by Paul Wright, et al.

On June 13, 2007, former President Bush nominated Gustavus A. Puryear IV, 40, for a lifetime appointment to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.
While you’ve likely never heard of Gustavus Puryear, you may be familiar with the company he works for: Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the nation’s largest for-profit prison firm. CCA is conveniently located in the Middle District of Tennessee, and Puryear serves as the company’s general counsel – its top attorney.

Puryear’s judicial nomination did not go unnoticed; it drew the attention of a former CCA prisoner turned criminal justice advocate who opposes private prisons. By conducting extensive research, securing widespread media attention, contacting members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and recruiting organizational allies, he coordinated an opposition campaign that managed to stall – and ultimately stop – Puryear’s nomination.

Further, the ex-CCA prisoner who took down CCA’s general counsel, denying him a federal judgeship in a humiliating defeat, happens to be employed by Prison Legal News.

The Man Who Would Be Judge

So who exactly is Gustavus “Gus” Puryear? Born into a wealthy family in Atlanta, Georgia, Puryear graduated with a B.A. from Emory University in ...

The Pennsylvania based Citizens Advisory Committee on Private Prisons, Inc. (CACOPP), filed a complaint against the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for bypassing environmental and administrative policies in the contracting of a private prison's construction. The construction was halted pending the requisite procedural compliance.

The BOP contracted the building of ...

GEO Cancels Contract at Pennsylvania Jail, Looks Elsewhere for Business

by David M. Reutter

GEO Group, Inc. (formerly known as Wackenhut Corrections), the second-largest private prison company in the nation, has operated the jail in Delaware County, Pennsylvania since 1995. GEO reportedly saved the county $30 million when it built the 1,883-bed George W. Hill Correctional Facility (GHCF); in December 2007, GEO and the county agreed on an $80 million two-year contract renewal.

From all appearances it seemed the privatization of GHCF, which is the only privately-operated county jail in Pennsylvania, would result in a permanent relationship between GEO and Delaware County. However, citing “underperformance and frequent litigation,” GEO gave notice that it planned to terminate the contract on December 31, 2008. Today the jail is under another company’s management.

While GEO’s premature pullout was unexpected, it was hardly surprising. PLN’s December 2007 cover story detailed numerous problems at GHCF, which have resulted in several six-figure settlements brought by families of prisoners who died at the facility. Many of those cases involved deficient medical care, mental health care or supervision by jail staff.

GEO’s cancellation of its contract to operate the Delaware County facility came only four months after another ...

by Derek S. Limburg

Privately-operated halfway houses across the nation have become embroiled in scandals and mismanagement. The wrongdoing stretches from the top to the bottom, from former politicians and corrections commissioners to staff and prisoners.

Reports surfaced in June 2008 about operational problems at The Villa, a halfway house in Greeley, Colorado run by Avalon Correctional Services. A Colorado Public Safety Report on The Villa, also known as The Restitution Center, detailed numerous violations – including insufficient security, unqualified staff, falsified drug tests, and sexual relations between staff and prisoners. The sex reportedly took place in an area called the “Boom-Boom Room,” and weapons and drugs were found in a tunnel at the facility.

Following the report, the state canceled its contract with Avalon. The residents of The Villa were moved to a community corrections program at the Weld County Jail, and management of the program was assumed by another company, Intervention, Inc.
Reports concerning two other Colorado halfway houses operated by Avalon, the Phoenix Center and the Loft House, also found problems – including poor training, inadequate record-keeping and high employee turnover.

“It makes you question whether [the company] should still be in business in Colorado,” said state ...

Prisoners Can Sue Virginia DOC’s Contract Medical Provider for Breach of Contract

Virginia Department of Corrections (VDOC) prisoners who receive inadequate medical care may sue the VDOC’s contract medical provider for breach of contract, the Supreme Court of Virginia decided on June 8, 2007.

Prison Health Services (PHS) is a contract medical provider for certain VDOC facilities. PHS’s contract requires that it “provide cost effective, quality inmate health care services for up to approximately 6,000 inmates (initially) housed at four correctional facilities.” The scope of health care services required by the contract includes all “medical, dental, and mental health services.”

In 2005, Oludare Ogunde, a prisoner at the Greensville Correctional Center, filed suit against PHS and several of its employees. Ogunde’s complaint alleged that he suffered from “severe acne cysts and acne keloidalis,” and that this condition was aggravated by shaving.

According to Ogunde, PHS and its employees denied Ogunde treatment for his skin condition and failed to provide him with an exemption from the VDOC’s grooming policy, VDOC grooming regulations prohibit male prisoners from wearing goatees or beards.

Ogunde argued that PHS’s failure to treat him and provide an exemption to the grooming policy amounted to breach of PHS’s ...

District of Columbia Rehabilitation Program Contractor Liable in Juvenile’s Death; $1,000,000 Verdict Upheld

by Bob Williams

Re-Direct, Inc., a company that provides services for juveniles for the District of Columbia, appealed the denial of a post?trial motion for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial after being ...

Ohio Court Releases Prisoners from Private Jail to Protect Them

One thing about privately-operated jails and prisons is fairly consistent: They rarely function properly. A series of incidents at Ohio’s Columbiana County Jail, which is operated by CiviGenics, Inc. (a subsidiary of Community Education Centers), is the latest example of that common deficiency.

Problems first became apparent when three guards were charged with smuggling drugs. One of those guards, Jason L. Jackson, is scheduled to go to trial on March 31, 2009 on a felony count of bringing marijuana into the facility. The other guards, Nathanial Barnes and Gary J. Ludt, pleaded guilty to contraband smuggling. Ludt received an 18-month sentence while Barnes will be sentenced later this year.

In June 2008, a prisoner escaped after kicking out an unsecured window in the minimum-security wing of the jail. Then on August 17, 2008, four prisoners broke into a locked closet and opened a panel that exposed duct work leading to the roof. They escaped after leaving dummies in their bunks covered with sheets; all four were captured the following day. According to a post-incident report, several CiviGenics employees had failed to follow proper procedures. Three were fired.

The jail is ...

by David M. Reutter

Deficiencies in medical care and failure to comply with contractual obligations have resulted in the termination of two contracts for Correctional Medical Services (CMS). The contracts were worth a total of $95 million annually.

Regular PLN readers will not be surprised at the reasons behind the contract terminations. What is unusual is that the contracts were canceled, as prison officials normally tolerate CMS’s substandard performance in order to save money; also, using a private contractor allows them to deflect blame for inept medical care.

In March 2008, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine terminated CMS’s contract to provide medical, dental and pharmaceutical services to the state’s prisoners. The contract had an annual value of $85 million. CMS has provided health care to New Jersey prisoners since 1996.

The New Jersey State Inspector issued a report in October 2007 that was highly critical of CMS, finding the company had overcharged the state and failed to comply with its contractual obligations. The state auditor issued a report with similar findings.

CMS officials seemed shocked that the contract was going to be terminated, especially in the midst of a four-year contract term. “The state has been extremely satisfied with our ...

The family of Timothy Souders has agreed to accept $3.25 to settle a wrongful death claim relating to Timothy’s death. Timothy, 21, was the subject of a May 2007 PLN cover article, and a February 11, 2007, report on 60 Minutes.

Timothy was one of the millions of mentally ill ...

Private Prison Companies Not Forthcoming About Immigration Detainee Deaths

by Matt Clarke

The private prison industry has benefited from a recent influx of contracts from the federal government to incarcerate immigration detainees. Such contracts are more lucrative than those for imprisoning state prisoners. However, questions have been raised about the quality of medical care provided to immigration detainees, and neither the federal government nor private prison contractors have been forthcoming about details related to the deaths of 66 detainees between January 2004 and November 2007.

There wouldn’t even be a public list of immigration prisoner deaths had Congress not demanded one from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Congress became involved after relatives of deceased detainees complained about the lack of information they were given about the deaths, and how they had not been told their relatives were sick or in the hospital.

One example was the death of Boubacar Bah, 52, a native of Guinea who had a successful New York business creating handmade clothes. Bah had overstayed his tourist visa. He returned to Guinea to visit his family; while he was abroad his application for a green card was denied, revoking his permission to reenter the country. He was ...