While we are feeling all warm and fuzzy from the latest article written by Conservatives Newt Gingrich and Pat Nolan "Prison reform: A smart way for states to save money and lives", we are expected to forget that Conservatives are responsible for the criminal justice mess we're facing in the first place.
To me this latest Conservative discussion simply serves to remind me that profit is the goal and the motive behind most of the combined efforts of Conservatives, led by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
This statement
"We can no longer afford business as usual with prisons. The criminal justice system is broken, and conservatives must lead the way in fixing it."
taken from the article shows exactly what I have been saying for years: Conservatives working to expand prison privatization and more recently the issue of immigration, first "create" a problem then without accepting responsibility for that creation, step up and suggest ways to "fix" the problem. This has been their formula for nearly 3 decades and have led us to this period in our history where 2.3 million of our neighbors are incarcerated or under some form of supervision.
I believe before Gingrich, Nolanand those other conservatives who founded "Right On Crime" can propose a reform of the judicial and criminal justice systems, they should first acknowledge responsibility for driving up the numbers of arrests, prosecutions and incarcerations in the first place. Their position is that the system has somehow become magically broken - obviously through no fault of Gingrich, Nolan or other conservatives affiliated with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
As I'm sure you've learned from my diaries in the past, ALEC bears complete responsibility for the enactment of laws such as; 3 strikes, minimum mandatory drug and gun laws, truth in sentencing laws and many more - such as SB 1070 in Arizona and similar laws now being considered in as many as 22 more states. Here is an excerpt taken from ALEC's "History" page:
"For more than 35 years, ALEC has been the ideal means of creating and delivering public policy ideas aimed at protecting and expanding our free society. Thanks to ALEC's membership, the duly elected leaders of their state legislatures, Jeffersonian principles advise and inform legislative action across the country. Literally hundreds of dedicated ALEC members have worked together to create, develop, introduce and guide to enactment many of the cutting-edge, conservative policies that have now become the law in the states. The strategic knowledge and training ALEC members have received over the years has been integral to these victories.
"Since its founding, ALEC has amassed an unmatched record of achieving ground-breaking changes in public policy. Policies such as mandatory minimum sentencing for violent criminals, teacher competency testing, pension reform, and Enterprise Zones represent just a handful of ALEC's victories in the states."
Speaking of "magic"...just prior to the issuance of the article by Gingrich (who has been a key speaker at ALEC functions over the years) ALEC updated their website. Many of the former pages open to review have now been restricted. Searching their site for key phrases such as "three strikes", "truth in sentencing" and "minimum mandatory sentencing" now returns 0 hits - with the exception of international events. It's like none of those "laws" were ever proposed by ALEC and their conservative members.
Here is the link to their "Model Legislation" proposed laws from the Public Safety and Elections "task force". Just amazing some of the proposed laws and acts ALEC has come up with and supported at the state level. Legislation involving: bail, commercial theft Corrections and reentry, Drugs and of course, election "reform". In addition under "Prisons" you'll see Prison Industries Act and Housing Out-of-State Prisoners in a Private Prison Act, among other legislation. Unfortunately you have to be a member to now read any of their proposed laws, the pages have all been restricted to members.
At the same time ALEC, Gingrich, Nolan and other conservatives are now prepared to come to our rescue and propose ways to fix our broken criminal justice system, they propose doing so by methods such as "Conditional Post-Conviction Release Bond Act". They don't just want to reduce prison populations through release...they want their corporate member, the "American Bail Coalition" (ABC) to profit from those released, by allowing them to issue bonds guaranteeing the prisoner won't re-offend. Of course, the bond will be posted by an insurer affiliated with the ABC and bond premiums paid by the prisoner to be released or his/her family or friends.
I don't know about you, but I have had it up to you know where with prison for profits! The huge problems currently faced by society were created by ALEC and their conservative principals being applied to our "safety" in a manner that allowed them to profit from incarceration. Now that the problem is so critical that states are nearly broke, they want us to believe they are now prepared to fix the problem - but in a way that still allows their corporate interests to profit from this "fix."
Why must any reform of criminal justice be accompanied by profit? This is a social issue that needs addressed and "privatizing" the solution for profit is not the answer. Concerned Conservatives should be willing to propose their fixes without a dollar value being assigned to the cure. Sure, any reform will be at a cost - but as taxpayers we've been paying for 30 years now and they've been reaping profits from those tax dollars. Now that the problem is admitted by Conservatives why not just fix it for the benefit of society and the American people and drop the pursuit of profits?
While suggesting a reform of criminal justice they are actively pursuing more and more SB 1070 inspired laws to do the same thing to immigrants they have done to our population for three decades now. Is it possible the reason for this disparity regarding criminal justice and incarceration is due to the fact the public has caught on to the lies we've been told about the need for incarceration? Do they perceive the switch to arresting and incarcerating immigrants will allow continued profits for ALEC's members, CCA and Geo Group as they move away from domestic incarceration?
Here are two excerpts from ALEC's Jan/February 2010 issue of Inside Alec:
"Resolution to Enforce Our Immigration Laws and Secure
Our Borders
"Calls on states to enforce immigration laws and end sanctuary
policies. Calls on law enforcement officers to execute their authority to arrest any person guilty of hiring, harboring, or transporting illegal immigrants and to turn over illegal immigrants to federal authorities for removal from the United States.
"No Sanctuary Cities for Illegal Immigrants Act
"The provisions of this act are intended to work together to discourage and deter the unlawful entry and presence of aliens and economic activity by persons unlawfully present in the United States."
We have to keep in mind these "model legislation" proposals by ALEC came several months prior to the introduction of SB 1070 by ALEC member Sen. Russell Pearce, (R-AZ).
How about the use of prison labor to generate profits for their corporate interests? How can Conservatives now push for reducing incarceration - which would also reduce the warm bodies needed for prison labor operations - when they know to do so would reduce the income to those partners who depend upon more and more prisoners to keep up production? Is it possible illegal or alien immigrant apprehensions will cause a change from domestic prisoner labor to immigrant prison labor?
Here is an article I ran across this past Friday at:
"Legal restrictions prevent American prison industries from running at optimum levels. If those legal barriers were repealed, here's what the optimum prison industry might look like:
"The work community or workhouse containing the industry would only make widgets now manufactured exclusively overseas, overcoming the current legal impediments to prison industries. The employer would rent space from the state or federal prison or perhaps build a separate building on or off the prison grounds to prepare for making widgets. Widget-making machinery is brought in, and it may not be the most up-to-date machinery. The proprietor of this business then hires from among the state's or federal government's inmates, choosing those it prefers without any legal concerns or restrictions, just as American businesses did 150 years ago. The wages, hours and conditions of employment are negotiated between the employer and the prospective employees and committed to writing. Employers are free to pay $1.25 per hour if prisoners will agree to work for that. There are no wage and hour legal restrictions, because prisoners don't deserve them.
"The prison industry is completely free to negotiate with the prison authorities for food, clothing, medical care, security, guards, rent and other things. The private employer must reduce the state's correctional costs or else it cannot co-locate, hire prisoners or remain a prison industry. The company buys supplies and services from off-site free businesses and unionized labor, boosting the American economy.
"This is not convict leasing, because prisoners can choose to remain in the general prison population or return there if they don't like making widgets in the new work community, subject to their contract of employment. By the same token, employers can send prisoners back to the general prison population for any reason or no reason, subject to the contract the parties have signed. Troublemakers get sent back early in the process. By exercising this selectivity, the employer keeps peace in the work community; prisoners prize these jobs. If the prisoner tries to escape, the trust account is forfeited. Fines might be imposed for other misbehavior. The longer the inmate works, the less likely the prisoner attempts escape or misbehavior. In fact, prisoners in the general prison population behave better to improve their chances of obtaining one of the better private jobs.
"Payment of wages is not to the prisoner directly, but instead into a special trust account managed by the employer, with some oversight by prison authorities. Deductions can be made for child support, crime victim restitution or for room and board at the prison. At the end of the prisoner's sentence, the prisoner has learned to work hard and receives the balance in his or her trust account, a nest egg or "freedom dues" as indentured servants were paid in the colonial era. For those serving life without parole or very long sentences, their earnings permit them to enjoy some luxury items.
"The employer makes sure the work community is a better environment than the general prison population. The work community is safe. A moral atmosphere is encouraged and enforced. Family and friends are welcomed and attracted. Inmates must abandon gang and criminal activities and help stop fights. When religious organizations run these communities, attendance at religious services can be mandated or heavily encouraged. Prisoners can have a weekly party, dance or get-together and music is encouraged. The food, rooms, yards and exercise facilities are superior to what they had in the regular prison. OSHA is enforced for the sake of industrial safety.
"Except for repairs or planned outages, prisoners run the widget-making machinery 24 hours per day, seven days per week and 52 weeks every year. Each prisoner is working up to 60 hours per week, which is easier to do without commutes, family activities and the other distractions of life among the free. Prisoners don't work 10-hour shifts; they have a nap or rest period between 5-hour shifts. American manufacturers give foreign manufacturers more competition.
"Prisoners learn job skills, teamwork, discipline, conflict resolution, manners and respect for others on the job. Habits of hard labor transfer easily to the free world. After years of 60-hour weeks, prisoners know how to work hard. It even begins to look good on the felon's resume, because a 40-hour week is then easy to perform. Rehabilitation prospects soar. Correctional expenses drop. Profits increase, as do tax revenues. Prison overcrowding lessens. Kids see their incarcerated parents more often. In fact, everybody wins... except foreign manufacturers.
"John Dewar Gleissner, Esq. graduated from Auburn University (B.A. with Honor, 1973) and Vanderbilt University School of Law (1977). He wrote "Prison and Slavery - A Surprising Comparison," a new 438-page book proposing prison reform from a conservative perspective; for sale at Amazon.com (including Kindle and a free "Look Inside" feature) http://www.amazon.com/... and BarnesandNoble.com."
So while some well known Conservative "authorities on incarceration and criminal justice" call for reform of that system, other Conservatives wish to exploit prison labor through "optimizing" prison industries.
"Profit, profit everywhere and all from your tax dollars" should be the motto of ALEC and others who have brought us this mess. Even after the prison strike by prisoners in Georgia last month, Republicants look for ways to capitalize off that as well in an article titled "Atlanta Journal-Constitution and New York Times Twist GA Prison Strike into a Fearful & Profitable Opportunity":
"The Prison industry and their corporate media seem to be paying attention to the lessons to be drawn from last month's strike action in Georgia's prisons. They're just the wrong lessons. Where most of us are inspired by the idea of folks standing up together in solidarity for their own human rights, the media see a chance to jack the fear, and assist the prison industry in creating yet another new profit center.
"Last week a commercial advertisement masquerading as a get-tough-on-prisoners op-ed appeared on the Editorial page of the Cox Communications's Atlanta area daily, the Atlanta Journal Constitution. It called smart phones in the hands of prisoners, “the most lethal weapon” inside the walls. The op-ed's author, a Mr. Bittner, is part of ITT Defense, a vendor that peddles cell-phone countermeasures to prisons, and which would like to expand its market. It was of course immediately picked and redistributed by the advertising supported prison industry CorrectionsOne.com website. That site exists to "provide Correctional officers with information and resources that enable them to keep their facility a safe and controlled environment"
"This weekend, the New York Times joined the chorus, employing Mr. Bittner's “most lethal weapon” metaphor, and explaining that the system Bittner sells is being used in state prisons in Mississippi. Twisting the nonviolent strike of Georgia prisoners into a fearful threat to public security is quite a stretch, by the NY Times did just that. They barely acknowledge the economic interests of their sources for selling monopolized phone service which contraband cell phones compete with. The Times is nothing, if not about business, and this is, as the article says, 'a pure business opportunity'".
For some anything is an excuse to look for a way to make us fear and by doing so, profit. The above is actually quite predictable to me. For years now prison authorities have told us over and over again that because of security, it is necessary to prohibit inmates from having cameras, recording devices and lately, cell phones.
I believe the "security" involved is that enjoyed by the prison staffers who abuse prisoners at will, safe in the belief that their actions and activities will remain "secret" from the general public. They have no worries about being exposed for their abusive behavior. It's not for the reasons they give: phones allow drug deals and setting up witnesses for contract hits, etc. No it is to protect them from prosecution.
Do you remember the recent articles about citizens who now videotape police activities being arrested and prosecuted for interfering with law enforcement? Those who catch authorities in the act of breaking the laws they are supposed to follow themselves, should be encouraged - not prosecuted! Authorities should welcome any evidence of wrongdoing, but they don't because "wrongdoing" is only to be pursued when it is committed by citizens - not politicians, police or prison staffers.
In every case where cameras and cell phones have been used in prison, they have exposed serious staff abuses - some of which should result in felony prosecutions. Instead we're told that we should fear prisoners having access to recording, camera or phone devices used to capture the acts complained of.
The prisoners in Georgia are paying the extreme and expected costs for their "strike" that exposed prison policy of not paying inmates for work done while in prison. According to numerous media accounts at least three of the men who participated in the strike have since received beatings for their actions. this is how prison staff respond to any challenge to their authority - and especially why they and the Unions that represent them fight to keep phones and other recording devices out of the hands of inmates.
All in all incarceration has gotten way out of control - not control of those authorized to incarcerate or contain those sentenced - of society. While we weren't looking, corporations, ALEC and other groups concentrating on power and profits took total control of our criminal justice system. Now that their acts have been exposed, they want us to believe they're ready for judicial and criminal justice reforms.
However at the same time, they work to put key people affiliated with them into powerful government posts where those individuals can use their positions to push more profits to CCA, Geo Group and others involved in privatized prisons. This is exactly the case with the recent appointment of Stacia Hylton as the U.S. Director of the Marshal's Service. Hylton was responsible for many of the contracts given over to Geo and CCA during her tenure as a "trustee" with the Office of Federal Detention and was hired as a consultant by Geo Group after she left her position as a trustee. Now she has control over the main government agency that houses federal prisoners and detainees. Guess who's going to profit from this one appointment? The only question left is how much of our tax dollars will now be diverted to Geo by Hylton?
If Conservatives really want to lead the way in reforming our judicial and criminal justices systems, they should "lead" by example. Stop manipulating the government and its programs for profits for corporations that support them. Stop ALEC's pursuit of tougher laws and longer sentences.
In other words...clean up their own back yards if they want us to really believe they are serious about correcting the problem of mass incarcerations and the tax dollars spent on funding prisons and prison industries. This talking out of both sides of their mouth won't get us anywhere. They should be made to correct the efforts of other Conservatives and ALEC-like PACs that are responsible for the quagmire that is our justice system. Once they show us they are willing to do that, we can consider their efforts as realistic and genuine. Until then, it's just more rhetoric serving to keep our eyes diverted from their true intentions.