Texas Prison Bid'ness

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) released its latest numbers in June regarding the national rate of incarceration and provided state level data as well. According to the BJS the total number of prisoners in custody during 2007 numbered 2.3 million.

As usual, Texas ranks high among the number of prisoners incarceated in state custody. Prisoners in Texas comprised nearly 173,000 of the total number of people in federal and state custody. Additionally, 18,720 of Texas prisoners were detained in private facilities (see chart below); a total 0f 10.8% of prisoners in the state. During 2006, Texas imprisoned about 18,220 prisoners in private facilities for percen-change of plus 2.74% in a single year.

Last year, lawmakers passed reforms meant to reduce the state's reliance on incarceration. Those policies have been lauded by the recent Pew Report and other states as a model. Time will tell if Texas is able to minimize it's overal prison population, and the number of people in private lockups as well.

Largest 20 State Private Prison Populations 2007

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics

Clarksville City Council, in Red River County, is considering a private prison facility. According to recent reports in The Paris News city officials are competing for Emerald Correctional Management to build the facility in their backyard.

Clarksville City Council gave its approval to the submission at a May 20 meeting. If approved, the facility will be under private contract for 10 years. After bond retirement, the title reverts to the city.

From reports, it seems that Emerald will target its efforts to federal agencies to imprison undocumented immigrants and be the latest site for expanding national detention capacity.

The facility would house 2,500 [undocumented immigrants] and would be considered a medium/minimum security facility.

Officials mistakenly think that building this prison in their backyard would contribute to economic development and increase jobs in the area.

Folks in Clarksville need to learn from the research that debunks that myth. For example the research published by blog contributor Bob Libal and his colleagues at Grassroots Leadership. They developed the report Considering a Private Jail, Prison, or Detention Center as a resource for public officials considering these decisions. The report debunks the myth that prisons contribute to economic growth.

The research reveals that prisons have not played a prominent role in economic growth in either metropolitan or rural counties. Moreover, new prisons actually impeded private and total economic growth in depressed rural counties. Contrary to the widely held beliefs about this subject, there was no evidence at all that prisons helped to lower unemployment rates, raise median family incomes, or increase earnings.

It will be interesting to track the developments that happen in Clarksville and whether Red River County will be the latest location for a private prison.

According to recent reports in the Taylor Daily Press, the Taylor Independent School Board (TISD) has rejected an agreement with the T. Don Hutto Immigrant Detention Center. The agreement would have permitted immigrant detainees to be housed in the old middle school gymnasium in the event of an emergency.

The Hutto facility is managed by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). Hutto officials are trying to lay the groundwork for an eventual agreement to be reached between the private prison company and school officials.

Several board members including President James “Bo” Stiles, Assistant Secretary Kathy Cotner and Anita Volek, along with Superintendent Bruce Scott and Assistant Superintendent David Krueger, were given a private tour of the facility May 1.

Volek said she was impressed with the facility, its school and the children in it.

“It puts us between a rock and a hard place, because we’re all about kids, too,” she said.

Hutto officials are making a case for why it is ok to house detainees at the school. Ironically, its the same argument for why these people should not be incarcerated at all.

[Hutto Facility Adminstrator Evenlyn] Hernandez stressed that the individuals housed in the facility are non-criminals, and that the CCA screens potential occupants with a background check before they are housed there. Those found to have a criminal history are not placed in the facility, she said.

As TISD board members become more familiar with the private prison, I fear that they will become more receptive to contracts with CCA around the Hutto facility. It is certainly something we will be monitoring as developments progress.

PBS's acclaimed series NOW will have a show on private prisons this evening. The show features commentary from Texas Prison Bid'ness founder Judy Greene, and focuses on a fight over a CCA prison proposal in Colorado. Here's a portion of the release from PBS:

Corporations are running many Americans prisons, but will they put profits before prisoners?

A grim new statistic: One in every hundred Americans is now locked behind bars. As the prison population grows faster than the government can build prisons, private companies see an opportunity for profit.

This week, NOW on PBS investigates the government's trend to outsource prisons and prisoners to the private sector. Critics accuse private prisons of standing in the way of sentencing reform and sacrificing public safety to maximize profits.

"The notion that a corporation making a profit off this practice is more important to us than public safety or the human rights of prisoners is outrageous," Judy Greene, a criminal policy analyst, tells NOW on PBS.

Companies like Corrections Corporation of America say they're doing their part to solve the problem of inmate overflow and a shortage of beds without sacrificing safety.

"You don't cut corners to where it's going to be a safety, security or health issue," Richard Smelser, warden of the Crowley Correctional Facility in Colorado tells NOW. The prison is run by Corrections Corporation, which had revenues of over $1.4 billion last year.

The Crowley prison made headlines back in 2004 after a major prison riot caused overwhelmed staff to run away from the facility. Outside law enforcement had to come in to put down the uprising.

"The problems that were identified in the wake of the riot are typical of the private prison industry and happen over and over again," Green tells NOW.

After the show has aired, you should be able to view it online.

McClennan County officials recently approved the hire of 12 new jailers in order to comply with staffing standards stipulated by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS). According to reports in the Waco Tribune, the decision was reached after two hour closed door meeting with their county attorneys.

TCJS issued a notice of noncompliance to local officials in December of 2007, when the facility failed state inspection due to staffing concerns. According to reports, as of April 2008, the county had not responded. The jail is run by CivicGenics, a private prison corporation that is a subsidiary of Community Education Centers, Inc.

McLennan County pays $27.50 a day for each of the first 50 inmates housed in the CiviGenics facility on Columbus Avenue. The rate goes to $28.50 a day for 51 to 70 inmates, and $31 for each inmate from 71 to 90. After 91 inmates, the rate jumps to $41.95 a day, officials have said.

County officials authorized an additional $203,000 to hire 12 new employees to staff the jail. The facility has been out of compliance with TCJS for years as it has struggled with jail crowding issues. Rather than identify community alternatives to reduce incarceration, like rethinking law enforcement practices, the county has received variances from the state agency to meet capacity demands.

While officials, have already authorized funding they are currently exploring other options.

They hired a jail magistrate this year to try to set bonds faster and ease overcrowding. They also have asked for an attorney general’s opinion to answer a number of legal concerns about the use of ankle monitors, proposed to help clear out the jail while monitoring alleged offenders.

Yet, the struggle to find jail capacity continues and the consequences are real -- resulting in additional expenses of taxpayer's money. Earlier this week, the privately managed facility held 965 detainees, when the current capacity is only 931.

Last month, the GEO Group presented information at the Lehman Brothers 2008 High Yield Loan and Syndicated Loan Conference. On the call, George Zoley, the company’s Chairman and CEO, discussed why GEO is a good investment for Lehman Brothers stockholders. The call makes clear that private prison profiteers continue to exploit the poor sentencing policies in the United States and across the world that result in the over use of incarceration as a social policy.

It was truly remarkable and disturbing how Zoley talked about the nation’s significantly large prison population in terms of profit and revenue. His presentation mentioned nothing regarding the human factor of prison expansion and how GEO’s large market share contributes to overuse of a failed social policy and the disintegration of communities.

Zoley mentioned that GEO has a total global bed capacity of 59,000 beds. That makes GEO the 7th largest prison in the U.S. directly after the state of New York; according to GEO, Texas is number three after only California and the Federal system. That number includes beds in operation and those under construction in 61 U.S. facilities and 6 international facilities in Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

According to Zoley, GEO has 7,400 beds under development in Texas alone for completion over the next few months. Those beds include:

Zoley also mentioned that two facilities are empty and GEO is looking for customers at the federal or state level to contract with. One of those prisons includes the notorious Coke County Juvenile Justice Center. The Texas Youth Commission (TYC) contracted with GEO to provide beds in the facility until late last year when scandals were widely reported in the news that young prisoners were not given proper education and forced to live in squalid conditions.

He mentioned that GEO is the world’s second largest private prison provider after the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). According to GEO figures, there are a total of 210,000 private prison beds worldwide; CCA has 36% of the global market share while GEO claims 28% of the global market share.

Zoley, the company’s top executive, emphasized that demand for prison bed space continues to be driven by U.S. social policy that has resulted in a 1 out of 100 adults in prison or jail, and 1 out of 31 adults under some form of criminal justice supervision in the form of probation, parole or imprisonment. To rationalize why GEO is a good investment, Zoley relied heavily on recent reports published by the Pew Research Center in 2007 and 2008. Those reports mention the nation’s prison population will continue to increase over the next five years and that 24 states are operating over capacity leading to an increased demand for more prison bed space.

According to Zoley, specific social policies that continue to drive private prison demand include the efforts to control borders with Mexico which lead to a need in more detention bed space. Further, he mentioned that Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) and United States Marshal Service (USMS) are consolidating contracts in an effort to reduce costs that all contribute to an increase in demand for private prison space.

GEO finances private prison construction in several ways using public bonds, 3rd party ownership, and company ownership. The company values federal clients because they offer the largest contracts and the most profitable contracts on the best terms.

The GEO presentation provided a great deal of information regarding the priorities of the private prison corporations and the overall vision of the company's senior executive. It is disturbing how Zoley and other private prison profiteers continue to exploit bad public policies in an effort to increase revenues for corporations that should not exist in the first place.

If you would like to listen to the GEO presentation, you can find it online here: GEO presentation to Lehman Brothers

A significant amount of opposition has been registered against Gustavus A. Puryear IV, general counsel since 2001 for Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). CCA is the nation's largest for-profit private prison company. As many of you know, several of the private prisons in Texas are operated by CCA. We recently posted information on CCA's latest investor phone call.

Puryear was nominated by President Bush in June of 2007 for a federal judgeship for U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Tennessee (the same jurisdiction where CCA's corporate headquarters is located).

An effort in Tennesse has developed that has worked hard to oppose the Puryear nomination. Tennesseans Against Puryear opposes the nomination for several reasons including:

• Because as CCA's general counsel, Puryear, would hold a judgeship in the same district where CCA's corporate office is located, where numerous lawsuits against CCA are filed;
• He has little trial experience in federal court; during his time at CCA he has worked to conceal damaging information about the company and has belittled prisoner litigation; and
• As the top lawyer for the nation's largest private prison company is particularly ill suited to serve as a federal judge.

We find it encouraging that community groups are working the process to hold the President accountable for his nominations. Puryear's appointment could significantly impact the ability of the judicary to oversee private prison corporations and the various government agencies that contract with them. As the nomination process continues we will keep y'all posted.

The Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the nation’s largest prison provider, held its 2007 4th Quarter conference call earlier this year. During the call, CCA updated investors regarding capacity and addressed new beds the company was bringing online as a result of increased demand for new prison beds. Company representatives emphasized that while the country is an economic downturn, the prison system is not impacted by negative economic cycles.

As of February 2008, CCA 41 owned facilities with 50,909 beds and 24 managed only facilities with 26,751 beds. The company managed contracts with 20 states, all three federal agencies, and the District of Columbia. Further, of the beds that CCA owned or managed in 2007 about 6.64% were in Texas.

CCA likes to emphasize its strong presence in the private prison industry; controlling approximately 47% of the private prison and jail beds in the nation. The company acknowledged it's own contributions to the growth of the private prison industry where staff mentioned that in 1990 private prisons numbered 10,973 and in 2007 that number increased to over 164,000 beds.

Source: CCA Q4 2007 Investor Presentation

CCA officials stated that new reports relating to a reduction in Texas prison capacity will not impact CCA contracts since the the private prison company was not planning any local expansion. However, CCA staff emphasized that the state continues to operate its prison -- public and private -- at capacity.

The call also addressed trends at the federal level, including those that would facilitate capacity expansion and benefit CCA's bottom line. Specifically, the recently passed federal FY 2008 budget supports an increase of the immigrant detention population of 32,000 prison beds up from 27,000 beds from FY 2007 and an increase from the President’s previous budget. Further, the budget authorizes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to issue future budget requests for additional capacity if needed and requires the agency to update Congress monthly on immigrant detention capacity.

Additionally, the President recently released his FY 2009 budget that increases detention population beds to 33,000. In 2005, funding for detention beds numbered only 19,000. As a result, there will be an addtional 1,000 to 1,500 new immigrant detention beds that will come online by 2009.

The call highlighted trends at the state and federal level and painted an overall picture of the direction of CCA. As advocates working to address the problem of mass incarceration and how private prison operators contribute to that growth it is truly disturbing to observe the comments of CCA represenatives who relish the nation's projected prison prison growth.

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.

PuryearIn June 2007, President Bush nominated Gustavus A. Puryear IV, a Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) lawyer, for a federal judgeship in the Middle District of Tennessee-- the same U.S. District Court where CCA is headquartered and where much of the litigation against the company takes place.

Puryear's nomination has not been approved by the US Senate (his nomination hearing was held February 12th), but if it is, a troubling conflict of interests will arise. The former CCA lobbyist would work in the same district that most lawsuits against against his old company and its executives are filed. According to Tennesseans Against Puryear, a grassroots organization opposing Puryear's nomination, the Middle District of Tennessee has handled over 260 cases naming CCA or CCA executives or staff since 2000.

CCA has put millions in Puryear's pockets, and allowing him to preside over cases in the district where his old company is headquartered may threaten the foundation of of fairness and impartiality that is central to our judicial system.

Puryear said he would recuse himself from cases involving CCA, which slightly mitigates the conflict of interest that would inherit his federal judgeship, but it still doesn't smell right. Having a wealthy corporate lawyer preside over cases in the district where his old corporation is based makes me cringe.

Puryear inexperienced

In addition to a conflict of interest inherent in a Puryear's judgeship, it seems that Puryear may not even have the proper legal qualifications to take on the role of a federal judge. Puryear has never served as a judge, he has little trial experience, and his last six years of work have been spent as a corporate lawyer.

According to Tenneseans Against Puryear, "Puryear has been actively involved in just five federal cases and only one trial in Tennessee, most recently 10 years ago." The Gannette News Service wrote about Puryear's experience problem in the end of February:

"Puryear's lack of trial experience is a greater concern than his role as a corporate lawyer and his lack of judicial service, said Professor Douglas Laycock of the University of Michigan Law School.

Puryear's lack of trial experience is likely why he received a 'qualified' rating by the American Bar Association, instead of the higher "well qualified," Laycock said.

Of the 67 judges nominated by President Bush since January 2007, 14 received a unanimous or majority 'qualified' rating. The rest had unanimous or majority 'well-qualified' ratings."

Puryear's position as general counsel and lobbyist for CCA didn't net him any trial experience, and it certainly has not prepared him for the federal bench. As the top attorney and a top executive for Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), Puryear spent much of his time at the company's Nashville headquarters stemming a tide of inmates' civil rights lawsuits, finding legal niches to shield CCA from public scrutiny, negotiating new private prison contracts, lobbying the federal government to pass pro-CCA legislation, and fighting off a slew of lawsuits brought by sharholders angered by the company's shady financial practices in 2001.

More information

• Check the Tennesseans Against Puryear website for a deeper look at Puryear's background and the problems surrounding his potential judgeship.
• Read Puryear's written responses to questions posed by the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 12, 2008
• Read the Private Corrections Institute's response to Puryear's written answers