 2060, 2078, 2084, 2087, 2090, 2093, 2094, 2097, 2106, 2118, 2125, 2132, 2139, 3003, 3010, 3016, 3031, 3032, 3037, 3038, 3095, 3107, 3113, 3127, 3129, 3136, 3138, 3139, 3140, 3141, 3147, 3168, 3172, 4006, 4013, 4014, 4017, 4018, 4075, 4157); and Amended and Adopted by Precinct 2140, in Senate District 26, Bexar County, Texas, March 4, 2008. Amended by the Senate District 26 Resolutions Committee, March 16, 2008 and combined with resolutions that had been Submitted to and Adopted by Precincts 2045 and 2140 in Senate District 26, Bexar County, Texas on March 4, 2008. Amended by the Senate District 26 Resolutions Committee March 19, 2008.

We had already heard that the resolution passed in these other precinct conventions around the state:

Travis County - 136, 152, 235, 239, 250, 274, 410, 424, 426, 427, 423, 442, 431, 315, 334, 345

Harris County - 57, 268, 361, 732

Williamson County - 427, 425, 357

Brazoria County - 58

Bexar County - 3024, 3098

We'll keep you posted on how the Hutto resolution fares at the Democratic Party county conventions this Saturday.

A number of readers have alerted us about this story. Emerald Corrections is proposing yet another 1,000 bed immigrant detention center in Caldwell County ("Area's 2nd Immigrant Holding Center..." KLBJ, March 21) just months after a similar proposal was defeated after widespread community opposition on the other side of the county. This time, Emerald has proposed the private detention center in Mustang Ridge, a small town on the border between Caldwell and Travis Counties.

The issue was thrust into the public eye last week after an agenda item appeared on Creedmoor-Maha Water Supply Corporation agenda calling the proposed facility a "holding pen for wetbacks." The copy of the agenda is online. The man who put the offensive item on the Water Supply Corporation meeting agenda is Charles Laws, who in addition to his role as Creedomore-Maha Board of Directors, is also the Mayor Pro Tem of Mustang Ridge and a founder of the town which was incorporated in 1985.

Laws refused to apologize or step down after his comments drew condemnation as "open bigotry" from public officials ("Mustang Ridge Official..., Statesman, March 22) such as Austin City Council Member Mike Martinez, state Sen. Kirk Watson, and state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez. Creedmore-Maha's water contracts with the city of Austin and other entities could be in jeopardy. Not everyone in Mustang Ridge seems happy about Mr. Laws comments either. According to a News 8 story ("Mustange Ridge Residents React", March 22), several residents of the city think Mr. Laws should resign.

Lisa Munoz and her family have called Mustang Ridge home for nine years. She called the use of the phrase "very offensive." "No he does not deserve to stay in office. I don't think so," Munoz said.

The population of Mustang Ridge is just under 1,000 people. According to the Mayor more than 60 percent are Hispanic, including himself. "It was a shock to me," Mustang Ridge Mayor Alfred Vallejo said.

Of course, possibly more offensive than Mr. Laws comments is the proposed detention center itself. Proposed by Louisiana-based private prison operator Emerald Corrections, it appears the private prison would be built on speculation with the idea that it would house up to 1,000 immigrant detainees. KLBJ's story speculates that the facility might hold immigrant families like the notorious T. Don Hutto detention center.

What is more likely in my opinion is that the facility would house a combination of adult immigrant detainees contracted from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Marshals Service - including immigrants being charged criminally and incarcerated for merely crossing the border under the ludicrously wasteful (and dreadfully misnamed) Operation Streamline. Bloomberg News ("Bush Crackdown on Illegal Aliens Stretches Marshals to Limit" March 12) reported last week that this policy is already diverting resources from traditional Marshals tasks like "capturing escaped prisoners and rounding up sex offender."

We'll have more posts coming on the Mustang Ridge detention center, including a post on the economic impact of the facility. In the meantime, take a look at our previous coverage of Emerald's attempts to build a detention center in Caldwell County:

• Caldwell County Officially Rejects Private Detention Center

• Caldwell County Residents Defeat Emerald Proposal

• Caldwell County Commissioner Pitches Emerald Detention Center

• Emerald Proposes Caldwell County Detention Center

Tracie McMillan over at the Huffington Post has profiled Superdelegate Joseph F. Johnson, a former Corrections Corporation of America board member. He is a member-at-large of the Democratic National Committee from Chantilliy, Virginia - a suburb of Washington D.C.

Reports indicate that he is supporting Senator Hillary Clinton. However, he has not publicly committed to either Clinton nor Senator Barack Obama. In fact, Johnson has donated to both campaigns:

• Records show that he and Sharron Johnson (of the same address) each donated a legal maximum of $2300 to Senator Clinton's campaign in late 2007; and
• In the summer of 2007, Johnson gave $1,000 to Senator Obama.

Johnson was appointed to the board of Corrections Corporation of America, the largest operator of private prisons in the country. While serving in that position from 1996 to 1999, Johnson earned accolades and handsome rewards from CCA for convincing Washington, D.C. to send prisoners to CCA's Youngstown, Ohio prison. Johnson also has a history of lobbying for private prison companies in Texas and around the nation.

The private prison in Ohio had a notorious reputation for violence and escapes. By 1998, there had been two fatal stabbings, 44 assaults, and six escapes at the prison. Despite the egregiousness of the incidents, Johnson claims that no one's was to blame. According to McMillan's article:

Mr. Johnson nonetheless profited from the deal, receiving $2.6 million in stock options for his work linking CCA with officials in Washington, D.C. Calling his work "instrumental" to their receipt of the contract, CCA said that Mr. Johnson had "exceeded his duties and obligations" to the company and also paid him $382,000 for his "consulting services" in helping to arrange the deal, and $991,000 for NCRC's services in another CCA prison in Texas.

What an interesting development in the presidential campaign that keeps on going. As potential president-makers, the Superdelegates continue to face scrutiny. It will be interesting to see if any others are linked to private prison companies.