U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s unsettling history of extremely close ties to private prison operator GEO Group and the possible federal investigation into Florida’s private prison giveaway of more than $120 million

Newly minted U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) was sworn in on January 5, 2011 with unfinished business back home.

Rubio, as former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives (R-Miami, 2006-2008) – as well as other state GOP lawmakers and party contributors – are currently the likely subjects of multiple wide-ranging state and federal investigations conducted by the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) into improper use of credit cards issued by the Republican Party of Florida, as well as tax evasion and improper budgetary appropriations.

One such set of appropriations and legislative actions reportedly being investigated by federal authorities are those which led to the development of the state’s largest private prison, the Blackwater River Correctional Facility (Blackwater CF), which opened its gates for business in November 2010. The prison was designed and is operated by Florida-based GEO Group, Inc., the nation’s second-largest private prison firm.
To date, investigations into members of the Florida Republican Party, and into party donors, have resulted in multiple indictments. ...

The District of Columbia (DC) paid $10,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by prisoner Aloyouis Chelsey for injuries sustained at DC’s Correctional Treatment Facility (CTF), which is operated by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).

Chelsey advised a guard on May 2, 2001, that he had been verbally and physically threatened ...

The District of Columbia (D.C.) paid $25,000 to settle the negligence lawsuit of prisoner Donnell Thomas for injuries sustained while helping unload supplies from an Aramark food service vehicle.

While being held at Lorton Correctional Facility on August 4, 2000, Thomas was working in the kitchen when Cpl. Knox instructed ...

The District of Columbia paid $50,000 to settle a lawsuit by prisoner George Carter that claimed Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) counsel falsified court orders in his habeas corpus proceeding.

While at D.C.’s Central Treatment Facility (CTF) Carter was, according to his complaint, falsely accused of assaulting a guard. The ...

On March 22, 2005, a prisoner of the District of Columbia and Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) settled for $15,000 his suit alleging medical negligence for a botched dental procedure.

James Moore was admitted to a D.C. hospital on October 25, 1995, where an inflamed wisdom tooth was removed. For ...

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has rejected an attempt by the parties in a suit against Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) to manufacture appellate jurisdiction for an interlocutory appeal from a district court’s grant of partial summary judgment to CCA officials.

David Clos sued CCA officials after suffering discrimination tied to his severe hearing loss. After the district granted partial summary judgment for CCA on some of Clos’s claims, the parties convinced the district court to certify its partial summary judgment order for interlocutory appeal. No explanation was given by the district court for why “no just reason for delay” existed for an immediate appeal.

The Eight Circuit held that the district court had abused its discretion in certifying the case for appeal. There was “no basis for finding Clos will face hardship or injustice by waiting to appeal his remaining claim,” the Eight Circuit wrote. “This case is indistinguishable from any civil rights action where some, but not all, claims are resolved by summary judgment.” The appeal was accordingly dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. See: Clos v. Corrections Corporation of America, 597 F.3d 925 (8th Cir. 2010).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed a grant of summary judgment in favor of a nurse at Illinois’ Peoria County Jail (PCJ) who was accused of providing deliberately indifferent medical care to a prisoner.

India Taylor was arrested and taken to the PCJ on October 15, 2003. Taylor, who suffered from congestive heart failure, did not feel well during the booking process. She complained of chest pain and told guards the next morning that she was vomiting and suffering from heroin withdrawal.

Around 9 A.M., Taylor saw Pam Hibbert, a contract nurse at PCJ. Taylor’s blood pressure was up and she continued to complain of nausea. Hibbert, however, sent Taylor back to her cell. Later, during a video bond hearing, Taylor vomited violently. Guards present during the hearing collected Taylor’s vomit and notified Nurse Hibbert.

Rather than see Taylor, Hibbert told guards to have her fill out a sick-call request and she would be seen in the morning. Hibbert was getting off in a few minutes and did not want to take time to deal with Taylor. Besides, Hibbert thought Taylor was faking her illness in order to obtain drugs.

Guards helped Taylor fill out the ...

by Matt Clarke

On August 19, 2010, the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) issued a report concerning the July 30 escape of three prisoners from a privately-operated prison in Kingman, Arizona. The report was highly critical of Management and Training Corporation (MTC), the for-profit firm that runs the Kingman facility.

On the same day the ADC report was released, the last of the three escapees was captured along with an accomplice. Unfortunately, the escapees left behind a deadly trail of crime that included hijacking 18-wheelers, kidnapping, two murders, aggravated assaults and a shootout with police.

The escape from the MTC-operated facility also temporarily suspended Arizona’s efforts to privatize 5,000 more prison beds in the state. [See: PLN, Sept. 2010, p.42].

John Charles McCluskey, 45, was a year into a 15-year sentence for attempted second-degree murder when he convinced his cousin and fiancée, Casslyn Mae Welch, 44, to aid in the escape. Welch approached the prison unnoticed and tossed a pair of bolt cutters over the perimeter fence. McClusky and two other prisoners – Tracy Allen Province, who had served seven years of a life sentence for murder and robbery, and Daniel Renwick, who had served eight years for murder – ...

In a two-week period in July 2010, two doctors employed by Prison Health Services (PHS) were involved in scandals that led one to resign while the other was arrested.

PHS regional medical director Dr. Trevor P. Parks was accused of not being certified to provide healthcare for the 12,000 prisoners covered by a $123 million contract between PHS and the City of New York to supply medical treatment at Rikers Island and the Manhattan Detention Center.

In light of questions concerning his board certification for internal medicine, Parks resigned on July 14, 2010. PLN had previously reported that Dr. Parks operated a PHS subsidiary called PHS Medical Services P.C. that provided healthcare services at Rikers Island – an arrangement that state officials called a sham. [See: PLN, Nov. 2006, p.6]. Dr. Parks said he had resigned to concentrate on his appeal of a recommendation by the American Board of Internal Medicine to suspend his certification.

“They’re just concerned with something that I got caught up in, and I’d really rather not go into it,” he stated. PHS’s contract with the city requires the company’s medical director to be board certified. Until they were notified by a reporter, city health officials, ...

On February 16, 2010, a California U.S. District Court certified a class action lawsuit against Nashville, Tennessee-based private prison transport company TransCor America for transporting prisoners more than 24 continuous hours without giving them an opportunity to rest overnight in a bed.

The class action suit was brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and alleged that TransCor subjected prisoners to cruel and unusual punishment during long journeys exceeding 24 hours by keeping them shackled and in a cage while depriving them of access to regular food, water or toilet facilities, and for failing to allow them to sleep overnight in a bunk. The lawsuit also raises claims under California’s Tom Bane Civil Rights Act, Cal. Civil Code § 52.1. The plaintiffs filed a motion for class certification, which TransCor opposed.

Accepting as true any substantive allegations made in the complaint, the district court held that the requested class of “all pretrial detainees who were transported by TransCor America, LLC, its agents, or employees, and forced to remain in the transport van for more than 24 hours” was too broad. The court limited the claims to pretrial detainees and prisoners who were transported for more than 24 hours from February ...