PRIVATE CORRECTIONS INDUSTRY

NEWS BULLETIN
Vol. 2 - No.7

Reporting on Prison Privatization and Related Issues

July 1999

Wackenhut Juvenile Facility Under Scrutiny
The Wackenhut-operated Jena Juvenile Justice Center in LaSalle Parish,
Louisiana has been cited for lax security, insufficient staff training, high
employee turnover, allegations of abuse
and inadequate medical care since' it
opened in Dec. 1998.
Louisiana's juvenile justice system
is under federal supervision as part of
an on-going lawsuit, and prison expert
John Whitley, a court-appointed monitor, has issued periodic reports about
the Wackenhut-operated juvenile facility. Whitley, formerly a warden at the
Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola
and a former warden for Wackenhut,
has criticized almost every aspect of the
Jena detention center.
In a Dec. 22, 1998 report written
shortly after a near-riot at the facility,
Whitley wrote, "This is a typical private
prison opening: the majority of the staff
unfamiliar with institutions, staff being
trained a few weeks before opening,
intake going as quickly as possible, with
problems and procedures being handled
on the go."
The near-riot, which involved 108
of the 144 juveniles then at the facility
and resulted in broken windows and
destroyed property, occurred on Dec.
19, 1998. Wackenhut officials called in
a tactical unit from the company's adult
pr.ison in Allen Parish, employees from
facilities in Arkansas and Texas, and
local sheriff's deputies. The disturbance
was quelled with tear gas; two juveniles
were taken to a hospital with minor
injuries.
Deficiencies noted by Whitley at
the Jena detention center have included

poorly trained staff ~ lax security and
inadequate education programs. In the
latter regard, he wrote in a May 24
report that "There was very little education taking place. The teachers were
sitting in the back of the classroom,
while the majority of the offenders were
asleep or talking to each other." Jena is
staffed with teachers and teacher aides
from the LaSalle Parish public school
system.
Whitley further noted that vocational education at the facility is almost
non-existant due to a lack of classrooms and tools. He said the carpentry, •
electrician and plumbing classes consist'
entirely of showing tool-handling safety
videos; when the juveniles finish viewing the tapes they watch them again.
In his most recent report of June
7, Whitley recommended a review of
staffing levels and a reduction in the
number of juveniles housed at the 276bed facility. The state corrections department, in response to Whitley's report, said it "recognizes that significant
problems still exist" at Jena.
State juvenile corrections officers
were brought in in June to train Wackenhut employees at Jena. Billy Travis,
warden of the Swanson Corr. Center for
Youth in Monroe, said his staff's initial
evaluation of Jena "looked bad," and
that his officers wiU probably remain at
the facility to provide training for several more months. The state will bill
Wackenhut for the cost of the training.
Keith Nordyke. an attorney who
represents Louisiana inmates in a longstanding federal suit, said allegations of
staff-on-juvenile abuse and juvenile-on-

juvenile violence at the Jena facility "are
completely unacceptable. n
.. Jena is another Tallulah," stated
David Utter, director of the non-;-profit
Juvenile Justice Project of LO~\lIiana,
referring to the Tallulah Corr. Center
for Youth. Nordyke agreed: "My impression of lena is that it is a TalIulah-in-waiting," he said. Conditions at
the Tallulah facility, operated by TransAmerican Development Associates until
last year, were so bad that the state
eventually had to take control (PCINB,
Aug. 1998, pg. 2).
Utter criticized the state's decision
to send juveniles to the Wackenhut-run
lena detention center, noting that private prison companies are "going to
make money rather than provide services for these kids."
Louisiana pays Wackenhut $65.82
per juvenile per day, or a total of $6.63
million a year. to house youths at the
lena facUity. "There's no question the
state is saving money, n said state Corrections Secretary Richard Stadler. "The
question is, is it worth it?"
State Rep. Jimmy Long, concerned
about negative reports concerning Jena,
has sponsored a resolution calling for
the state legislative auditor to conduct
a comprehensive evaluation comparing
state-run and privately-operated adult
and juvenUe facilities. "I just wanted to
be certain that the prisons that are
being contracted out are doing the right
job," he said. D
Sources: The Advocate (LA), luly 8,
5, June 13. 1999; The Times-Picayune,
June 26. 1999.

© 1999 - p.e.I. News Bulletin, 3193-A Parthenon Avenue, Nashville, TN 37203

P.C.I. News Bulletin

ADMINISTRIVIA'

2

CCA Aids Inmates
with AIDS

The P.C.I. News Bulletin (PCINB) is
a monthly publication that reports on
prison privatization and related issues,
primarily within the United States.

CCA has entered into a cooperative
pilot program with Stadtlanders Pharmacy to provide a 3~-day supply of
medication to prisoners with AIDS/HIV
who are released on parole from CCA's
Metro Detention Facility in Nashville,
Tennessee.
Copyright
The medication is intended to last
parolees until they can enroll in comPCINB is copyright © 1999. Non-profit
munity health care programs: "We feel
organizations and individuals acting on
a moral and ethical obligation to treat
their behalf are granted permission to
people with a fatal disease." said Dr.
reprint or copy any materials included
Chris Fletcher, CCA's managing direcin PCINB provided that source credit is
tor of health services.
The initiative, which began last
given and that such copies are for nonMay, was praised by representatives
commercial purposes only - all other
from Nashville CARES, a local AIDS
persons are required to obtain written
service agency, and the Southern Center
permission from PC/l\'B before any refor Human Rights. Pittsburgh-based·
Stadtlanders Pharmacy arranges the free
prints or copies legally can be made.
AIDS/HIV medication from pharmacompanies. apparently at little
PCINB will happily and enthusiastically ceutical
or no cost' to CCA. Stadtlanders' corpursue legal action against copyright
rections division is located in Franklin.
violators, and will provide a reward to
Tennessee.
Dr. Fletcher said the rate of HIV
persons who report copyright violations
infection at CCA's 1,200-bed Metro
that result in successful litigation or setDetention Facility is 5%; nationwide the
tlements, as determined by PCINB.
average rate among inmates is 2%. He
said another challenge would be .to
develop a similar program to provide
Address
psychotropic medication to mentally-ill
prisoners upon release.
P.C.I. News Bulletin, 3193-A Parthenon
Forty inmates at the Metro DeAvenue. Nashville, Tennessee 37203.
tention Facility have signed up for the
AlDS/HIV medication release program.
The
program has also been implemented
Legal Stuff
at six Indiana facilties, including the
The information presented in this pubCCA-operated Marion County Jail in
lication is not intended to supplant the
Indianapolis.
As early as 1994 Dr. Fletcher adservices / advice of legal or correctionsCCA wardens that free medication
vised
related professionals. The editors of and
for HIV-related treatment was available
contributors to PCINB disclaim any liato indigent prisoners. However, in a
bility, loss or risk, personal or otherwise,
memo dated Jan. 13. 1994 obtained by
peINB. he noted that CCA health serincurred as a direct or indirect consequvice
supervisors "were told that the
ence of the usc and application of any of
warden would need to authorize any use
the contents of this newsletter. So there.
of this purchasing channel because of
potential political ramifications if it became public knowledge in your area that
CCA was obtaining free medicine from
pharmaceutical companies." At the time
WANTED
Dr. Fletcher was president of Correctional Healthcare Consultants InternaArticles. clippings and news reports
tional. Inc. 0

regarding the private corrections industl)· - please include the source
and date of all materials submitted.

Sources: The Tennessean. July 26.
1999: Correctional Healthcare .Consultants International. Inc. memo.

July 1999

Hostage Situation at
CCA Facility
On June 25, 1999, four Wisconsin prisoners housed at CCA's
Whiteville Correctional Facility in
Hardeman County, Tennessee took a
guard hostage. They reportedly were
upset about being transferred to the
Tennessec prison far from their families. Neither the officer's name nor
the namcs of the prisoners involved
were released.
The inmates surrendered and
let the hostage go after a standoff of
almost twelve hours; the guard was
treated at a local hospital for i\ puncture wound to his shoulder. . i
"There were no other injuries.
other than the puncture wound. no
risk to other staff or the public and
everything was under control." said
CCA spokesperson Susan Hart. She
said the inmates had grabbed the
officer as they were leaving a shower
area just before the evening count. A
SWAT team from Jackson was caUed
in to assist during the incident but no
force was used.
Jerry Reeves, a former officer
at the Whiteville facility, criticized
CCA's security procedures. "1 feel
like the guards need to have more
training. And there should be two
guards together at all times. They
know that. but they don't push it."
he said. "Sometimes guards have no
way to contact other guards because
there's a shortage of radios."
Reeves was severely injured
when inmates beat him with a weight
lifting bar in an Aug. 5, 1998 attack
at the CCA prison (sec PCINB. Sept.
1998, pg, 7). 0
Sources: The Jackson Sun, June 30.
27. 1999; Channel 7 WBBl News.
June 26, 1999.

p.e.I. News Bulletin

Other Private Corrections
Industry Resources
Corrections and Criminal Justice
Coalition (CCJC), Route 2, Box
1144, Harpers FellY, WV 25425
(888) 315-8784; www.ccjc.com.
A consortium of anti-privatization
corrections employees' unions.
Corrections USA (CUSA), P.O.
Box 394, Newton. NH 03858
(693) 382-9707; www.cusa.org.
A professional association of public corrections employees opposed
to prison privatization.
Prison Reform Trust. 15 Northburgh Street, 2nd Floor, London,
EC 1V OJR England; phone: 01144-171-251-5070;. e-mail: prt@
prisonrefonn.demon.co.uk. Publishes
the Prison Privatisation Report Int'J
(PPRl). which covers news about
the private corrections industry in
the U.S. and abroad.
Private Corrections Project. Center
for Studies in Criminology and
Law, Univ. of Florida, Gainesville,
FL 32611 (352) 392-1025; web
site: web.crim.ufl.edlpcp. Conducts
research into prison privatization.
Note that the Project receives funding from the private corrections industry, including Correctional Services Corp., the Bobby Ross Group
and Securicor New Century.
Reason Foundation, 3415 S. Sepulveda Blvd. #400, Los Angeles,
CA 90034 (310) 391-2245; www.
reason.org. A libertarian-oriented
think-tank that favors prison priyatization. Note that the Foundation
has received funds from Securicor,
Wackenhut and U.S. Corrections.

3

CCA Defends Security
Following Escape
According to CCA officials,
thcre "was no breakdown" in security
procedures when two inmates escaped
from the company's West Tennessee
Detention Facility in Mason on May
20 (peINB, June 1999, pg. 1).
CCA executives made the security-related statement at a July 8
hearing before the legislative Select
Oversight Committee on Corrections.
They also said they had adopted
a policy of reimbursing "reasonable
expenses" incurred by state and local
law enforcement agencies due to escapes from CCA prisons. CCA will
pay about $80,000 to reimburse public agencies for the May 20 escape.
Joe Hopper, CCA's regional
director for Tennessee and three other
states, and Robert Lacy, warden of
the Mason prison, attended the committee hearing. Lacy said guards immediately noticed the escape but were
recalled when the two inmates fled
into the woods so they wouldn't contaminate their tracks.
"There was no problem with
the security system" in response to
the escape, Lacy said.
Some Tennessee lawmakers expressed concern about the security
classification of Montana prisoners
held at the CCA facility; one of the
escapees had a previous history of
escape. State senators Jim Kyle and
Robert Rochelle called for legislation
to regulate private prisons that house
out-or-state inmates (see pg. 4).
CCA regional director Hopper
said all of the Montana inmates will
bc remo\'cd from the Mason facility
by the end of September. 0
Source: Commercial Appeal (TN),
July 9, 1999.

July 1999

Disturbance at CCA
Prison in OK
In November 1998 CCA opened
the Diamondback Correctional Facility
in Watonga, Oklahoma and filled it
with prisoners from Hawaii and Indiana. According to an inmate housed
at the facility there was a great deal
of tension between the two groups of
prisoners. which led to fights.
CCA reportedly did not attempt
to separate the Hawaiian and Indiana
prisoners until early June.· and then
still allowed them to co-mingle at meal
times when they were fed in the same
dining area.
On June 22 a fight between Indiana and Hawaiian inmates broke out
as lunch was being served; the disturbance escalated until it involved
dozens of prisoners. and lasted approximately an hour. At least two inmates were injured and guards had to
use tear gas to regain control.
Afterwards the facility was placed
on lock down for two weeks; Indiana
prisoners involved in the riot were .
returned to their home state.
Indiana corrections commissioner
Ed Cohn downplayed the seriousness
of the disturbance but said the incident
indicates that Indiana would be better
off housing inmates in the state. "Outof-state is not ideal, he said.
Attempts by CCA and Wackenhut
to locate private facilities in Indiana
have inet with strong community opposition. Wackenhut's efforts to build
a 1,400-bed prison have been rebuffed
by three counties. while a CCA prison
under construction in Shoals is the
subject of pending litigation (PCINB,
June 1999. pg. 7). D
It

Sources: Journal and Courier (IN).
undated; correspondence.

RECOMMENDED READING

"A stir over private pens" by Suzanne
Smalley, the National Journal, May
I, 1999. Contact: National Journal,
1501 M Street NW, Washington, DC
20005 (202) 739-8400.

p.e.!. News Bulletin

4

July 1999

u.s. Representative Rips Private Prisons
In the News
PCINB reported last month that the
Nevada legislature had nixed Gov.
Kenny Guinn's plan to privatize the
prison medical system. Guinn had
said the proposal would save up to
$3 million. Lawmakers objected to
layoffs of more than 300 state employees if the prison medical system
was privatized; the state will renew
an existing contract with Correctional Medical Services to provide
health care at an Ely prison. Source:
The Nevada Appeal, May 12, 1999.

Polk County, Florida commissioners
have exercised a contract option to
buy and operate a 1,00S-bed jail
built by CCA (PCINB, March 1999.
pg. 3). An accountant who reviewed
Sheriff Lawrence Crow. Jr. 's cost
projections determined there would
be annual' savings of about $2.8
million if the county runs the jail
rather than CCA. Source: The Ledger (FL), June 22, 1999.
CCA has abandoned plans to build a
SOO-bed detention center in western
Iowa. Previously, officials in Shelby
County had refused to let CCA locate
a facility there following vocal opposition by area residents. Source:
The Des Moines Regjster, June 23,
1999.
The privately operated Union City
Juvenile Detention Center in Union
City, Oklahoma is working to stem
a series of escapes. The facility has
experienced five escapes since it
opened in Feb. 1999 -- more than
twice the number from the state's
three publicly-run juvenile centers
over the same time period. Source:
USA Today, July 21, 1999.
The Michigan Youth Correctional
Facility, the state's first privatelyoperated prison for juvenile offenders, began receiving its first inmates on July 27. The facility is
expected to reach full capacity by
November. Source: USA Today, July
28, 1999.

In a June 13 Washington Post
editorial, U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland
(D-OH) spoke out against a private
prison. that CCA plans to build in
Ward 8 of the District of Colwnbia.
Last March Rep. Strickland introduced a bill to curtail the growth of
the private prison industry (PCINB,
JW1e 1999, pg. 3).
Strickland, fonnerly a psychologist at an Ohio correctional facility, noted that "A public prison is
obligated to maintain a safe and secure environment for the corrections
staff, the inmates and the surrounding
community. A private prison, on the
other hand, is obligated to its corporate shareholders. The raison d'8tre
of a private prison is profit, not protection."
Rep. Strickland became involved in the private prison debate following high-profile problems at the
CCA-operated Northeast Ohio Corr.
Center in Youngsto\\n - including
stabbings, murders and escapes. He
questioned whether private prison
operators would be able to handle

large-scale inmate disturbances such
as a 1993 riot at a state correctional
facility in Lucasville. Ohio.
"When a company seeks to
profit from the incarceration of inmates, it must reduce costs." stated
Rep. Strickland. "In some cases the
profits of investors are boosted by
lowered employee salaries, reduced
benefits, limited training. risk)' staffto-prisoner ratios and sometimes the
illegal mixing of maximwn-secmity
inmates with those who have committed nonviolent crimes."
Rep. Strickland also cited the
potentially corrupting influerke of
the private prison industry on public policy. observing that companies
like CCA had hired lobbyists to influence lawmakers. "It sickens me to
think that individuals sit in corporate
boardrooms talking about increasing
their bottom line when the commodity they are dealing with is captive
hwnan lives." he concluded. 0
Source: The Washington Post, June
13,1999.

Private Prison Bill Introduced in TN
On July 8, 1999 Tennessee state
senator Robert Rochelle introduced
legislation to curtail expansion of the
private corrections industry. The regul atory bill would prohibit existing
private prisons in Tennessee from increasing their capacity and prevent
new private prison companies from
operating ,,;thin the state. CCA operates nine facilities in Tennessee.
'·Perhaps our goal should be to
SLOp [private prison expansion] now
while it is just up to our knees before
it devours us all and Tennessee be-

comes a place where any state can
dwnp prisoners they don't want to be
responsible for," said Rochelle. His
bill was prompted in part by the May
20 escape of two out-of-state inmates
from CCA's West Tenn. Detention
Facility (PCINB, June 1999, pg. 1).
"There is no good public policy
that says you ought to encourage business activity that. by the way it operates, poses a danger to citizens,"
Rochelle said. 0
Source: The Tennessean. July 9. 1999.

P.C.I. News Bulletin

July 1999

5

Focus on Cornell Corrections in Santa Fe, NM

In the News
Donnell Reed, a wheelchair-bound
inmate at the CCA-run Correctional
Treatment Facility in Washington,
D.C. died last March during an
escape attempt. Reed apparently had
sawed through bars covering an
eighth-story window, then swung
himself out on a rope made from
knotted bed sheets. He fell to his
death when the sheets gave way; an
unidentified woman loaded his body
into a car and drove him to a local
hospital. CCA guards reportedly did
not notice anything amiss. Sources:
The Nation, June 7, 1999; The
Washington Post, March IS, 1999.
Three youths escaped from the
privately operated Victor Cullen
Academy, a secure juvenile facility in
Frederick County, Maryland, on June
27, 1999. The facility is run by
Youth Services Int'l, which was
recently acquired by Corr. Services
Corp. Department of Juvenile Justice
secretary Gilbert de Jesus threatened to cancel the company's contract
unless security improvements are
made. Source: Privatization Update,
Jan.-June 1999.
On May 28, 1999, a .38 caliber
handgun w'as reported missing from
a perimeter patrol vehicle at the
Wackenhut-operated Lea Co. Corr.
FacUity in Hobbs, New Mexico.
Prison officials aren't sure what happened to the firearm. Source: The
Albuquerque Journal, July 2, 1999.
Wackenhut, which has been trying
to build a facility in Indiana, was
rebuffed by residents in Muncie and
Delaware counties. Jay Co. commissioners say they will support the
private prison. Source: USA Today,
July 19, 1999.
Concerned residents of Marion, Illinois are organizing against a private prison that Wackenhut Corrections has proposed to build near
Highway 69. Source: The Chicago
Tribune, May 28, 1999.

On June 2 The New Mexican
published an overview of Cornell
Corrections Inc., which operates an
adult jail and juvenile detention center
in Santa Fe County. The Houstonbased finn is the third largest private
prison operator in the U.S., with facilities in 12 states and the District
of Colwnbia.
Cornell announced in March
that it will expand its 1,947-bed Big
Springs Complex in Big Springs,
Texas by 722 beds. The company is
currently bidding for a 500-bed state
prison contract in Utah.
Cornell's juvenile facilities, including the Santa Fe County detention center, are operated under a corporate division caned Abraxas; the
company acquired Abraxas, an independent juvenile justice service provider, in 1997.
The New Mexican cited an incident involving negative publicity
in Cornell's past. In 1993 the company was operating the Wyatt Detention Facility in Rhode Island. Not
able to fill the beds with federal inmates, Cornell brought in 232 prisoners from North Carolina, including
18 convicted murderers - despite an
understanding that no violent inmates
would be housed at the prison.
Regarding the company's New

Mexico operations, in March 1997
Cornell won a $23.3 million contract
to build and manage a new Santa Fe
CC?unty jail and to tum the existing
jail into a juvenile facility. The jail's
design contract was awarded to a
finn that employed fonner Santa Fe
mayor Art Trujillo; a $100,000 constnlction contract went to a company
owned by county commissioner Javier Gonzales' brother-in-law.
A contract between Cornell and
Santa Fe County was neglected until
just before the jail was due to open in
summer 1998. County and co~pany
officials were unable to agree 'on the
tenns of the contract, including how
much the county would have to pay
Cornell, and the county commission
put the contract out to bid.
Cornell won the contract after
Wackenhut, its competitor, \U1expectedly withdrew. Cornell agreed to pay
startup costs for the jail and to house
275 county inmates during the first
fiscal year of operations, which ends
in July 1999. After that time the
county will pay $60 per day for each
inmate above the contractual limit,
which drops to 225 in July and 200
in fiscal year 2001. 0
Source: The New Mexican, June 2,
1999.

Judge Requests Investigation of Cornell Jail
New Mexico judge Michael Vigil
has asked the Santa Fe County Sheriff's
Department to investigate the CorneUoperated Santa Fe County jail and to
submit a report on recent problems at
the facility.
Judge Vigil said he was concerned
about rape charges brought against
Cornell guards in two separate incidents
and about the company's practice, re-

cently discontinued, of hiring convicted
felons to oversee juvenile offenders (see
PClNB, May 1999, pg. 4).
The judge also noted that on more
than one occasion the jail had released
inmates who were not supposed to be
released. 0
Source: The New Mexican, June 2,
1999.