The Business of Prison – The Profit of Despair

A couple of headlines caught my attention this week.  The CEO of Corrections Corporation of America, it was revealed, wrote to 48 state prison directors and made the following offer:  CCA will take over that state’s prisons if the state “guarantees 90% occupancy”, for 20 years.  States, caught in a deep budget crisis that will not let up (look at the soaring pension funding shortfalls in the states) and exploding corrections costs may be tempted to bite.  Not even considering the morality, the ethic, of a private firm holding people under color of law, imagine the effect this would have on prison reform.  States need to address sentencing, especially involving nonviolent felons. 

The truly ironic part of this story is that the CEO in question, Harley Lappin, was until a year ago the head of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.  He was forced out after his arrest for drunk driving in Annapolis, MD.  Funny, there are guys in here who did the same thing who weren’t named CEOs of any company.

The intent of the letter is clear:  CCA and the other companies who profit from the continued incarceration of people can see their blood money falling away.  As states grapple with the high cost of incarceration and end the three decade long “tough on crime” (“dumb on crime”) policies that led to an explosion in the number and cost of incarcerations, these prison profiteers see the writing on the wall.  Something has to be done to slow the spread of prison reform or their financial heyday is doomed.

Profiting from prisons is gaining a foothold as the moral issue of the decade.  Like divestment from companies doing business in Apartheid South Africa in the ‘70’s, divestment from companies profiting from the incarceration of men and women is a growing movement.

Known as the “National Prison Divestment Campaign”, this group seeks to not only convince ethical investors to divest their holdings in prison-profiteering companies, but also to raise awareness about an industry that not only profits from incarceration, but also drives local and national immigration and criminal justice policy.

In mid-February, the United Methodist Church Board of Pension and Health Benefits voted to sell nearly $1 million in stock from CCA and another prison profiteer, the GEO Group.

As the Pension Board’s Director of Communication so eloquently stated it, “We believe that profiting from incarceration is contrary to church values.”

And, as I have noted in this blog many times, it’s not just private prison ownership that needs to be challenged:  it’s any company that profits from providing a service with the prison.  Incarceration is a function of the state.  The state should not be allowed to outsource that function to avoid the actual costs of confining a person.

In Virginia, the GEO Group manages one prison – the level “3” facility at Lawrenceville.  How is it run?  It is over-run with cell phones, drugs and gang activity.  Prostitution rings operated by the female officers flourish.  Why?  It’s a private contractor with private employees.

Virginia DOC also outsources prison medical care.  If you incarcerate someone and deprive them of normal freedoms you are responsible for providing them a reasonably safe living environment, adequate healthcare, food and other daily essentials.  That’s not some “bleeding heart” theory.  That’s the law.  Private firms handling the state’s corrections responsibilities skirt that legal – and moral – responsibility.

Allowing states to outsource their responsibility is morally suspect.  Investing in companies that profit from the incarceration of fellow citizens is shameful and, in the long run, will not be financially beneficial.

It’s time to shed light on these profiteers and their blood money.

News on the Prison Reform Front

Another week and the papers report more studies concluding incarcerating nonviolent felons is a waste of taxpayer dollars and more states are moving forward with prison reform.  And Virginia?  The Governor decided to go to China for some authentic take out.
Several dozen criminal justice organizations, led by the “Sentencing Project” (and including the National Council of Churches of Christ, the Progressive National Baptist Convention and the United Methodist Church) have petitioned Congress to change Federal sentencing policies.  In an open letter to the chairs and ranking members of the Budget, Appropriations and Judiciary committees, they stated the following:

“In this time of economic crisis, our government wastes precious dollars when it incarcerates non-violent offenders whose actions would be better addressed through alternatives that hold them accountable at less cost to taxpayers.  Being sentenced to prison should be the option of last resort.”
Brilliant!  I wish Governor Bob saw that report.  Unfortunately, he was busy choosing between Moo Shoo Pork and Chicken Lo Mein. 

Two criminologists recently released studies concluding spending to incarcerate doesn’t lower crime; depending on police in communities does.  Both Lawrence Sherman of the University of Maryland and Daniel Nagin of Carnegie Melon University reported their findings at a crime prevention symposium in Washington, DC.
Both argued for less incarceration and more contact between the police, the released offenders and the community.

As Daniel Nagin explained “studies have shown that the marginal deterrent effect of increasing already lengthy sentences is modest at best.”
Yes Governor, you can have more rice and tea if you just listen for a minute!

Kentucky’s recently signed prison reform legislation made the news.  According to the Pew Center, Kentucky’s legislation is “at the forefront of research driven criminal justice policies.”  Nonviolent offenders will utilize alternative sentencing rather than take up prison bed space.  The reform package is expected to save Kentucky over $420 million dollars during the next ten years.
$420 million, that will buy a lot of egg rolls Governor!

The Wall Street Journal recently reported on studies suggesting that states need to increase spending on college programs in prison and “expand internet-based delivery” of those educational opportunities.

It is one of the ironies of prison life that they tell inmates “we want to prepare you for your return to society”, then completely isolate us from normal life activities.  Almost every job today requires some basic skill level with technology, yet inmates are prohibited from any access to computers (other than those of us who work on academic programs).  Even our IT students can’t get hands on experience working on boxes.  The instructor wants to let them break units apart.  He has a storage building full of them.  But, DOC security rules prohibit inmate access to the equipment.

The study concludes with a “no brainer” – inmate college education is the single most important determiner in reducing recidivism rates.  An inmate who earns a college diploma in prison will almost never recommit.
Perhaps Governor McDonnell would pay more attention to that message if it was on a fortune cookie.

Another week gone by and more evidence presented that Virginia’s corrections policies need reform.  The billion dollar question is when will the Governor put down the chopsticks and move Virginia in the right direction?