According to a report by CommonDreams.org, on October 31, 2012, employees of Corrections Corporation of America were used in drug sweeps of public school students in Arizona.
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) is the largest for-profit, prison detention center operator. They make a profit, off of inmates. There has been much controversy over the governments use of private prisons, including a recent story where 8 inmates filed a lawsuit against CCA for letting gangs control their Idaho Correctional Center, in an effort to save money.
In a related story, the owners of two private, for-profit juvenile facilities, in Pennsylvania, were giving kickbacks to a judge, Mark Ciavarella, for sentencing children to extended stays in juvenile detention for offenses as minimal as mocking a principal on Myspace or trespassing in a vacant building. This scandal became known as "kids-for-cash".
It now looks as if CCA will begin hunting children directly at school. It's a great business model, if you're a psychopath.
If you haven't heard yet, America has prisons that are owned by private corporations. Think about that. A person, or group of people, are looking at inmates, as profit. Like a business, they look for new ways to generate profit, and cut expenses. In the latest case shining light on this shady operation, eight inmates at the Idaho Correctional Center are suing the Corrections Corporation of America, contending the company is working with a few powerful prison gangs to control the facility south of Boise and spend less on staffing.
In another recent story involving private prisons, the owners of two private, for-profit juvenile facilities, in Pennsylvania, were giving kickbacks to a judge, Mark Ciavarella, for sentencing children to extended stays in juvenile detention for offenses as minimal as mocking a principal on Myspace or trespassing in a vacant building. This scandal became known as "kids-for-cash". The judge was eventually sentenced to a lengthy prison term, but not before he ruined many children's lives. In one heartbreaking story, a seventeen year old boy, with no prior record, committed suicide shortly after being released from a private prison that Judge Mark Ciavarella ordered him to be locked up at. The boy's mother angrily confronted Ciavarella after a court appearance. You can watch the video here:
The two big companies profiting off of private prisons are Corrections Corporation of America, and The Geo Group Inc. These two companies have combined revenue of over $3 billion. These companies spend millions on lobbying federal and state governments, as well as millions in political contributions to candidates.
Over the past 15 years, the number of people held in all prisons in the United States has increased by 49.6 percent, while private prison populations have increased by 353.7 percent, as governments are increasingly looking to privatize their prisons to save money.
