2008 Woodie Awards
A night of civil rights festivities
Sari Shutrum-Boward
Issue date: 2/22/08 Section: News
"There are a number of reasons to be against private prisons," Kahn said. "There is pressure to build more prisons and to fill them. There is a moral issue here that raises questions. Studies show the conditions in private prisons are worse than public prisons across the border."
In the 1980s, strict drug laws and sentencing rules resulted in overcrowded prisons. Taxpayers objected to paying for the building of more public prisons. The state and local governments got together, and their decision to reduce overcrowding in public prisons resulted in opening for-profit private prisons.
The United States incarcerates five to six times more people than other countries.
According to the Grassroots Leadership newsletter, in 2004 there were riots at three Correction Corporation of America (CCA) facilities in Colorado, Mississippi and Oklahoma. In Nashville, Tenn., a female prisoner at the CCA-managed Metro Detention center was beaten to death.
According to the Grassroots Leadership 2003 report, "CCA has been buffeted by numerous lawsuits and scandals involving allegations of failure to provide adequate medical care to prisoners; failure to control violence in its prisons; substandard conditions that have resulted in prisoners' protests and uprising; criminal activity on the part of some CCA employees, including the sale of illegal drugs to prisoners; and escapes, which in the case of at least two facilities include inadvertent releases of prisoners who were supposed to remain in custody."
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) reported that taxpayers do not save money on private prisons.
According to AFSCME, "a 2005 internal review by the Florida Department of Management Services found that CCA and the GEO Group were allowed to over bill the state nearly $13 million. In addition, the report found that the state paid CCA and the GEO Group for guards who didn't exist and let the companies avoid minimal requirements for nurses, vocational trainers and teachers."
Kahn's discussion about private prisons questioned the meaning of freedom.
"A lot of Americans think they're free, but they've never challenged themselves in that belief," Shelton said. "We are taught that we're free and we believe it, often without understanding why we think that or what freedom means to begin with. What does it mean to be 'free' in a nation that has five percent of the world's population and 20 percent of the world's prisoners? The evening with Si provided a good space to think about these issues."
In the 1980s, strict drug laws and sentencing rules resulted in overcrowded prisons. Taxpayers objected to paying for the building of more public prisons. The state and local governments got together, and their decision to reduce overcrowding in public prisons resulted in opening for-profit private prisons.
The United States incarcerates five to six times more people than other countries.
According to the Grassroots Leadership newsletter, in 2004 there were riots at three Correction Corporation of America (CCA) facilities in Colorado, Mississippi and Oklahoma. In Nashville, Tenn., a female prisoner at the CCA-managed Metro Detention center was beaten to death.
According to the Grassroots Leadership 2003 report, "CCA has been buffeted by numerous lawsuits and scandals involving allegations of failure to provide adequate medical care to prisoners; failure to control violence in its prisons; substandard conditions that have resulted in prisoners' protests and uprising; criminal activity on the part of some CCA employees, including the sale of illegal drugs to prisoners; and escapes, which in the case of at least two facilities include inadvertent releases of prisoners who were supposed to remain in custody."
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) reported that taxpayers do not save money on private prisons.
According to AFSCME, "a 2005 internal review by the Florida Department of Management Services found that CCA and the GEO Group were allowed to over bill the state nearly $13 million. In addition, the report found that the state paid CCA and the GEO Group for guards who didn't exist and let the companies avoid minimal requirements for nurses, vocational trainers and teachers."
Kahn's discussion about private prisons questioned the meaning of freedom.
"A lot of Americans think they're free, but they've never challenged themselves in that belief," Shelton said. "We are taught that we're free and we believe it, often without understanding why we think that or what freedom means to begin with. What does it mean to be 'free' in a nation that has five percent of the world's population and 20 percent of the world's prisoners? The evening with Si provided a good space to think about these issues."
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Matthew Shelton
posted 2/24/08 @ 1:33 PM EST
Yay, Josh! Making me proud!
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