(How is this guy this crooked? And he wants to be president? He's exactly what other crooked powerful unethical people look for in a candidate...-jef)
~~~~~~~~~~
Given what we know about Gov. Rick Perry's keen predilection toward
"crony capitalism," we should not be surprised to learn that he's a big
fan of private for-profit prisons.
Lobbyists and executives from that industry have contributed generously
to Perry's re-election campaign, and he returned the favor by proposing
policies that would benefit the prison industry.
"Coincidence?" asks Tim Murphy of Mother Jones magazine in a major article that examines the governor's relationships with the for-profit prison industry.
Murphy writes: "Under the banner of closing the state's $27 billion
deficit last winter, Texas Gov. Rick Perry floated a proposal to
privatize the state's prison health care network.
Whether the plan would actually save the state any money was a matter of debate, but one thing was clear: The move would have been a boon for private-prison executives and lobbyists, including Perry's former chief of staff, who had donated generously to his 2010 reelection campaign."
Whether the plan would actually save the state any money was a matter of debate, but one thing was clear: The move would have been a boon for private-prison executives and lobbyists, including Perry's former chief of staff, who had donated generously to his 2010 reelection campaign."
He added, "The plan met bipartisan resistance in the state Legislature,
but it was just one of a handful of recent proposals by Perry's office
that would have benefited the industry - all in the name of deficit
reduction."
Murphy goes on to tell us that private prisons are a big business in
Texas, where the combination of federal immigration policies and one of
the nation's largest inmate populations has led to a boom in
construction over the last two decades.
Murphy continues: "As governor, Perry, the front-runner for the GOP
presidential nomination, has supported privatizing everything from
public lands to highways, but according to Scott Henson, a
criminal-justice watchdog who runs the blog Grits for Breakfast, the
governor had remained largely quiet on the prisons issue - until this
year.
That coincided with an influx of campaign contributions from private-prison executives and lobbyists, among them his former top aide, Michael Toomey, a political powerbroker who represents the nation's largest private corrections contractor, Corrections Corporation of America [CCA]."
That coincided with an influx of campaign contributions from private-prison executives and lobbyists, among them his former top aide, Michael Toomey, a political powerbroker who represents the nation's largest private corrections contractor, Corrections Corporation of America [CCA]."
CCA, per its web site
"provides health care services to male and female inmates and youthful
offenders who are housed in local jails, detention facilities, and
correctional institutions around the country."
And there are more private prisons in Texas than in any other state in
the country. In Texas, they are charged with supervising 75,000 inmates.
(Toomey told Mother Jones he had not lobbied Perry's office or the
state Legislature on the prison health care plan; Perry's campaign did
not respond to a request for comment.)
For-profit private prison companies primarily use three strategies to
influence policy: lobbying; direct campaign contributions; and building
relationships, networks and associations. The industry's so-called
"think tank," known as ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council),
employs all three strategies and also undertakes to prepare "templates"
for legislation that will benefit its members.
For example, there is significant evidence
that ALEC worked with Arizona officials in the crafting of the infamous
"papers please" legislation. It is also reported that, on the basis of
that work, it was also able to help Alabama with the crafting of its
immigration law.
Private prison companies make substantial contributions to help support
ALEC, and senior executives from the for-profit prison industry often
work there on temporary assignments.
Given Perry's record in similar situations - for example, the
contributions from Merck & Co. and their relationship to Perry's
executive order mandating HTD inoculations to help young Texas girls
avoid cervical cancer - the Justice Policy Institute (JPI) was not a
minute too late in issuing a new report, "Gaming the System: How the Political Strategies of Private Prison Companies Promote Ineffective Incarceration Policies."
The report examines how private prison companies are able to influence
legislators and criminal justice policy, a collaboration that ultimately
results in harsher criminal justice policies and the incarceration of
more people, the JPI asserts.
The report says that, over the past 15 years, the number of people held
in all prisons in the United States has increased by 49.6 percent.
Private prison populations, during the same period, increased by 353.7
percent, according to recent federal statistic.
The providers of private prisons have been reaping the benefits. In
2010 alone, the CCA and the GEO Group, the two largest private prison
companies, had combined revenues of $2.9 billion.
The JPI report says, "not only have private prison companies benefited
from this increased incarceration, but they have helped fuel it."
The report notes a "triangle of influence" built on campaign
contributions, lobbying and relationships with current and former
elected and appointed officials. Through this strategy, private prison
companies have gained access to local, state and federal policy makers
and have back-channel influence to pass legislation that puts more
people behind bars, adds to private prison populations and generates
tremendous profits at US taxpayers' expense.
"For-profit companies exercise their political influence to protect
their market share, which in the case of corporations like GEO Group and
CCA primarily means the number of people locked up behind bars," said
Tracy Velázquez, executive director of JPI. "We need to take a hard look
at what the cost of this influence is, both to taxpayers and to the
community as a whole, in terms of the policies being lobbied for and the
outcomes for people put in private prisons.
"That their lobbying and political contributions is funded by
taxpayers, through their profits on government contracts, makes it all
the more important that people understand the role of private prisons in
our political system," Velasquez says.
Paul Ashton, principal author of "Gaming the System," noted, "This
report is built on concrete examples of the political strategies of
private prison companies.
From noting campaign donations, $835,514 to federal candidates and
$6,092,331 to state-level candidates since 2000, to the proposed plan
from Ohio Gov. John Kasich to privatize five Ohio prisons followed by
the appointment of a former CCA employee to run the Department of
Rehabilitation and Corrections, 'Gaming the System' shows that private
prison companies' interests lie in promoting their business through
maintaining political relationships rather than saving taxpayer dollars
and effectively ensuring public safety," Ashton says.
Other organizations have also investigated the private prison industry
and have their own serious concerns about their political influence. "In
the South and Southwest, the private prison industry has consistently
targeted poor communities," said Bob Libal, the Texas campaigns coordinator for Grassroots Leadership.
"We believe that it's important to fight, particularly in these
communities, to end for-profit incarceration and reduce reliance on
criminalization and detention, and ultimately build lasting movements
for social justice. This important report helps shed light onto this
particularly troubling industry," he said.
Shakyra Diaz, policy director of American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
of Ohio added, "Research has shown that private prisons do not save
taxpayer dollars and can in fact cost taxpayers more than public
prisons. Additionally, privatizing prisons may undermine cost effective
sentencing reforms and increase recidivism rates.
"Despite these welldocumented concerns, private prison companies
continue to promote policies that put money in their pockets and people
behind bars."
The JPI declared, "If states and the federal government are interested
in providing cost-effective, proven public safety strategies,
investments in private prison companies will not help achieve that goal.
Gaming the System includes a number of recommendations for criminal
justice policies that are cost-effective and will improve public safety
..."
The report says that states and the federal government "should look for
real solutions to the problem of growing jail and prison populations. A
number of states are already utilizing innovative strategies for
reducing the number of people behind bars in their state. Reducing the
number of people entering the justice system, and the amount of time
that they spend there, can lower prison populations, making private,
for-profit prisons unnecessary, and improving public safety and the
lives of individuals."
"Private prison companies have been very successful in their effort to
promote harsher sentencing policies and the privatization of
correctional systems, and when they win, we all lose," added Tracy
Velázquez, executive director of JPI.
"Taxpayers lose when their money is used to generate profits for
shareholders and to promote policies that increase incarceration;
communities lose when policies proven to be ineffective for public
safety are pushed through state legislatures, and people involved in the
criminal justice system lose when they are locked up in underfunded and
sometimes unsafe facilities," she says.
But they have not been anywhere near as successful in operating
professional-grade lockups. The federal government and several states
have shut down a number of facilities that were found to be overcrowded,
unsafe and deficient in health and hygiene. There have been a number of
deaths in detention. There has also been a lack of transparency in
dealings between the public and several leading private prison
companies.
According to Paul Ashton, principal author of the report, "While
private prison companies may try to present themselves as just meeting
existing demand for prison beds and responding to current market
conditions, in fact they have worked hard over the past decade to create
markets for their product. As revenues of private prison companies have
grown over the past decade, the companies have had more resources with
which to build political power, and they have used this power to promote
policies that lead to higher rates of incarceration."
He added: "As policymakers and the public are increasingly coming to
understand that incarceration is not only breaking the bank, but it's
also not making us safer, will this shrink the influence of private
prison companies? Or will they use their growing financial muscle to
consolidate and expand into even more areas of the justice system?"
He continues: "Much will depend on the extent that people understand
the role for-profit private prison companies have already played in
raising incarceration rates and harming people and communities, and take
steps to ensure that in the future, community safety and well-being,
and not profits, drive our justice policies. One thing is certain: in
this political game, the private prison industry will look out for their
own interests," Ashton concludes.
