Texas, Amidst Budget Crisis, May Not Renew Some Private Prison Contracts
By Matt Clarke
John Whitmire, D-Houston, the chairman of the state Senate’s Criminal Justice Committee wants to cut the cost of incarcerating Texas prisoners and "all options are on the table," including ending the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's leasing of 2,100 beds at the Mineral Wells Pre-Parole Transfer Facility and 2,200 beds at the Dawson State Jail in Dallas. Both prisons are operated by the Corrections Corporation of American and their use cost TDCJ $80 million a year. Whitmire asserts that, with 10,800 empty beds in TDCJ, it is foolish to rent private prison space.
"It would seem wise to get out of the private-lease beds as the contracts come up for renewal," said Whitmire.
Brad Livingston, TDCJ's executive director, disagrees with the number of open beds in the prison system. Testifying before the committee, he said that it was closer to 4,600 beds because TDCJ policy requires that four percent of the beds in the system be left vacant to allow prison managers flexibility to run the system properly.
"We have an operational capacity of 96 percent of our total capacity to provide the ability to separate ...
$20,000 Settlement in CCA’s Failure to Treat Tennessee Prisoner’s Ankle Injury
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) paid $20,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging It failed to provide proper medical care for a prisoner at the Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility.
Marcie Thomas Warrick was arrested on January 22, 2003, as a ...
CCA Pays $6,000 Settlement in Dangerous Conditions Causing Tennessee Prisoner’s Slip and Fall
Corrections Corporation of America paid $6,184.71 to settle a claim brought by Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility prisoner James A. Reese, who alleged negligence for CCA’s improper housing of him and failure to provide safe conditions.
Reese was ...
CCA Pays $400,000 in Suicide Death of Tennessee Juvenile
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) paid $400,000 to settle a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of a juvenile who committed suicide at the Shelby Training Center in Tennessee.
The complaint alleged that prisoner Alex E. Bass was known to ...
CCA Pays $120,000 in Stabbing Death of Tennessee Prison Counselor
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) paid $120,000 to settle a lawsuit in the stabbing death of one of its employees, Delbert Steed, at Hardeman County Correctional Facility in Tennessee.
Steed was a Corrections Counselor who entered a pod on January ...
CCA Pays $4,500 for Failure to Treat Tennessee Juvenile Detainee’s Eye Injury
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) paid $4,500 to settle an Eighth Amendment claim brought by a juvenile held at its Silverdale Detention Facilities in Tennessee.
The juvenile, Paul D. Lavender, was injured on January 9, 2003, while assigned ...
CCA Pays $1,000 for Failure to Protect Stabbing of Tennessee Prisoner
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) paid $1,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging the negligence of guards resulting in a prisoner being stabbed.
Prisoner David Gardner alleged that while housed at the Hardeman County Correction Facility on September 10, 200, ...
CCA Paid $3,000 Settlement to Prisoner Assaulted with Issued Lock
Correction Corporation of America (CCA) paid $3,000 to settle the lawsuit of Silverdale Correctional Facility prisoner Jeffrey L. Pines who alleged CCA was negligent in issuing a lock that was subsequently used to assault him on the head and eye. ...
CCA and Aramark Pay $2,000 Settlement in Prisoner’s Slip and Fall Suit
The Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and Aramark Correctional Services (Aramark) paid a combined $2,000 to settle a Tennessee prisoner’s slip and fall claim.
The complaint of Janice Wellington-Hammonds alleges two separate slip and fall incidents while she ...
