The imprisonment of human beings at record levels is both a moral failure and an economic one — especially at a time when more and more Americans are struggling to make ends meet and when state governments confront enormous fiscal crises. This report finds, however, that mass incarceration provides a gigantic windfall for one special interest group — the private prison industry — even as current incarceration levels harm the country as a whole. While the nation’s unprecedented rate of imprisonment deprives individuals of freedom, wrests loved ones from their families, and drains the resources of governments, communities, and taxpayers, the private prison industry reaps lucrative rewards. As the public good suffers from mass incarceration, private prison companies obtain more and more government dollars, and private prison executives at the leading companies rake in enormous compensation packages, in some cases totaling millions of dollars. [source]
GEO Group Inc. & Canada
Geo Group Inc. is the second largest for-profit prison operator in the United States where the private prison sector is a $3 billion, and swiftly growing, industry. In its 2010 report the American Justice Policy Institute’s states,
GEO operates 118 correctional, detention, and residential treatment facilities encompassing approximately 80,600 beds around the world.
Founded in 1984 under the name Wackenhut Corrections Corporation, the company solidified its first contract with the Bureau of Immigration and Custody Enforcement, in 1987.
As of 2010, GEO contracts with 13 states, the Federal Bureau of Prison, the U.S. Marshals Service, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In 2010, 66 percent ($842 million) of the $842 million in revenue, 47 percent came from corrections contracts with 11 states.
On August 12, 2010 the GEO Group acquired Cornell Companies—a for-profit private prison company with revenues of over $400 million in 2009 in a merger estimated at $730 million.
With the acquisition of Cornell by GEO, the majority of private prisons are now under the management of either GEO or CCA.
According to its report, for-profit prison operators are “working to make money through harsh policies and longer sentences”. The Justice Policy Institute states that private industry hasn’t merely responded to the nation’s incarceration woes, it has actively sought to create the market conditions (ie. more prisoners) necessary to expand its business. It states that prison population has increased 16% while incarceration terms increased 120% (federal) and 33% (state).
In November, Al Jazeera also reported on the connections between harsh prison sentences, private prison corporations, and the conservative roots of GEO:
GEO Group also has deep roots in conservative politics. It is a spin-off of the old Wackenhut private eye outfit, organised by George Wackenhut and three other FBI agents.
According to historian Frank J Donner, half of Wackenhut’s staff eventually was made up of former FBI agents, along with other rightists, most notably from the John Birch Society. At the height of McCarthyism in the 1950s it boasted a list of 2.5 million “subversives”, with 10,000 names added every week – the biggest such list outside of the FBI itself. After Watergate, Wackenhut claimed it had gotten rid of the list, and it concentrated on corrections, today running prisons, detention centres and mental health facilities. It designs and builds corrections facilities for states and the federal government, which it then manages on a contract basis.
What is more, recent evidence gathered by Detention Watch indicates that these for-profit prison corporations have also been actively lobbying the federal government to shape immigration detention regulations.
Over the past four years roughly a million immigrants have been incarcerated in dangerous detention facilities in our taxpayer-financed private prison system. A growing number of news reports and investigations confirm that for many of the people funneled into this system, it is a living nightmare. Children were abused, women were raped, and men died from lack of basic medical attention.
It is particularly concerning that GEO is now wanting to operate in Canada, especially with the increase in human rights violations within GEO facilities. In January, The Examiner reported,
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that an inmate cannot bring suit in a federal court against employees of the major private prison operator Geo Group Inc, formerly called Wackenhut, for allegedly violating the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment but state law can address the claim. The ruling follows dozens of other lawsuits against GEO and hunger strikes by 12,000 California inmates due to major prison abuses, Occupy Washington D.C. targeting GEO due to its human rights violations, and a Methodist church selling its shares in the group saying holding those shares is “incompatible with Bible teachings.”
GEO Group Inc. has been lobbying the Harper government through The Parliament Group. Although privatization of prisons has not quite entered public debate, the push by the Conservative government of controversial and constitutionally questionable legislations – immigration i.e. revoking of citizenship, terrorism, omnibus crime bill, online surveillance, among others – begin to indicate a potential high rate of criminalization of individuals who have been until now considered lawful. Is it difficult to expect GEO to be lobbying for the same kinds of legislation that have ensured them with billions of profit in the U.S.?
It is not one single clause or bill, but the whole spectrum covered by all these legislations that indicates a shift to what we see now in America to have resulted in a major social, fiscal, moral failure.
This is the time to demand Parliament to stop bill C-10, C-11, C-30, disclose lobbying records, and allow for a public debate on the unconstitutional aspects of all these bills.
In Canada
Debate on Omnibus Crime Bill C-10 proves there is No Conservative Majority Mandate February 28 2012
New Canadian Prison Construction Documents March 8 2012
Star Phoenix: Plans for double-bunking at Kingston prison defy federal rules, correctional investigator says March 12 2012
Canada Detention Profile Global Detention Project
Federal prison closures blasted by union: The federal government is closing two facilities in Kingston, Ont., and one in Laval, Que. April 19 2012 | CBC
Kingston Penitentiary: Infamous prison to be shut down April 19 2012 | The Star
Kingston Penitentiary, Leclerc Institution to be closed April 19 2012 | CTV
Can you spare a prison cell? June 21 2012 | Macleans
Updates
Prison Privatization: Canada Mulls Contracting Services To Companies Lobbying For Correctional Work July 13 2012 | Huffington Post
Canada Studying Private Firms For Prisons As Budgets Fall July 10 2012 | Bloomberg
Private Prison Group Quits Mississippi, Heads North June 19 2012 | In These Times
Prison firm abandons Mississippi amid lawsuits and scathing federal study: Government finds staff misconduct at Walnut Grove among the ‘worst that we have seen in any facility anywhere in the nation’ June 19 2012 | Guardian
Private prison companies look to Canada as industry faces lawsuits in US: US states are beginning to rely less on privately run prisons, but Canada may be a land of opportunity for the two biggest firms June 19 2012 | Guardian
US private prison firms are targeting Canada for fresh opportunities as pressure builds at home on the troubled multi-billion dollar industry from human rights groups and legal actions, and as more states look to scale back their reliance on them.
Two of the biggest operators in an industry once regarded as recession-proof, Geo Group and Management and Training Corporation (MTC), have been lobbying various government departments in the Canadian capital, Ottawa.
With a massive prison overhaul plan already underway – as well as the passage in March of Bill C-10, a suite of crime legislation that most observers agree will see more Canadians face prison time and keep those already locked up behind bars for longer – it seems the American industry’s interest in its neighbour to the north could not come at a better time.
The private industry’s lobbying of Canadian lawmakers has some Canadian prison watchers worried. “There is something unethical with having corporations seeking profits from locking people up,” wrote a group of former high-ranking Canadian justice officials to the Kingston Whig-Standard newspaper in March.
Mike Murphy, marketing director for the Utah-based MTC, confirmed the company’s interest in Canada. “When the conservative government came into play we saw some headlines that they may be looking at PPP’s [private-public partnerships] and talking about doing some stuff with the private sector through their [corrections] infrastructure renewal,” he said.
“If something does happen we’ll be interested both on the design, build, finance, as well if there’s any interest in private operations, which has been kind of controversial up in Canada versus the states, where it’s pretty predominant,” added Murphy….
Further Readings
Private Prison Presentation For Investors
Prisons, Privatization, Patronage June 21 2012 | NYT
Firm Leaves Miss. After Its Prison Is Called ‘Cesspool’ by JOHN BURNETT .
Shareholders Challenging the Private Prison Industry May 25 2012. Firedoglake
Plantations, Prisons and Profits May 25 2012. New York Times
LOUISIANA INCARCERATED: How we built the world’s prison capital
Private Prison Promises Leave Texas Towns In Trouble White House Boys
Corrections firm offers states cash for prisons March 9 2012. Associated Press
Corrections Corporation Of America Sues Florida Town For Blocking New Detention Center March 9 2012. Huffington Post
CCA vs. City of Pembroke Pines: Court Files
‘Anonymous’ Targets Private Prison System in Latest Hack February 24 2012. CommonDreams
Prison Economics Help Drive Ariz. Immigration Law February 22 2012. NPR
Jailing Americans becomes a profitable business February 16 2012. RT
Prison workers decry privatization January 23 2012. Palm Beach Post
Supreme Court rejects inmate lawsuit versus Geo employees January 10 2012. Reuters
Wackenhut/GEO private prison abuse spotlight: Abused inmates cannot sue Wackenhut/GEO in federal court January 10 2012. Examiner.com
Despite past violations, GEO gets contract for management of South Texas Detention Center January 3 2012. American Independent
GEO Group’s records is under fire January 1 2012. Middle East North America Financial Network
GEO Group lands $236 million contract to house 1800 ICE detainees in South Texas – Government Security News December 11 2011. Supply Chain Review
The Shocking Ways the Corporate Prison Industry Games the System: The private prison system has rebounded, growing dramatically, and making big bucks with huge help from the Feds, as large numbers of immigrants are incarcerated November 29 2011. Alternet
Locking up profits: Private prison companies strive to keep millions behind bars to keep their profits up November 28 2011. Al Jazeera
Wells Fargo takes heat over investments in private prison industry November 10 2011. RAW Magazine
Private prisons prove that crime does pay Commentary: For-profit jails lobby hard to lock more people away November 9 2011. Wall Street Journal
Still Locking Up Fat Profits In Private Prisons With Corrections Corp. November 8 2011. Forbes
Banking on Bondage: Private Prisons and Mass Incarceration November 2 2011. American Civil Liberties Association
After 9/11, A New Era In The Business Of Detaining Immigrants September 9 2011. Huffington Post
The Math of Immigration Detention August 2011. National Immigration Forum
GEO Group posts 40% hike in profits, updates fiscal guidance August 3 2011. Proactive Investors
Private jail biz getting slammed June 13 2011 | Barrie Examiner
What is GEO Group? March 25 2011. NPR
Town Relies On Troubled Youth Prison For Profits March 25 2011. NPR
Secretary Napolitano Announces New Immigration Detention Reform Initiatives October 6 2009. DHS
Gaming_The_System: How the Political Strategies of Private Prison Companies Promote Ineffective Incarceration Policies June 2010. American Justice Policy Institute
GEO Group, Inc.: Despite a Crashing Economy, Private Prison Firm Turns a Handsome Profit March 1 2009 Corporate Watch
Private Prison Co. Again Accused of Human Rights Abuses: Immigrants in US Facilities Held in “Atmosphere of Intimidation” August 5 2008. ABC News
U.S. prison population dwarfs that of other nations April 23 2008. The New York Times
Prison Demographics Bode Well for Geo Group’s Stock February 26 2007. SmartMoney
Additional Resources
Wall Street Journal Articles on GEO
The Influence of the Private Prison Industry in Immigration Detention
Detention of Criminal Aliens: What Has Congress Bought?
Homeland Security: Immigration Detention Overview and Recommendations
A brief history of private prisons in immigration detention
Human Rights & the Obama Administration’s Immigration Detention Reforms
CCA: Privatization in Corrections: Increased Performance and Accountability Is Leading to Expansion
GEO: Federal Contractor Misconduct Database
Federal Contractor Misconduct Database (FCMD): Management & Training Corp.
How G4S is ‘securing your world’: Budgetary pressure, political will and the lack of a debate over public service privatisation has seen G4S grow exponentially June 20 2012 | Guardian
Wells Fargo behind for-profit prisons
Democracy Now. March 7 2012 : 2 US Judges Plead guilty to selling children to private prisons!
Fault Lines: Punishment and Profits: Immigration Detention
Thom Hartmann: Private Prisons Lobbying for more Prisoners?
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