Texas Prison Bid'ness

Protests are being planned next week for International Human Rights Day condemning human rights abuses against immigrants incarcerated at GEO Group's Reeves County Detention Center in Pecos, Texas.  The protests are being organized Grassroots Leadership, the ACLU of Texas, the Southwest Workers Union, and the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. The organizations have launched a new website to chronicle the ongoing troubles at Reeves.

At least nine prisoner deaths in the last four years have been reported at Reeves and the facility was home to two major prisoner uprisings last year.  Prisoners held at Reeves are segregated based on their immigration status.  Many, including several who have died, have served 5 or 10 year sentences for immigration violations.

Two actions are being planned. 

1) International Human Rights Day at GEO in New Braunfels
Thursday, December 10, 12pm-1pm
GEO Offices, 1583 Common Street, New Braunfels, TX
Austin carpool and RSVP: blibal@grassrootsleadership.org

2) March and Vigil at the Reeves County Detention Center
Saturday, December 12, 11a.m.
Reeves County Courthouse,
100 E. 4th Street, Pecos, TX

Reeves was the subject of two major investigative pieces in recent months.  Forrest Wilder's Texas Observer piece ("The Pecos Insurrection," October 2) chronicled last year's December 12th riot after the death of prisoner Jesus Manuel Galindo.  Tom Barry's Boston Review story ("A Death in Texas," November/December 2009) puts Galindo's death and the subsequent disturbances in the context of how Pecos got into the prison-building business in the first place. 

We'll post pictures and know developments from the protests. 

A prisoner was hospitalized after injuries sustained during an assault last week at the Corrections Corporation of America pre-parole transfer facility in Mineral Wells, according to the Mineral Wells Index ("Prisoner injured in disturbance at CCA facility," May 1),

A prisoner was reported transported Wednesday evening to Palo Pinto General Hospital from the Corrections Corporation of America pre-parole transfer facility with serious injuries, according to the Mineral Wells Fire Department and EMS.

According to a statement released late Thursday by CCA, “at approximately 4:45 p.m. … an inmate was found in the first-floor dayroom of housing unit 756 with injuries consistent with having been assaulted.”

According to statements by the dispatcher at the time, the caller stated that there was “blood everywhere.” Police also responded to the call but cleared within 15 minutes after speaking with a guard about the problem.

CCA's Mineral Wells facility has been home to numerous reports of disturbances, a rash of smuggling incidents, and was the subject of a three-part series here at Texas Prison Bid'ness by Nick Hudson (see part 1, part 2, and part 3).  It's also been the facility which has consistently generated heated comments from readers of this blog - both against the facility and in defense of it.  

Mineral Wells is currently debating whether to build a second private detention facility - this time an immigrant detention center proposed by Emerald Companies.  That proposal has been defeated once by local opponents, but Emerald is looking at other sites in the area.  Folks in Mineral Wells don't have far to look to see some of the potential downsides of private prisons.

News reports started circulating at the end of February regarding private management of the Miller County Correctional Facility.  The county's sherrif, Ron Stovall, requested that local officials consider allowing CEC, formerly called CiviGenics to manage the county jail. 

The first step in moving the Miller jail to private management was a tour by  Bowie County Correctional Center Warden James McCormick.  Community Education Centers (CEC) formerly called CiviGenics, manages the Bowie County jail.

Before making a final decision Miller County officials should consider the scandals that plagued privately managed prisons and jails, including those operated by CEC/Civigenics, in Texas.  They include:

• A guard was indicted at CiviGenic's McLennan County Detention Center for having sex with a female prisoner (2004).  A prisoner who escaped from the facility was charged with killing a woman while he was a fugitive and a guard was charged with facilitating the escape (2001)
• A guard at the Bowie County Correctional Center annex was arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle marijuana, tobacco and cigars into the jail (2007)
• 30 prisoners at CEC/CiviGenics Kinney County Detention Center rioted after refusing to return to their cells from an indoor recreation area (2008).

And an excellent resource for Miller County officials is the Grassroots Leadership publication "Considering a Private Jail, Prison, or Detention Center?" written by TPB contributor Bob Libal with an article on prisons as economic development by University of Texas Professor Michele Deitch. We will keep you posted on developments in Miller County.

Thanks to Matt Tedrow over at New Texas Radical for the heads up on this story about a major disturbance at CEC/CiviGenics' Kinney County Detention Center. Matt sums up the story well,

The Kinney County Detention Center in Bracketville remained in full lockdown yesterday after a Friday night riot, reports the Del Rio News Herald. According to a press release from the Kinney County Sheriff's Office, 30 prisoners refused to return to their cells from an indoor recreation area, and instead set fire to mattresses and clothing.

Note that this isn't the first prison riot in Texas this month. On Dec. 12, prisoners at the Reeves County Detention Center rioted, taking two hostages and setting fire to the building. (Texas Prison Bid'ness has more on the Reeves story here.) The media didn't offer any explanations as to why prisoners rioted in Bracketville, but I'm guessing the rioters at both facilities shared similar concerns. In addition, both are private prisons (GEO Group runs Reeves, and CEC runs Kinney County, according to their website). Is it possible that a for-profit prison cares more about its bottom line than it cares about providing humane living conditions?

It's unclear from the story if the prisoners were local detainees or held on a contract from a federal agency. According to the Del Rio News Herald ("Kinney County Detention Center riot," December 28), a substantial amount of local and state resources were used in attempting to quell the disturbance.

Still, area law enforcement, emergency medical services and firefighters remained at the facility, located on Highway 131 toward Spofford, until well after midnight Saturday morning.

The Val Verde County Rural Volunteer Fire Department was called to the detention center around 10:20 p.m. at the request of the Kinney County Sheriff’s Office. At the time, emergency responders at the scene worried the indoor fires might breach the roof and called on Val Verde County to bring additional engines, equipment and manpower.

Val Verde County fire chief Jerry Rust said he responded with five trucks and about a dozen firefighters. Unsure of the amount of water supply in the area surrounding the Kinney County Detention Center, Rust also ordered the mobilization of the fire department’s 5,000-gallon tanker truck.

While armed Texas Department of Public Safety troopers stood guard at set intervals around the perimeter of the complex, medics tended to the detention center guards who occasionally were overcome by the pepper spray used to subdue the inmates.

We'll keep you posted as we hear more.