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Arizona Department of Corrections, Arizona
July 15, 2005 Tucson Citizen
Arizona legislators have made their philosophical point. And it is costing
you $11,000 a day. It was in 2003, when Arizona prisons were badly
crowded, that the Legislature decided to act. Called into a special
session to appropriate money for building cells for 4,200 inmates, the
Legislature said it would do so only if at least 1,000 of the new beds were
in private prisons. Gov. Janet Napolitano and Corrections Director
Dora Schriro objected, saying there was no proof
it would be cheaper to send inmates to private facilities. But state
Sen. Bob Burns, R-Peoria and chairman of the Senate Appropriations
Committee, couldn't resist the private prison siren song: "To pass up
the opportunity of the private upfront money for construction to me is not
responsible fiscal management," he said back in 2003. Well, now
it's 2005 and that siren song has gone flat. Under legislative
mandate, the Department of Corrections contracted with Correctional
Services Corp. to build a 1,000-bed prison in Florence for sex
offenders. But here's the kicker: CSC will charge the state $61 a day
to house each inmate. The state could do it for $50 a day in a state
facility. The CSC bill works out to an extra $11,000 a day for Arizona
taxpayers - and an extra $4.1 million a year. So where is the
"responsible fiscal management" of which legislators
boasted? mCSC explains its higher cost by
saying it will have an "innovative rehabilitation program." We'll
see. Because the vast majority of inmates eventually are released
back into society, rehabilitation is an important part of operating a
prison. Paying more for effective rehabilitation may be worth it in the
long run. But sex offenders are among the most challenging inmates to
rehabilitate. So CSC faces a substantial challenge. Protecting the
public from harm is one of the major responsibilities of government. But
have legislators done that when they turn over the responsibility of
incarcerating dangerous inmates to a private, profit-driven company?
Private prisons make money by hiring fewer correctional officers and paying
lower wages. Private prisons also can fail to adequately meet inmates'
needs, setting the stage for escapes or disturbances inside prisons, while
leaving the state with little authority to correct mismanagement. At a CSC
facility in Texas, inmates rioted in January 2003 because, they said, they
were underfed. Arizona has a responsibility not only to its
law-abiding citizens, but also to its inmates to ensure they are properly,
safely and humanely cared for. And it has a responsibility to do so at the
most reasonable price. Instead of dictating the use of private
prisons, legislators should leave those decisions to the corrections
professionals.
Augusta Youth Development Campus, Georgia
March 30, 2005 Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A former Juvenile justice manager has filed a civil rights lawsuit against
two top officials, alleging they forced him to resign after he refused to
destroy a memo citing problems at a youth prison. Frank Berry filed suit
Friday against Department of Juvenile Justice Commissioner Albert Murray
and Deputy Commissioner Thomas L. Coleman. Berry ran mental health services
for the department for nearly three years. Seeking a jury trial and
unspecified damages, Berry claims that Coleman ordered him in February 2004
to destroy a memo he had written, and that he refused. The memo cited
mental health care shortfalls at the Augusta Youth Development Campus,
which housed "the most vulnerable youth in our system," including
some who were prone to suicide. The department's previous commissioner,
Orlando Martinez, had put the troubled Augusta youth prison into the hands
of a private company. Unique Solutions. But then Youth Services
International of Sarasota, Fla., won the contract and was due to take over
in February 2004. To ensure a smooth transition, Berry led an all-day
meeting at the youth prison with officials and staff from the contractors
and the Department of Juvenile Justice and uncovered problems. The lawsuit
was filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta. It states that in March 2004,
Murray asked Berry if he had considered the consequences of his memo before
drafting it and told Berry, "I don't like to be embarrassed."
Murray also told Berry that if Murray were asked to destroy a document,
he'd have two choices: destroy it or resign. A week later, Berry received a
letter from Coleman. It informed him that his last day of employment would
be that April 15. Murray was copied on the letter. Berry resigned. The
February 2004 memo, which Berry wrote with another staff member, concluded
that a private company poised to take over the youth prison wasn't prepared
to manage it. It warned that the company's plans for providing medical and
psychological care were inadequate. Just before the scheduled takeover,
Murray abruptly closed the Augusta facility after Unique Solutions
protested the bidding process. The youth prison reopened last November
under state control.
A former juvenile justice manager says
top officials forced him to resign for refusing to destroy a memo that
cited shortfalls in mental health care at a youth prison. Frank
Berry, who ran mental health services for the Georgia Department of
Juvenile Justice for nearly three years, says Deputy Commissioner Thomas
Coleman told him in February to get rid of a memo that outlined Berry's
concerns about the Augusta Youth Development Campus. The memo
concluded that a private company, which was about to take over the prison
that houses the state's most disturbed youngsters, was unprepared to manage
a facility that "serves the most vulnerable youth in our
system." The memo -- co-written by Berry and Dr. Shawn Allen,
the agency's administrative psychiatrist -- warned that the company's plans
for providing medical and psychological care were inadequate.
"We were told to destroy the document by one of the deputy
commissioners and ultimately the commissioner," Berry said. "I
refused to destroy it. It would have been unethical at best and
illegal at worst." One year ago, then-Commissioner Orlando
Martinez put the troubled Augusta youth prison into private hands after a
GBI probe into allegations of sex and drug sales between staff and inmates.
Since August 2003, Unique Solutions ran the youth prison. But in February,
Youth Services International of Sarasota, Fla., won the contract and was
due to take over Feb. 15. To ensure a smooth transition, Berry
chaired an all-day meeting at the facility with officials and staff from
the contractors and the Department of Juvenile Justice. According to
Berry, he and Allen left that meeting believing the contractor was not
ready to take over the facility. The company's staff had not been
adequately trained, it had retained only a part-time psychologist and it
still lacked 24-hour nursing care for emergencies -- all in violation of
the contract, Berry and Allen wrote in their memo. "These were
the sickest kids in the state, the kids who had significant mental health
problems," Berry said. "We felt a strong obligation to the kids
to report our concerns about their care." Just before the
scheduled takeover in February, Murray abruptly closed the Augusta youth
prison after Unique Solutions protested the bidding process and threatened
to seek a temporary restraining order to stop Youth Services International
from taking over. The governor recently announced the Augusta
facility would reopen in the fall under state control. (Atlanta
Journal-Constitution, July 8, 2004)
Bill Clayton Detention Center,
Littlefield, Texas
September 17, 2004 Star-Tribune
Four Texans have been jailed on charges of assisting two Wyoming inmates in
escaping from the Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas, last
week. Three of the Texans worked as guards at the prison, Littlefield
Police Chief Bill McMinn said. Arrested and charged with permitting and
facilitating the escape of a convicted felon were Roy Sosa and Yvonne
Delagarza, who both worked as guards at the detention center. They were
being held in the Lamb County Jail on $50,000 bond each and face two to 20
years in prison if convicted. Delagarza's brother, Robert Sandoval, and
Tammy Harper, another prison guard, also have been charged in the incident
with hindering the apprehension of a felon, a crime that carries a one- to
10-year prison sentence. They were also in jail on $50,000 bonds. McMinn
said the motive for the escape appears to be that the women guards, Harper
and Delagarza, were in love with the inmates.
September 16, 2004 Houston Chronicle
Four of the five federal inmates who escaped from a Frio County private
prison last month remained at large Thursday, but officials said they've
nabbed two people who helped the escapees vanish into a protective
underworld of prison-gang sympathizers. Held on charges of instigating or
aiding a federal escape are Randy Folsom, 42, and Debra Ayala, 44, both of
San Antonio. U.S. Marshals Service officials, who arrested them Wednesday,
said Folsom drove as many as four of the "Frio Five" escapees
from the Pearsall lockup Aug. 6. The five inmates exited the private prison
in daylight through cuts in the chain-link fencing of the recreation yard. Investigators also are trying to determine
whether prison personnel aided in the escape.
September 11, 2004 Casper Star Tribune
Two Wyoming inmates were back in custody Friday, after escaping from a
Texas detention center the night before. Michael Solis and Jeremiah Zupko apparently cut through a fence to escape from the
Bill Clayton Detention Center in Littlefield, Texas.
September 10, 2004 KCDB
Littlefield police arrested five people involved in a prison break at
the Bill Clayton Detention Center, a private facility in Littlefield. So
far, their investigation has led them to believe two female prison guards, Iyvonne Delagarza and Tammy Harper, may be involved.
Janet Simmons' daughter works at the prison with one of the women who is
suspected. At around 9:30 Thursday night, 35-year-old Michael Solis and
22-year-old Jeremiah Zupko cut their way through
two layers of fence and razor wire using some kind of cutting tool. Police
say they are investigating how the inmates got the tool. Police have not
figured out a motive for the prison break and why these two female guards
would have reason to help them. The inmates initially were serving time for selling methemphetamines and heroin in Wyoming.
Charles H. Hickey Jr. School, Towson,
Maryland
November 29, 2005 Baltimore Sun
As Maryland prepares to close most of the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School this
week, it has developed a backlog of tough young offenders who are being
held for weeks in juvenile jails while state officials struggle to find
places to put them. Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. announced in June that 144
residential beds at Hickey would close by tomorrow. Half of those beds have
been used for the most dangerous juvenile offenders, those who have
committed such crimes as attempted murder, carjacking, armed robbery and
assault. A jail and a sex offender treatment program are to remain open
indefinitely at Hickey until replacement facilities can be built elsewhere.
Advocates, legislators and others have long called for Hickey to be shut
down. The reform school in Baltimore County has long been criticized by
state and federal regulators for what they call a violent, dilapidated
environment that often failed to rehabilitate youngsters. Ehrlich has drawn
fire from judges, legislators, advocates and others for closing Hickey
before alternative programs were developed in Maryland.
March 29, 2005 Baltimore Sun
A former social worker with the public defender's office who said she was
raped by a 15-year-old boy she was visiting at the Charles H. Hickey Jr.
School settled a civil lawsuit yesterday against the corporations that ran
the juvenile detention center. Amy Bibighaus, 29,
will receive $125,000 from the companies that ran the juvenile detention
center in Baltimore County, lawyers on both sides of the case said
yesterday. While acknowledging that the settlement was far less than the
$20 million they had sought in the civil suit, an attorney for Bibighaus characterized the resolution as "a
complete vindication" for the social worker, who also was acquitted in
2002 by a Baltimore County judge after being charged with statutory rape
for the incident involving the juvenile detainee. "I think for her,
the idea was to be vindicated, for them to say, 'Yes, we were responsible
for what happened to you.' And I think that happened," said Anton L. Iamele, who represented Bibighaus.
Youth Services International ran the troubled Hickey School for nearly 11
years until the state decided not to renew its $16 million-a-year contract
last March. After assuming control of the juvenile detention center in Cub
Hill, state officials found it to be an out-of-control operation where
housing units reeked of urine, walls were covered in graffiti and locks
didn't work on the doors of the rooms of dozens of potentially dangerous
offenders. The lawsuit alleged that the teenager propositioned Bibighaus after asking the attorney who accompanied her
to the meeting to leave the room so he could speak with the social worker
alone. He then raped her, according to the lawsuit. When Bibighaus tried to leave the small office, a
malfunctioning lock prevented her from being able to escape, and the
absence of attentive Hickey staff members kept anyone from quickly
discovering the attack, the lawsuit alleged.
The school, which houses 188 juvenile
offenders, has been beset by violence, including abuse by staff. Recent
incidents there have included a fight in February involving four teen-agers
and a staff member that sent two youths to a hospital. The same month,
The Sun reported that a Hickey youth was assaulted by two staff members who
held him in his room and repeatedly punched him in the face. When it
took over in April, the state asked all those employed at the facility to
re-apply for their jobs, and it began screening all 320 of them. It soon
learned that the contractor - Florida-based Correctional Services
Corp./Youth Services International - had hired workers the state considers
unfit. "It's my understanding there were people here who would
not have passed background checks," said former Baltimore police
officer Joseph Newman, a Department of Juvenile Services consultant.
After a civil rights investigation, the U.S. Justice Department said in a
report last month that it believed workers with felony convictions and
histories of using excessive force were being hired at Hickey and the
Cheltenham Youth Facility, another state-run detention center, in Prince
George's County. "Notably, we found several instances where we
believe that staff with either felony convictions or previous histories of
excessive force in a juvenile detention facility were involved in incidents
of abuse," the department said in the report to the state last month.
The state pays entry-level youth supervisors between $20,000 and $25,000 -
significantly less than their counterparts in surrounding states. At
Hickey, the staff had been earning even less under the private contractor -
a little more than $19,000, Adams said. When it took over, the state
found other problems at Hickey besides the staff. In one dormitory, 24 of
30 locks on residents' doors were broken, Newman said. Many of the
buildings were dirty and had graffiti. (Baltimore Sun, May 8, 2004)
All juvenile and adult correctional
facilities must follow Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines and
supply hearing aids and interpreters for inmates with hearing impairments
so they can attend educational and rehabilitative programs, according to a
series of settlement agreements agreed to by the Department of
Justice. The DOJ issued the orders through settlement agreements with
the District of Columbia Department of Corrections, the Maryland Department
of Juvenile Services, Youth Services International Inc. and Correctional
Services Corp. in Sarasota, Fla. The juvenile complaint was filed
after a juvenile was sent to a YSI/CSC facility contracted by MDJS. The
facility failed to provide him with an interpreter for five months.
(The Special Educator, May 4, 2004)
With blistering language but only a mild
threat of further legal action, the U.S. Justice Department has concluded
that the violent conditions and substandard care at two Maryland juvenile
detention centers are substantially violating the constitutional civil
rights of the youths confined there. The results of the department's
20-month investigation were made public yesterday in a 51-page letter,
which details brutal conditions inside the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School in
Baltimore County and Cheltenham Youth Facility in Prince George's
County. "In particular," the letter stated, "we find
that children confined at Cheltenham and Hickey suffer harm or the risk of
harm from constitutional deficiencies in the facilities' confinement practices,
suicide prevention measures, mental health and medical care services, and
fire safety. In addition, the facilities fail to provide required education
services." The monitor's most recent quarterly report, issued
late last month, concluded that most of the problems outlined in the past
had yet to be adequately addressed. It said that assaults had continued at
Hickey at the rate of 2.5 a day through the last quarter of 2003. The
state is now running both facilities, although up until March 31 the Hickey
School had been managed for the past 11 years by a private contractor,
Youth Service International, which since 1999 has been a subsidiary of
Correctional Services Corporation, based in Florida. The
investigation also faulted poor training for staff and said that staff members
often failed to report serious incidents. It also faulted poor
security in Hickey's dormitories, saying that "youth are not
sufficiently supervised, allowing them to tamper with locking mechanisms on
youth room doors, disable the locks, and enter other youth rooms to assault
one another." (Baltimore Sun, April 17, 2004)
The General Assembly approved an
extensive but slow makeover of Maryland's juvenile justice system
yesterday, in hopes of emulating a lengthy reform effort in Missouri that
has lowered recidivism even while cutting costs. At the heart of the
proposal are plans to eventually shrink or close the state's big detention
centers, which have been beset for decades by abuse, mismanagement and a
legacy of housing repeat offenders. Those facilities, such as the
Charles H. Hickey Jr. School, a detention center in Baltimore County now
housing 260 youths, would have to be no larger than 48 beds, as would all
state treatment centers for troubled youths. In addition, the state would
run all the facilities itself. The Hickey School has been run by private,
for-profit contractors for most of the past 13 years. As if to
illustrate the dire conditions now facing the system, two teens who were
housed at the Hickey School last year filed suit last week in Baltimore
County Circuit Court against the Department of Juvenile Services and
Hickey's former manager, the Youth Services International subsidiary of
Correctional Services Corporation. Seeking $50 million in damages,
the suit alleges that staffers beat the youths off and on throughout April
2003, and threatened to kill their families if they "snitched."
One staffer allegedly repeatedly slammed a 13-year-old's head into the wall
because the teen had told another to report abuse. (Baltimore Sun,
April 12, 2004)
A fight yesterday involving four
teen-agers and a staff member at the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School sent two
youths to the hospital, just as state police were beginning efforts to
bolster security at the troubled juvenile detention center. The confluence
of events put state Juvenile Services Department officials in the awkward
position of promoting a new security initiative one moment only to have to
explain yet another outbreak of violence the next. And it occurred amid
growing criticism that disorder in the detention centers has reached
critical levels. "I think the point has been made that circumstances
at these facilities need improvement," Juvenile Services Secretary
Kenneth C. Montague Jr. said. (Baltimore Sun, February 24, 2004)
A youth in state custody at the Charles H. Hickey School in Baltimore
County was assaulted last month by two staff members who held him in his
room and repeatedly punched him in the face, according to police records.
One of the staff members offered the victim's roommate, who witnessed the
incident, free telephone calls and a CD player to keep quiet about the
beating, the roommate told police. It is the second case to come to light
in the past week in which staff have been criminally charged with
assaulting a youth at a state-owned juvenile detention center. In the other
incident, at the Cheltenham Youth Facility in Prince George's County, four
workers were charged with holding down a 17-year-old and striking him on
Nov. 30. In a third case, a 16-year-old boy at the Baltimore City Juvenile
Justice Center was severely beaten last month by five other youths. None of
the incidents was disclosed by the state Department of Juvenile Services
until word began to leak out from police or others. The department
acknowledged the Hickey case yesterday only after The Sun learned about it
from other sources. Juvenile Services officials contend that they are not
obliged to alert the public to such incidents but will reply to queries if
the cases become known. (Baltimore Sun, February 20, 2004)
The Charles H. Hickey Jr. School continues to be beset by violence, some of
it perpetrated by staff, and conditions have not improved since a scathing
report in May detailed 20 cases of child abuse and neglect at the juvenile
detention facility, according to the state independent monitor. With the
number of assaults and other violent incidents showing no signs of abating,
the Office of the Independent Juvenile Justice Monitor recommended in
September that the state consider firing the private contractor that
operates Hickey, according to documents obtained by The Sun under a public
records request. (The Baltimore Sun, December 19, 2003)
Cold Springs Correctional Facility
(Mansfield Boot Camp), Fort Worth, Texas
October 22, 2005 Sarasota Herald Tribune
Correctional Services Corp. has settled a $38.3 million judgment that held
the company responsible for the death of an 18-year-old inmate at a Texas
boot camp. Terms of the agreement are confidential, but the Sarasota-based
prison manager said Friday it will pay $2.7 million toward the settlement.
The rest will be covered by CSC's liability insurers, which initially
balked at paying the award. The agreement is contingent on the closing of
CSC's previously announced sale to The GEO Group Inc. for $62 million. CSC
shareholders will vote on the sale Nov. 4. If that deal falls through, so
does the settlement. A Texas jury in August 2003 found CSC and a nurse at
the now-closed Mansfield boot camp responsible for the death of Bryan D.
Alexander. Alexander, serving a six-month sentence for a misdemeanor
driving conviction, died in 2001 of a rare penicillin-resistant form of
pneumonia. Trial testimony showed he was treated for a cold and flu even
though he had coughed up blood for five days before his death. His parents
sued CSC and nurse Knyvett Reyes for their loss
and anguish. Reyes was convicted of negligent homicide and was sentenced to
four years of community supervision. She also surrendered her registered nurse's license. The judgment against CSC and Reyes included
$35 million in actual damages, $750,000 in punitive damages and more than
$2.4 million in interest. The settlement will resolve all claims and
lawsuits against CSC and Reyes. It also will end a dispute between CSC and
its liability insurers over who should pay. Boca Raton-based GEO is paying
$62 million in cash, or $6 a share, and assuming $124 million in
liabilities to acquire CSC. It will then sell the Youth Services
International subsidiary to CSC president James Slattery for $3.75 million.
That unit manages programs at 17 centers with 1,300 beds. GEO will acquire
the adult division that owns or operates 15 facilities with 7,500 beds. GEO
manages 41 prisons and jails with 36,000 beds in the United States,
Australia, South Africa and Canada. Shares of CSC were selling for $5.91 on
the Nasdaq at the close of trading Friday, up 1
cent.
October 22, 2005 NEWS8 Austin
The corporate parent of a now-defunct Mansfield detention facility has
reached an out-of-court settlement with the family of a teenager who died
while serving time at its boot camp. Correctional Services Corp. announced
the settlement yesterday with the family of Bryan Alexander. The
18-year-old died in 2001 while serving a six-month sentence for a
drunken-driving arrest. Alexander's family was awarded nearly $40 million
in damages by a Tarrant County jury in 2003. But the details of Friday's
settlement have not been released. Under the agreement, the boy's family
will not file any new suits or pursue appeals against Tarrant County or its
criminal-court judges. The boy's parents sued the company and camp nurse
after he died from penicillin-resistant pneumonia. Although the teen
complained of weakness and was coughing up blood, the camp had waited
several days before taking him to a hospital. The suit claimed the camp and
nurse failed to provide the teen with adequate and timely medical care.
September 30, 2005 Star-Telegram
U.S. District Court Judge Terry Means on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit
against Tarrant County and its criminal court judges over the death of a
teen-ager who was serving a sentence at the former Mansfield boot camp four
years ago. Means left the door open for attorneys representing the family
of Bryan Alexander to sue the judges in state court. A lawsuit against the
county has been thrown out of state court. Alexander, 18, died in January
2001 while serving a six-month sentence for drunken driving. While at the
camp, he complained of feeling weak and coughing up blood. Days later, he
was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital, where he was immediately put into
intensive care. He died two days later. Tests indicated that he had a rare,
penicillin-resistant form of pneumonia. In the federal lawsuit, Alexander's
family said the county, and the judges individually, should be held liable
because they didn't properly monitor Correctional Services Corp., the
company contracted to run the camp. A year ago, Means denied the judges
judicial immunity, saying they were acting not as judges but as managers of
the facility. But in his ruling Wednesday, Means said public officials do
enjoy immunity from lawsuits for damages providing that their conduct does
not clearly violate an individual's rights.
February 10,
2005 Star Telegram
Several Tarrant County judges sued over a death at the defunct boot camp
are being accused of unethical behavior for considering cases involving the
attorneys who are suing them. Defense attorneys Charlie Smith and Bill Lane
say that state district judges Sharen Wilson and
George Gallagher have decided that they will not automatically transfer
those cases to other courts. Since January 2003, the judges have routinely
transferred cases handled by Smith and Lane to other courts after the
attorneys filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against them and the county.
In the federal lawsuit, the attorneys say that sloppy oversight by the
judges allowed an array of problems to continue at the former Mansfield
boot camp, where 18-year-old inmate Bryan Alexander died. Lane and Smith
are among several attorneys representing the Alexander family. U.S.
District Judge Terry Means ruled in August that the judges can be held
liable individually, along with the county, because they were acting as
managers of the facility operated by Correctional Services Corp. Smith
filed a motion to remove Wilson from hearing a felony theft case on
Tuesday. In the filing, he described the judge's decision to deny a
transfer as "clear evidence" of hostility toward him. Denying
Smith's motion "creates a reasonable doubt as to Judge Sharen Wilson's capacity to act impartially as a judge
in connection with this case," court documents state.
August 27,
2004
Tarrant County's criminal court judges are not protected by judicial
immunity in a civil rights lawsuit stemming from the death of a teen-ager
at the former Mansfield boot camp, a federal judge ruled. U.S.
District Court Judge Terry Means said the judges can be held liable
individually, along with the county, because they were acting not as
judges, but as managers of the facility operated by Correctional Services
Corp. The judges helped establish the budgets and approved the
selection of the private prison operator "in spite of a significant
history of operational deficiencies," attorneys for the teen-ager's
family have argued. "The court concludes that the defendant judges are
not entitled to judicial immunity," Means wrote this week.
"It's huge," Mark Haney, the family's attorney, said of Means'
ruling. "The judges can be held personally accountable for
establishing policies and procedures ... that routinely denied access to
medical care to the detainees." In July, Means denied a claim by
Northland Insurance Co., CSC's insurance carrier, stating that its policies
do not cover the judgment against them. (Star-Telegram)
December 3,
2003
Visiting State District Judge Roger Towery has
ruled that Sarasota, Fla.-based Correctional Services Corp. must pay a $38
million judgment that was awarded earlier this summer to the parents of a
young man who died at a Mansfield, Tex., boot camp in 2001. In
August, a jury in Fort Worth's 236th District Court awarded the family of
Bryan Alexander $35 million in actual damages and $5.1 million in punitive
damages following an eight-week trial. Alexander died from a
penicillin-resistant form of pneumonia he contracted while participating in
a six-month boot camp program as a condition of his misdemeanor probation.
Evidence in the case showed that Alexander, who was 18 years old, died
after CSC employees ignored his pleas for medical attention for days.
In September, Judge Towery set the actual damages
at $37.4 million, including interest, and reduced the punitive damages to
$750,000. CSC responded by asking the court to reduce or set aside the
entire judgment, arguing that there was "no legally or factually
sufficient evidence to support the jury's findings." CSC President
James Slattery told CSC investors during a recent conference call that the
company expected the court to reduce the $38 million judgment. In his
ruling issued yesterday, the judge denied all of CSC's motions. "We
are pleased that once again the jury's verdict in this case has been
upheld," says attorney Jeff Kobs, a partner
in Fort Worth's Kobs & Haney, who represented
the Alexander family along with Fort Worth attorney Bill Lane. "We are
confident that the Courts will continue to deny CSC's repeated attacks on
the jury's decision." As a result of this ruling, CSC has until
Dec. 16, 2003, to file its notice of appeal, and the company must also post
a $25 million bond by Dec. 28, 2003, in order to prevent the Alexander
family from attempting to collect the judgment amount. Interest has been
accruing at a rate of $5,250 per day since the original judgment was
entered in September. In a related federal court action, CSC's
insurance carrier, Northland Insurance Co., is seeking a declaration that
its policies do not cover the $38 million judgment. CSC is arguing that the
Northland policies should cover the judgment amount, and that Northland
acted improperly in failing to settle the claims prior to the jury's verdict.
For more information on the court's ruling, please contact attorney Jeff Kobs at 817.332.5956, attorney Bill Lane at
817.625.5570, or Bruce Vincent at 214.559.4630 or pager 888.361.8452.
(yahoo.com)
October 10,
2003
Day in and day out, workers sling hash to feed the
3,500 Tarrant County Jail inmates three hot meals a day.
But as companies line up this month to bid for a
multimillion-dollar food-services contract, the focus has shifted from
slinging hash to slinging mud. Two of
the companies expected to bid on the contract are run by former business
partners turned bitter rivals. Sealed
bids are due to the Tarrant County purchasing department by Oct. 27. The
contract, now held by Hurst-based Mid-States Services, is worth about $4.1
million a year. Among the companies
expected to bid is Dallas-based Mid-America Services, run by Jack Madera.
He has a long history of winning lucrative contracts and maintaining
friendships with elected officials who have a say in whether the company
gets public business. Mid-America
will compete for the contract against Mid-States, which Madera started in
1970 and sold in February 1999. John
Sammons, chief executive of Mid-States and one of the investors who bought
the company from Madera, said there is more to the bid than just a second
helping of cafeteria business. "Our
group is committed to running this company with integrity," Sammons
said. "There is a clear-cut delineation between the Mid-States of the
past and the Mid-States of today. "The
kind of customer base we want is the kind who embraces integrity in
government." Business and
pleasure Many in Texas law
enforcement consider Madera a friend, including Tarrant County Sheriff Dee
Anderson, whose office oversees jail operations including the kitchen.
"The relationship began when I was
elected," Anderson said. "Jack was, at that point, a consultant
for Mid-States. "Both he and
John [Sammons] became friends of mine and supporters." Sammons says Madera's ties to law-enforcement officials
prompted him to keep Madera on board as a consultant after Madera sold
Mid-States in 1999. Madera and
Sammons parted ways in March 2002, when Madera started Mid-America after a
three-year non-competition agreement expired with Mid-States. Madera looked to his old friends to help his new
business and promptly won contracts in Dallas and Denton counties.
There are two types of contracts: food-services
contracts, under which the county pays companies to provide meals to
inmates, and commissary contracts, under which companies sell snacks and
other items to inmates and return a portion of the proceeds to the county.
Sheriffs control jail commissaries, including
selection of the companies that handle the services. Bids are required, and
county proceeds must be used to benefit inmates. A provision applying only to Tarrant County requires
commissioners court approval of commissary contracts. Some of Madera's contracts have raised eyebrows. In
Dallas, Madera's relationship with Sheriff Jim Bowles has been criticized since
Bowles awarded the commissary contract to Mid-America in June 2002.
One Dallas County official labeled the contract a
"bad business decision," and questions have been raised about
whether Madera exerted undue influence through his friendships. But no
specific allegations of wrongdoing have been voiced publicly. Madera's bid in Dallas County gave the sheriff's
department about $600,000 a year, less than what was offered by two other
competitors, including Mid-States. In
Tarrant County, Anderson awarded Madera's Mid-America the contract for
commissary services in April. The company sells aspirin, snacks, soap and
other items from carts, dubbed "banana wagons," that workers
wheel through the jail. Under the
commissary contract, Madera will pay the sheriff's office at least $750,000
a year. As was the case in Denton and Dallas counties, Madera won the
Tarrant County business by beating out Mid-States, which held the existing
contracts. 'No hidden agenda'
Anderson says he is confident that the bidding will
be above board, as he says it was when he awarded Mid-America the
commissary contract. Tarrant County
commissioners are expected to vote on the food-services contract by Dec.
31. Six companies are expected to submit bids, which will be analyzed by an
evaluation committee. Anderson said
the current commissary contract shows that local officials are committed to
hammering out the best deal possible. "I believe we have the most lucrative contract for
any county in the state," Anderson said. "It is second to
none." Anderson said he has
lunched regularly and dined occasionally with Madera and has dined with
Sammons, played golf at his country club and seen a Dallas Stars game from
a luxury box, all at Sammons' expense. "I don't do anything in secret," Anderson
said. "There is no hidden agenda. "Because we are clients, we have a relationship
with those people," he said. "Certainly, nothing improper has
taken place." Sammons also said
there is nothing improper about his relationship with Anderson.
"Building relationships is part of doing
business in the public and the private sector," Sammons said. "It
is hard to develop trust." Madera
would not comment to the Star-Telegram except to say he intends to
bid on the jail food-services contract and that he denies any inappropriate
relationships with Tarrant County officials. "There is nothing inappropriate going on in Dallas,
either," Madera said. Commissioner
J.D. Johnson, who represents Precinct 4, in the northwest part of the
county, said his 15- to 20-year friendship with Madera has not influenced
county business. "I've always
tried to vote for what I thought was the best deal, and it's what I'll do
this time," Johnson said. Sammons,
however, said he'll watch the bidding closely to ensure that he's treated
fairly. He won't be alone.
Patrick Turner, regional sales director for Aramark Corp., which also expects to bid on the
contract, said: "On a level playing field, we have always been able to
compete. But that's always been the question, whether it has always been a
level playing field." (Star-Telegram)
September 18,
2003
Visiting State District Judge Roger Towery has
signed a $38.3 million judgment against Sarasota, Fla.-based Correctional
Services Corp. in a lawsuit over the death of an 18-year-old man who died
at a Mansfield boot camp in 2001. The judgment, entered yesterday in
Tarrant County's 236th District Court, includes $37.4 million in actual
damages plus interest and $750,000 in punitive damages. In August, a Fort
Worth jury awarded $35 million in actual damages and $5.1 million in
punitive damages to the family of Bryan Alexander. The punitive damages
were reduced in the judgment under Texas punitive damage caps.
According to the lawsuit, Alexander died on Jan. 9, 2001, from a penicillin-resistant
form of pneumonia while participating in a six-month boot camp program as a
condition of his misdemeanor probation. Alexander chose the boot camp over
jail time. He died after his pleas for medical attention were ignored for
days. "This judgment sends a clear signal that the original
verdict in this case was sound," says Jeff Kobs,
a partner in Fort Worth's Kobs & Haney, who
represented the Alexander family along with Fort Worth attorney Bill
Lane. During trial, Kobs and Lane argued
that Alexander's medical condition should have triggered a response from
the boot camp nurse or other employees of CSC. Evidence in the case showed
that Alexander experienced difficulty breathing and began coughing up blood
at least five days before his death. CSC eventually transferred Alexander
to a local hospital, but he died less than 36 hours after being
admitted. "Bryan's was a senseless death that should never have
happened," Lane says. "The Alexander family hopes this judgment
will send a clear message to CSC and other for-profit correctional
companies, and that no other families are forced to suffer a similar
ordeal." Under Texas law, CSC has 30 days to appeal the
judgment, ask for a new trial, or pay the $38.3 million judgment. If CSC
appeals the judgment, state law would delay the payment of the judgment if
CSC posts a $25 million bond. For more information on the judgment in
this case, please contact attorney Jeff Kobs at
817.332.5956, attorney Bill Lane at 817.625.5570, or Bruce Vincent at
214.559.4630 or pager 888.361.8452. (Yahoo Finance)
September 6, 2003
A state judge in Montague County is set to hear arguments today to finalize
$40.1 million in damages that a jury awarded last month to the parents of an
Arlington man who died while at the former Mansfield boot camp.
Correctional Services Corp. and its nurse Knyvett
Reyes were found responsible for the Jan. 9, 2001, death of Bryan
Alexander. The 18-year-old probationer died of a rare lung infection after
his complaints of feeling weak and coughing up blood went ignored for days.
A Tarrant County jury decided that the Florida-based company, which
contracted to run the camp, and its nurse should pay $35 million for
Alexander's death, his suffering and his parents' loss. The jury then added
$5.1 million in punitive damages, with CSC to pay most of the judgment.
Attorneys for CSC and Reyes are expected to appeal the verdict. CSC Chief
Executive James Slattery said his attorneys intend to "request that the
court set aside the jury's verdict." "Mr. Alexander died from an
extremely rare form of antibiotic-resistant pneumonia, which is not
normally contracted outside of a hospital setting," he said in a
statement last week. "Even the plaintiffs' experts testified that this
condition would have been extremely difficult to diagnose."
Plaintiffs' attorneys say CSC's position shows an "ongoing
unwillingness to take responsibility" for Alexander's death. "The
defendants said they plan to fight us tooth and nail," said Mark
Haney, one of seven attorneys representing Alexander's parents, Rickey
Alexander and Judy Schumpert. "They want to
try and disregard the verdict that addressed their bad behavior," he
said. "It is a slap in the face to the Alexander family and the jury's
verdict." CSC's Fort Worth attorney, Vic Anderson, declined to comment
on the case. Reyes' attorney, Michael Wallach, could not be reached to
comment. CSC has $35 million in insurance to cover the jury award in
Alexander's death. But the company's insurer has sued, saying it is not
obligated to pay because Reyes was convicted last year of negligent
homicide. That conviction is being appealed. Under Texas law, punitive
damages in the Alexander case are limited to $750,000 for CSC and $100,000
for Reyes. The jury had set punitive damages at $5 million to be paid by
CSC and $100,000 from Reyes. (Star-Telegram)
September 2,
2003
Jail operator Correctional Services Corp. on Friday said a Texas jury
awarded plaintiffs $5.1 million in punitive damages in a wrongful death
suit against the company and a former employee, but recovery is limited to
$850,000 under Texas law. The company said its primary liability
insurance carrier has recently taken the not uncommon step of disclaiming
coverage, but it believes the carrier has no legitimate basis for the
decision and has retained counsel to enforce its rights under the
policies. (Yahoo Finance)
August 29,
2003
With no prior criminal record, the 18-year-old Arlington man hoped that the
former Mansfield boot camp would set him straight after a drunken-driving
arrest. He chose the regimented, low-security corrections facility
over jail time. But a rare, penicillin-resistant form of pneumonia
killed Bryan Alexander on Jan. 9, 2001, while he served his six-month
sentence. His pleas for medical attention had been ignored for days.
"He wanted to get some discipline at the camp and a chance to get his
GED. It turned out to be a death sentence for a DWI," said Charlie
Smith, who represented the teen-ager in the criminal matter and his family
in a civil lawsuit. On Thursday, a Tarrant County jury added $5.1
million in punitive damages to its award Wednesday of $35 million in actual
damages for Alexander's death, his suffering and his parents' mental
anguish and loss of their son. Jurors blamed the camp's nurse, Knyvett Reyes, and Florida-based Correctional Services
Corp., which contracted to run the 370-bed facility. CSC must pay $26
million of the judgment, Reyes $14.1 million. Reyes' attorney, Michael
Wallach, and CSC's attorney, Vic Anderson, declined to comment. The
lawsuit brought by Alexander's parents, Rickey Alexander and Judy Schumpert, said Reyes and CSC failed to provide
Alexander with adequate and timely medical care. He had complained of
feeling weak and coughing up blood days before he was taken to John Peter
Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. Alexander was immediately placed in intensive
care but died two days later. The boot camp and residential
drug-treatment programs at the Mansfield facility were closed six months
after Alexander's death. CSC had been paid $2.9 million a year by the state
to run the facility. On Thursday, attorneys for the Alexander family
asked the jury of five women and seven men to further punish CSC and Reyes
to send a message to other correction facilities and nurses.
"You did listen to Bryan's pleas for help. Unfortunately for Bryan,
you are 2 1/2 years too late," Bill Lane, one of the plaintiffs'
attorneys, told the jury in closing arguments Thursday in the punitive-damage
stage of the trial. "But you are not too late to send a message to
this private corporation that we will not accept the lowest bidder or that
the bottom line is worth more than a human life." Attorneys for
the defendants argued that their clients were unaware of the seriousness of
Alexander's illness. Reyes testified that she treated Alexander for a cold,
flu and strep throat based on her evaluation of his symptoms. Fort
Worth accountant L. Andrew McCartney said CSC is worth more than $50.8
million, based on recent financial reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. CSC has about $25 million in insurance coverage
that could be used to cover the judgment, said Anderson, CSC's
attorney. "If the company is closed down, there are going to be
a lot of people out of jobs," he said. Reyes' attorney, Wallach,
said: "I think we all know Knyvett Reyes is
not a corporation. I would ask that you punish her no further."
(Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
August 28,
2003
A former nurse and a Florida-based private corrections
company that operated the defunct Mansfield boot camp were responsible for
the death of an 18-year-old inmate, a Tarrant County jury decided
Wednesday. The jury of five women and
seven men ordered the nurse and company to pay $35 million for the death of
Bryan Alexander, his suffering, and his parents' mental anguish and loss of
companionship. Alexander died of a
rare penicillin-resistant form of pneumonia at John Peter Smith Hospital in
Fort Worth, two days after being transported from the camp for
probationers. Arlington lawyer
Charlie Smith, who represented Alexander in his criminal matter and the
Alexander family in the wrongful-death lawsuit, said he was not surprised
by the jury's verdict. "This
case was more like a homicide case than a wrongful-death lawsuit because of
the way this young man died," said Smith, one of seven attorneys
representing the Alexander family. "Bryan's family was hopeful that
this jury would speak loud about the conduct of these defendants so it will
not happen to another child in the same circumstances as Bryan
Alexander." The lawsuit asserted
that Correctional Services Corp., and its nurse at the camp, Knyvett Reyes of Arlington, did not provide Alexander
with adequate and timely medical care. Alexander had complained of feeling
weak and was coughing up blood days before he was taken to JPS Hospital.
But Reyes testified during the seven-week trial
that, based on her evaluation of his symptoms, she treated Alexander for a
cold, flu and strep throat. Witnesses testified that Reyes thought the
inmate was faking his illness. Reyes'
attorney, Michael Wallach, declined to comment after the jury's verdict.
Correctional Services Corp.'s attorney, Vic Anderson, also declined to
comment. Attorneys for Alexander's parents,
Rickey Alexander and Judy Schumpert, said Reyes'
skepticism cost Alexander his life. He was serving a sentence at the
facility for a drunken-driving conviction and had no prior criminal record,
according to testimony. Correctional
Services Corp., which was paid about $2.9 million a year to run the camp,
must pay 60 percent of the $35 million judgment, while Reyes was ordered to
pay 40 percent. The jury also decided
that Reyes and Correctional Services Corp. acted with malice in ignoring
Alexander's pleas for help, which means the defendants must pay punitive
damages. Closing arguments are scheduled for today to determine punitive
damages. Fort Worth accountant L.
Andrew McCartney said Correctional Services Corp. is worth more than $50.8
million, based on recent financial reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. "They are
currently making a profit," he testified. Reyes' financial condition was not brought up.
Plaintiffs' attorneys are seeking $40 million in
punitive damages for the Alexander family. Correctional Services Corp. has about $25 million in
insurance coverage that could be used to cover the lawsuit judgment, said
Anderson, the company's attorney. "In
this case, the plaintiffs are asking the jury to punish the company. If the
jury punishes the company, they are probably going to be punishing the
stockholders of this company," Anderson said. (Fort Worth
Star-Telegram)
August
28, 2003
A former nurse and a Florida-based private corrections company that
operated a defunct Mansfield boot camp were responsible for the death of an
18-year-old inmate, a Tarrant County jury decided Wednesday. The jury
of five women and seven men ordered the nurse and company to pay $35
million for the death of Bryan Alexander, his suffering, and his parents'
mental anguish and future loss of companionship. Alexander died of a
rare penicillin-resistant form of pneumonia at John Peter Smith Hospital in
Fort Worth, two days after being transported from the camp for
probationers. Arlington lawyer Charlie Smith, who represented
Alexander in his criminal case and the Alexander family in the
wrongful-death lawsuit, said he was not surprised by the jury's
verdict. "This case was more like a homicide case than a
wrongful-death lawsuit because of the way this young man died," said
Smith, one of seven attorneys representing the Alexander family.
"Bryan's family was hopeful that this jury would speak loud about the
conduct of these defendants so it will not happen to another child in the
same circumstances as Bryan Alexander." The lawsuit asserted
that Correctional Services Corp. and its nurse at the camp, Knyvett Reyes, failed to provide Alexander with
adequate and timely medical care. Alexander had complained of weakness and
was coughing up blood days before he was taken to JPS Hospital. But
Reyes testified during the seven-week trial that, based on her evaluation
of his symptoms, she treated Alexander for a cold, flu and strep throat.
Witnesses testified that Reyes thought the inmate was faking his illness.
Attorneys for Alexander's parents, Rickey Alexander and Judy Schumpert, said Reyes' skepticism cost Alexander his
life. He was serving a sentence at the facility for a drunken-driving
conviction and had no prior criminal record, according to testimony.
Correctional Services Corp., which was paid about $2.9 million a year to
run the camp, must pay 60 percent of the $35 million judgment; Reyes was
ordered to pay 40 percent. (Fort Worth
Star-Telegram)
August 27,
2003
Correctional Services Corporation today announced that a Tarrant County,
Texas jury has returned a $35 million verdict against the Company and its
former employee in the wrongful death suit by the parents and estate of
Bryan Alexander. Mr. Alexander died of a rare penicillin-resistant form of
pneumonia while incarcerated at the Tarrant County Community Correctional
Facility, which was operated by the Company at the time. The jury will now
be asked to consider whether punitive damages should also be awarded
against the Company and/or its former employee. (Yahoo Finance)
August 27,
2003
A Tarrant County jury is expected to continue deliberations today in the
wrongful-death lawsuit in the case of an Arlington teen-ager who died while
serving a sentence at the former Mansfield boot camp. Bryan
Alexander, 18, died of pneumonia at John Peter Smith Hospital on Jan. 9,
2001 -- days after he complained of feeling weak and coughing up blood. He
had a rare penicillin-resistant infection, hospital tests later
revealed. Attorneys for his parents, Rickey Alexander and Judy Schumpert, said Florida-based Correctional Services
Corp., the private company that operated the boot camp, and its nurse, Knyvett Reyes, ignored Bryan Alexander's pleas for
medical attention and could have saved his life. The attorneys are
asking for at least $75 million for Alexander's death, his suffering and
his parents' mental anguish. (Fort
Worth Star-Telegram)
August 26,
2003
A Tarrant County jury began deliberations Monday
in the wrongful-death lawsuit in the case of an Arlington man who died
while serving a drunken-driving sentence at the former Mansfield boot camp.
Bryan Alexander, 18, died of pneumonia at John
Peter Smith Hospital on Jan. 9, 2001 -- days after he complained of feeling
weak and coughing up blood. He had a rare penicillin-resistant infection,
hospital tests later revealed. Attorneys
for his parents -- Rickey Alexander and Judy Schumpert
-- said the Florida-based private company that operated the boot camp and
its nurse, Knyvett Reyes, ignored his pleas for
medical attention and could have saved his life. "They don't believe they did anything wrong,"
said Jeff Kobs, one of seven attorneys
representing the Alexander family. "No one has come to this courtroom
to say they were sorry or regret what they did. I want you to tell these
people they are responsible and what happened was wrong."
Alexander's parents are suing Reyes and
Correctional Services Corp., which contracted to run the 370-bed facility
for probationers and drug treatment. Plaintiffs' attorneys suggested an
award of $75 million for Alexander's death, his suffering and his parents'
mental anguish. A jury of five women
and seven men listened to nearly eight hours of closing arguments Monday in
the trial that began July 7. They are expected to resume deliberations this
morning. The defendants' attorneys
argued that Alexander was provided with adequate medical care and that he
was the only one to blame for his death because he failed to provide the
camp's nurse with enough information about his illness. "It wasn't going to make any difference on the
ultimate outcome if he had been seen by a doctor on Jan. 5," Reyes'
attorney, Michael Wallach, said. "Alexander never proved he was
coughing up blood until Jan. 7. He had every opportunity to bring nurse Reyes
the proof." Attorney Vic
Anderson, who represents CSC, said the plaintiffs' witnesses were not
credible because they were mostly former inmates at the boot camp, and he
frequently called them "criminals." Anderson also said that Alexander showed signs of having
a cold or the flu but that he was not seriously ill until he was
transported to JPS. "We believe
nurse Reyes did not think there was an extreme risk involved with
Alexander," Anderson said. "She was treating him for strep
throat." Reyes was convicted of
negligent homicide last year in Alexander's death and sentenced to four
years' probation. But attorneys for the Alexander family could not present
her conviction to jurors because the case is under appeal. The county's 19 criminal court judges closed the boot
camp in July 2001 amid an array of problems at the facility. Attorneys for
the Alexander family are also suing the judges who oversaw the facility in
2000 and 2001 and the probation department. Reyes surrendered her nursing license in 2001 during a
state nursing board investigation. CSC
still has two contracts with Texas. The publicly traded company is paid
about $7 million to run a halfway house in Fort Worth and an
intermediate-sanction facility in Houston, state prison spokesman Larry
Todd said. Alexander's attorneys said
a judgment in the lawsuit is important to prevent similar incidents at
other facilities operated by CSC. "We're
talking about a for-profit corrections company that houses our youths. They
do it for the money. And it's the bottom line they are concerned about, not
about responsibility," said Bill Lane, one of the plaintiffs'
attorneys. "It is wrong what happened to Bryan Alexander, and they
should pay for what happened." (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
July 21, 2003
A Texas Rangers' investigation into the death of an inmate at the former
Mansfield boot camp determined that the 18-year-old probationer had to take
cold and flu pills for days before he was allowed to visit a nurse.
Attorneys blamed a nurse's skepticism and poor staffing by a Florida-based
private company that ran a Mansfield boot camp for the death of an inmate
who had been serving a drunken-driving sentence at the facility. The
attorneys, who represent the parents of Bryan Alexander, made the accusations
Thursday during opening statements of a wrongful death trial. Alexander,
18, of Arlington died Jan. 9, 2001, two days after being transferred to a
Fort Worth hospital. He had a form of pneumonia that was resistant to
penicillin. Plaintiffs' attorneys contend the camp's nurse and Correctional
Services Corp., which contracted to run the camp for the county's judges
and probation department, failed to provide Alexander with timely and
adequate medical care. "They watched him die," Charlie Smith
said in opening statements. He is one of seven attorneys representing
Alexander's parents, Rickey Alexander and Judy Schumpert.
Visiting State District Judge Roger Towery is
presiding over the trial, and a five-woman, seven-man jury will decide the
case. The plaintiffs' attorneys contend Bryan Alexander tried to get
medical attention as early as Dec. 31 but was not seen until Jan. 5.
Alexander had been given over-the-counter medication to treat a cold or
flu. Alexander's parents are suing CSC and the camp's former nurse, Knyvett Reyes, who was hired by the company. Reyes was
convicted of negligent homicide last year in Alexander's death. Attorneys
on both sides are awaiting clarification from the 2nd Court of Appeals in
Fort Worth on whether that conviction is final or under appeal. Vic
Anderson, an attorney for CSC, said Reyes acted appropriately in treating
what she believed was the flu or strep throat and could not have known the
severity of Alexander's illness. "We do not deny the fact that
Mr. Alexander was ill and began feeling bad sometime in late December or
early January," Anderson said in opening statements. "But a lot
of people at the facility were feeling bad," he said.
"There was an outbreak of flu. It was not an unusual thing for someone
at the camp to say they are sick to get out of work or to get a trip to the
hospital." Alexander died two days after being taken to John
Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth on Jan. 7, 2001. "Just because
there is a death doesn't necessarily mean there is someone at fault,"
Anderson said. Texas Rangers Sgt. Alvin Alexis testified that the
boot camp had a policy of requiring probationers at the 370-bed Mansfield
facility to take over-the-counter drugs for three days before they could
request a visit to the camp's nurse. Alexis said Alexander complained
of coughing up blood but had to take cold and flu pills for three days and
then tried for another three days to visit the camp's nurse. Alexis based
his conclusions on CSC records and interviews with CSC employees and boot camp
inmates. Reyes' attorney, Michael Wallach, told jurors they should
question the reliability of inmates' statements, even Alexander's.
"You will have to determine whether Bryan Alexander was a reliable
historian of his own health problems," he said. The civil
lawsuit, which initially sought more than $700 million in damages, is
expected to last more than a month, court officials said. Attorneys for
Alexander's parents are not disclosing how much in damages they'll seek at
the conclusion of the trial. (Fort Worth Star Telegram)
July 14, 2003
Jury selection begins today in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the
parents of an 18-year-old Arlington man who died after becoming ill at a
former Mansfield facility for probationers. While serving a sentence
for drunken driving, Bryan Alexander developed a rare lung infection and
died Jan. 9, 2001, two days after being transferred to a Fort Worth
hospital. Alexander's parents, Rickey Alexander and Judy Schumpert, are suing Correctional Services Corp., the
Florida-based private contractor that operated the camp, and its former
nurse, Knyvett Reyes, who was convicted in
Alexander's death last year. The lawsuit, which initially sought $755
million, contends that the camp and its employees ignored warning signs of
Alexander's failing health. Attorneys for Correctional Services and
Reyes did not return phone calls Friday. The lawsuit may help prevent
other inmates' medical concerns from being ignored, attorneys for
Alexander's parents say. Last year, Reyes, the camp's former nurse,
was sentenced to two years in jail, but a probationary sentence was imposed
in lieu of jail time. She was also ordered to pay $10,939.74 in
restitution. The attorneys for the state and for Reyes negotiated the
sentence. Reyes' attorney, Jack Strickland, is trying to appeal the
conviction. But the special prosecutor in the case is fighting the request,
meaning that Reyes' conviction can be used as evidence in the civil case,
attorneys say. Plaintiff attorneys said they will focus on Reyes'
actions in Alexander's death and how the private contractor limited
inmates' access to medical attention. The Tarrant County Medical
Examiner's Office ruled that Alexander died of pneumonia caused by an
antibiotic-resistant infection. Doctors at John Peter Smith Hospital in
Fort Worth could not detect and treat the infection in time to save his
life. Six months after Alexander's death, the county's 19
criminal-court judges voted to close the boot camp and residential
drug-treatment programs at the 370-bed facility. The judges also voted to
end the county's $2.9 million annual contract with Correctional Services
Corp. (Star-Telegram)
Colorado County Juvenile Facility, Eagle
Lake, Texas
February 7, 2006 The Victoria Advocate
Colorado County officials are expected to decide today if the county
will close the Eagle Lake Juvenile Detention Facility Boot Camp. The
decision will be made during a special commissioners court meeting at 9
a.m. The only item on the agenda is to consider authorizing County Judge Al
Jamison to close operation of the boot camp. The county has been operating
the facility since Sept. 1 after the previous operator, Florida-based
Correction Services Corporation, notified the county it would end its
contract on Aug. 31. The court conducted a six-month review, Jamison said
in a Monday phone interview. "We're losing money on the facility and I
would like to shut it down and quit the bleeding."
Correctional Services Corporation, Sarasota, Florida
12/10/2013 huffingtonpost.com
A top lawmaker in Florida is
calling for a legislative hearing on abuses at the state's juvenile prisons
run by the troubled for-profit contractor Youth Services International.
Darren Soto, one of the leading Democrats in the Florida Senate, sent
letters Tuesday to fellow lawmakers and the Florida Department of Juvenile
Justice, which oversees the more than $100 million in state contracts held
by YSI. The company was the subject of a two-part Huffington Post
investigation that documented more than two decades of abuse at the firm's
juvenile and adult facilities across the country. Soto cited HuffPost's investigation in a request for extensive
documentation on the company's contracts and incidents of abuse and
violence in its Florida facilities. "It has come to my attention that
there have been multiple complaints of alleged mistreatment, failure to
provide services and other abuses by Youth Services International,"
Soto wrote in the letter to state juvenile justice officials. "It
becomes incumbent on us to continually review reports and patterns of abuse
to root out bad actors and assure our children are getting the best chance
for success." Soto also sent a letter to Rob Bradley, the Republican
chairman of the state Senate's appropriations committee for criminal and
civil justice, which oversees the Department of Juvenile Justice. He
requested that a committee hearing be scheduled on YSI early in next year's
legislative session, "in order to assure that we will have all the
necessary information to formulate any potential legislative
response." Soto told HuffPost that ideally a
hearing could be held in January or February, but expected that his
document requests might delay it until March. "We'll want to get a lot
of that information before the hearing so that we're not just talking
without having the statistics," he said. Tom Griffin, a spokesman for
Bradley, said the senator just learned of the issue on Tuesday and was not
familiar with YSI. He said it was too early to determine whether to
schedule a hearing, but said staff would start researching. "We're
going to utilize staff and all the tools we have at our disposal to look
into the issues and uncover any information that we need to," he said.
Representatives from YSI did not respond to requests seeking comment. A
spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, Meghan Speakes Collins, wrote in an email that the department
is happy to fulfill any information request from lawmakers. She said the
department "works hand in hand" with the legislature to ensure it
is able to provide "the most appropriate services to our state's
at-risk and delinquent youth." "We have robust policies and
procedures to ensure that the youth in our care remain safe and healthy and
are given every opportunity to thrive," she wrote. Despite a track
record of abuse that includes a civil rights investigation by the U.S.
Justice Department and probes into negligence and violence by authorities
in at least five states, Florida has continued to award tens of millions of
dollars in juvenile prison contracts to YSI in recent years. In the weeks
after HuffPost published its investigation in
October, the state awarded YSI two new contracts to operate youth prisons,
and signaled that the company could be in line to receive a third contract
by early next year. Another Florida Democrat, Sen. Jeff Clemens, sent an
email to members of the same legislative committee last month, writing that
HuffPost's investigation painted "an
extremely disturbing picture of some of our juvenile justice facilities."
"I believe we owe it to the young people of our state to find out if
the allegations in the articles are true, and attempt to solve the
problem," he wrote. A group of Florida student advocates called the
Dream Defenders launched a campaign last month aimed at halting future YSI
contracts and pushing for broader juvenile justice reforms in the state.
"We're looking to see a united front from our senators and our
representatives in calling for a hearing and stopping any further contracts
that the Department of Juvenile Justice may grant YSI," said Josh
McConnell, a chapter president for the Dream Defenders at the University of
Central Florida, who met with Soto last month. "Knowing how deplorable
the conditions are in YSI facilities, I hope they jump on board." YSI,
formerly known as Correctional Services Corp., has cultivated strong
political connections in Florida since moving its headquarters to Sarasota
in the mid-1990s. The company has donated more than $400,000 to state
candidates and committees over the past 15 years. Nearly two-thirds of that
money has gone to the Florida Republican Party. Soto said he would have to
convince Republicans to join him, but that there was "already some
strong evidence" to support further investigation of YSI.
"Certainly I'm only one member," he said. "But with that
backdrop, I'm hopeful that we'll have a strong response." For more on
Youth Services International, read HuffPost's
two-part investigation, "Prisoners of Profit": Part 1: Private
Prison Empire Rises Despite Startling Record Of Juvenile Abuse. Part 2:
Florida's Lax Oversight Enables Systemic Abuse At Private Youth Prisons
October 22, 2013
huffingtonpost.com
This is the first in a two-part
series. The second part will be published on Wednesday, Oct. 23. From a
glance at his background, one might assume that James F. Slattery would
have a difficult time convincing any state in America to entrust him with
the supervision of its lawbreaking youth. Over the past quarter century,
Slattery’s for-profit prison enterprises have run afoul of the Justice
Department and authorities in New York, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and Texas
for alleged offenses ranging from condoning abuse of inmates to plying
politicians with undisclosed gifts while seeking to secure state contracts.
The Huffington Post uploaded and annotated the documents — including court
transcripts, police reports, audits and inspection records — uncovered
during this investigation. Hover over the highlighted passages to see the
source document behind each fact. Click here to browse all the documents
behind this report » In 2001, an 18-year-old committed to a Texas boot camp
operated by one of Slattery’s previous companies, Correctional Services
Corp., came down with pneumonia and pleaded to see a doctor as he struggled
to breathe. Guards accused the teen of faking it and forced him to do
pushups in his own vomit, according to Texas law enforcement reports. After
nine days of medical neglect, he died. That same year, auditors in Maryland
found that staff at one of Slattery’s juvenile facilities coaxed inmates to
fight on Saturday mornings as a way to settle disputes from earlier in the
week. In recent years, the company has failed to report riots, assaults and
claims of sexual abuse at its juvenile prisons in Florida, according to a
review of state records and accounts from former employees and inmates.
Despite that history, Slattery’s current company, Youth Services International,
has retained and even expanded its contracts to operate juvenile prisons in
several states. The company has capitalized on budgetary strains across the
country as governments embrace privatization in pursuit of cost savings.
Nearly 40 percent of the nation’s juvenile delinquents are today committed
to private facilities, according to the most recent federal data from 2011,
up from about 33 percent twelve years earlier. Over the past two decades,
more than 40,000 boys and girls in 16 states have gone through one of
Slattery’s prisons, boot camps or detention centers, according to a
Huffington Post analysis of juvenile facility data. The private prison
industry has long fueled its growth on the proposition that it is a boon to
taxpayers, delivering better outcomes at lower costs than state facilities.
But significant evidence undermines that argument: the tendency of young
people to return to crime once they get out, for example, and long-term
contracts that can leave states obligated to fill prison beds. The harsh
conditions confronting youth inside YSI’s facilities, moreover, show the
serious problems that can arise when government hands over social services
to private contractors and essentially walks away. Those held at YSI
facilities across the country have frequently faced beatings, neglect,
sexual abuse and unsanitary food over the past two decades, according to a HuffPost investigation that included interviews with 14
former employees and a review of thousands of pages of state audits,
lawsuits, local police reports and probes by state and federal agencies.
Out of more than 300 institutions surveyed, a YSI detention center in
Georgia had the highest rate of youth alleging sexual assaults in the
country, according to a recent report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
In Florida, where private contractors have in recent years taken control of
all of the state’s 3,300 youth prison beds, YSI now manages more than $100
million in contracts, about 10 percent of the system. Its facilities have
generated conspicuously large numbers of claims that guards have assaulted
youth, according to a HuffPost compilation of
state reports. A YSI facility in Palm Beach County had the highest rate of
reported sexual assaults out of 36 facilities reviewed in Florida, the Bureau
of Justice Statistics report found. The state’s sweeping privatization of
its juvenile incarceration system has produced some of the worst
re-offending rates in the nation. More than 40 percent of youth offenders
sent to one of Florida’s juvenile prisons wind up arrested and convicted of
another crime within a year of their release, according to state data. In
New York state, where historically no youth offenders have been held in
private institutions, 25 percent are convicted again within that timeframe.
Slattery and other Youth Services International executives declined
interview requests over several months. In an emailed response to written
questions, a senior vice president, Jesse Williams, asserted that the
company carefully looks after its charges and delivers value to taxpayers.
“We are the best operators in the state of Florida, and that is why we
continue to have contracts awarded to us,” Williams said. “While there have
been occasional issues, we are inspected regularly and overwhelmingly receive
positive reports.” He added that the company has introduced “independent,
third-party reviews” of the programs listed in the Bureau of Justice
Statistics report and has engaged national experts on prison sexual abuse
in an effort to improve conditions. More than a decade has passed since a
Florida judge tongue-lashed Correctional Services Corp., Slattery’s former
company, during a hearing convened to probe widespread complaints of
violence at one of its facilities two hours north of Miami. Juvenile Judge
Ron Alvarez was so horrified by the descriptions of that particular
institution — a fetid, graffiti-covered jail called the Pahokee Youth
Development Center — that he compared it to a “Third World country that is
controlled by ... some type of evil power.” In a recent interview, the same
judge expressed amazement that Slattery has continued to run facilities in
Florida right up to the present day. “I don’t know how the hell they still
have business with the state,” Alvarez said. This is how. Federal Bureau of
Prisons official Del Matthews, left, with James Slattery at a meeting with
community residents in March 1989. (Richard Lee / Newsday) Forging
Connections: A one-time New York City hotelier who began renting out
rooms to prisoners in 1989, Slattery has established a dominant perch in
the juvenile corrections business through an astute cultivation of
political connections and a crafty gaming of the private contracting
system. Even as reports of negligence and poor treatment of inmates have
piled up, his companies have kept their records clean by habitually pulling
out of contracts before the government takes official action, HuffPost found. In Florida, his companies have
exploited lax state oversight while leaning on powerful allies inside the
government to keep the contracts flowing. Slattery, his wife, Diane, and
other executives have been prodigious political rainmakers in Florida,
donating more than $400,000 to state candidates and committees over the
last 15 years, according to HuffPost’s review.
The recipient of the largest share of those dollars was the Florida
Republican Party, which took in more than $276,000 in that time. Former
Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos, an
avid supporter of prison privatization, received more than $15,000 from
company executives during state and federal races. The company has given
more in Florida over the past 15 years than the combined donations of
Office Depot and Darden Restaurants, Inc., two of the state's largest
Fortune 500 corporations. Among the company’s lobbyists in Tallahassee is
Jonathan Costello, who served as legislative affairs director for
Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott in 2011 and 2012. Gary Rutledge, another
YSI lobbyist, served on Scott’s inaugural committee after his 2010 victory.
“We regularly hire companies that have abysmal track records of
performance, but great track records of political campaign contributions,”
said Dan Gelber, a former Florida senator and
state representative who has been critical of the state’s juvenile justice
policies. Williams, the YSI spokesman, said the company is “committed to
supporting people who we believe will be effective in a political position,
regardless of whether they would have an impact in our industry.”
Lobbyists, he added, “can be extremely helpful” in “clarifying to
legislators the realities of the operations of juvenile facilities.” A
former executive who worked with Slattery for five years in Florida said
the company’s success in the state reflected two areas of expertise —
relentless cost-cutting and political gamesmanship. “There was always the
sense that I was working for a businessman who didn’t understand the system
of juvenile justice,” said the former executive, who spoke on condition he
not be named. “My mandate was to cut positions, cut programs, look for
efficiencies — all the while making sure that the state we were contracting
with remained happy. I always felt like there was more priority at the
highest level given to managing political relationships than running the
core of the business.” Over the years, YSI has brought in seasoned former
government bureaucrats who are savvy about the often arcane federal and
state processes through which private companies secure contracts to run
public facilities. The company’s executive vice president, Woodrow Harper,
is a former deputy secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice
– now the company’s primary source of revenue. “It’s everything that’s
wrong with politics rolled up in a package,” said Evan Jenne,
a former Florida state representative who toured one of YSI’s youth
facilities after local public defenders raised concerns. “You’re talking
about society failing children. It’s politically motivated, and it’s
money-motivated.” Political Contributions from Private Prison Firms:
YouthServicesInternational$418,110G4S YouthServices$28,000Gulf
CoastYouthServices$7,000Henry &Rilla White
Foundation $6,850 Eckerd Youth Alternatives $6,700 Twin Oaks Juvenile
Development 1,600 Universal Health Services $8,000 Vision Quest $7,400 ThreeSprings $1,000 Premier Behavioral Solutions $2,000
Gateway Community Services $1,155 Political contributions in the state of
Florida since 1998 from contractors who handled residential facilities for
the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. Source: Influence Explorer.
Officials at the state Department of Juvenile Justice did not respond to
questions about YSI. A department spokeswoman, Meghan Speakes
Collins, pointed to overall improvements the state has made in its contract
monitoring process, such as conducting more interviews with randomly
selected youth to get a better understanding of conditions and analyzing
problematic trends such as high staff turnover. “Our primary concern is the
health and safety of the youth in our care and we take any allegation of
misconduct very seriously,” she wrote in an emailed statement. “We have a
comprehensive reporting system in which any incident is thoroughly
investigated and corrective action is taken as necessary.” Experts say the
continued growth of for-profit prison operators like Youth Services
International amounts to a cautionary tale about the perils of
privatization: In a drive to cut costs, Florida has effectively abdicated
its responsibility for some of its most troubled children, leaving them in
the hands of companies focused solely on the bottom line. “One of the
problems with private corrections is that you are trying to squeeze profit
margins out of an economic picture that doesn’t allow for very much,” said
Bart Lubow, a leading juvenile justice expert who
heads the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives
Initiative. “So you either hire people for minimum wage who are afraid of
the environment in which they work, or you don’t feed people properly.
There are not a lot of margins.” Rats in a Maze: Florida logs
reports of serious incidents that occur inside its juvenile prisons, but
the state does not maintain a database that allows for the analysis of
trends across the system. HuffPost obtained the
documents through Florida’s public records law and compiled incident
reports logged between 2008 and 2012. According to the data, YSI’s
facilities generated a disproportionate share of reports of prison staff
allegedly injuring youth offenders by using excessive force. Although YSI
oversaw only about 9 percent of the state’s juvenile jail beds during the
past five years, the company was responsible for nearly 15 percent of all
reported cases of excessive force and injured youths. In 2012, 23 incidents
of excessive force were reported at YSI facilities. By comparison, G4S
Youth Services — the state’s largest private provider of youth prison beds
— generated 21 such reports, despite overseeing nearly three times as many
beds.
Among the other key findings
from HuffPost’s investigation:
•Staff underreport serious
incidents such as major fights and staff assaults in an effort to keep the
state in the dark and avoid additional scrutiny – a violation of the
company’s contracts as well as Department of Juvenile Justice rules
requiring that contracted staff report such incidents to state authorities.
•Though state guidelines
prohibit “unnecessarily harsh or indecent treatment,” YSI guards have
frequently resorted to violence in confrontations with youth, slapping and
choking inmates and sometimes fracturing bones, according to police
reports. Former employees told HuffPost that YSI
often fails to document such incidents.
•Staff turnover at YSI’s prisons
is rampant, leaving inexperienced guards to manage a tough population.
•At YSI facilities, food is
often in short supply and frequently undercooked.
Youth interviewed by HuffPost recounted being served bloody, raw chicken
and sometimes finding flies inside pre-cooked dishes. In order to get
enough food, youth are allowed to gamble through card games and sports bets
while trading “picks” — the right to take someone else’s food at the next
meal. Former employees recall going without basic supplies such as toilet
paper, deodorant and tampons — also violations of department policy. They
say they lacked the funds to provide activities for the youth held in YSI’s
prisons. “We were kept like rats in a trap, in a maze,” said Angela
Phillips, a former shift supervisor at Broward Girls Academy in Pembroke
Pines, northwest of Miami. “There was no outlet and no stimulation, so they
would just turn on each other, and turn on staff. That’s how it was day in,
day out.” The company spokesman, Jesse Williams, dismissed claims that YSI
fails to report incidents, saying the company always complies with state
guidelines. “Our reporting process is the best in the industry,” he said.
He argued that YSI’s employee turnover rate and salaries are in line with
the industry average. “The job is a difficult one,” he said. “Despite our
best efforts to assess a candidate’s fitness for the position, which
include employment and background screening and proper training, we don’t
know of their true suitability until they are well into the job.” Local
public defenders and groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center have
for years forwarded concerns about YSI facilities to the state, but Florida
has done little to investigate allegations of verbal and physical abuse. In
the summer of 2012, after the Broward County Public Defender’s Office sent
a letter to the Department of Juvenile Justice outlining issues with food
and fighting at a different facility, the state inspector handed out a
pro-forma questionnaire to about 20 boys there. Last year, the state
declined to renew YSI’s contract for that program, a 154-bed facility
called Thompson Academy where state officials over the years had documented
frequent violence and failures to report serious incidents. But that
decision was not due to poor performance, according to a letter the state
sent to the company in August 2012. Indeed, this year, the state awarded
YSI another contract to manage a facility less than a mile away. “I always
think it’s ironic that you can’t get a job as a janitor for the Department
of Juvenile Justice — understandably so — if you have any kind of
conviction on your record,” said Marie Osborne, the chief juvenile public
defender in Miami-Dade County, who has followed YSI for more than a decade.
“They’re scrupulous with individual employees, but a corporation can have
this corporate rap sheet, and it’s no problem. They can get contracts.” Timeline:
The rise of James Slattery's private prison empire: New York City Mayor
Ed Koch with the Rev. Jesse Jackson at a press conference at City Hall
discussing the plight of the homeless in the wake of four deaths at the
Brooklyn Arms Welfare Hotel. (Misha Erwitt / NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images) Government
Pockets: Before James Slattery came to embody the for-profit
corrections business, he built a career in another industry that thrives on
high occupancy rates: hotels. A graduate of St. John’s University in
Queens, N.Y., Slattery worked for the Sheraton Hotel corporation beginning
in the 1970s. While working at a hotel in Queens, Slattery became close to
his boss’s son, Morris Horn. The two joined forces with other investors to
start a property management company, buying up older hotels across New York
City. But as New York’s real estate market dried up in the 1980s amid fears
of crime, Slattery and his business partners began searching for more
rewarding pursuits. They discovered the growing — and lucrative — world of
doing business with the government. With President Ronald Reagan in office,
the 1980s marked one of the first major movements toward the privatization
of government services. Outsourcing government functions to private companies
was widely embraced as a means of seeking taxpayer relief. His
administration and some in Congress floated the idea of privatizing U.S.
Customs inspections, electrical power utilities and, eventually, the
management of federal prison systems. In New York City, property owners
learned that if they opened up their buildings to growing numbers of
homeless people and families on welfare, they could capture local and
federal anti-poverty dollars — a steady stream of revenue. So-called
welfare hotels proliferated, becoming de facto warehouses for people
grappling with mental illness, drug addiction and extreme poverty. The
hotels were among the most squalid buildings in the city, racking up
hundreds of code violations. Slattery’s company managed a particularly
notorious example, the Brooklyn Arms, a once-lavish hotel across from the
Brooklyn Academy of Music that had deteriorated into a ramshackle blight on
the neighborhood. The property was infested with rodents and cockroaches,
and some rooms lacked running water. In 1986, two young men scuffling in a
hallway in the Brooklyn Arms fell down a broken elevator shaft and plunged
15 stories to their deaths. A few weeks later, four children who had been
left alone at the hotel for hours died in a fire. By 1989, Mayor Ed Koch’s
administration had succeeded in closing many of the city’s crime-ridden
welfare hotels, including the Brooklyn Arms. Slattery’s management group
soon set its sights on a new pot of government money: prison halfway
houses. Slattery and Horn proposed leasing out floors of their hotels as
re-entry housing for newly released federal inmates, taking advantage of a
surge in prison populations nationwide. In 1989, one of their hotels, a
midtown Manhattan property called LeMarquis,
opened some of its rooms to federal inmates. Slattery and Horn called the
new company Esmor, Inc. They laid out ambitious
expansion goals that included running a variety of facilities that would
house federal prisoners, undocumented immigrants and juvenile delinquents.
“We saw a significant demand,” Slattery told Forbes magazine in 1995, “and
limited supply.” As federal prison officials awarded Esmor
an emergency contract to operate a halfway house in Brooklyn, local
community leaders challenged the decision, questioning why the same people
who had managed problem-plagued welfare hotels should be given fresh
responsibility. “We do not want that group doing anything up here because
they are not trustworthy and do not deserve our support,” Democratic New
York state Sen. Velmanette Montgomery said at a
community meeting in 1989, according to Newsday. Less than three years
after Esmor opened LeMarquis
to former inmates, federal inspectors from the Bureau of Prisons found that
parts of the building were turning to ruin. Inspectors documented
“low-paid, untrained employees, poor building conditions, from vermin and
leaky plumbing to exposed electrical wires and other fire hazards, and
inadequate, barely edible food.” Federal prison officials were close to
canceling the contract in 1992, according to media accounts at the time,
but they said conditions at the facility started to improve after frequent
inspections. In a federal lawsuit, one LeMarquis
employee, Richard Moore, alleged that he had been severely beaten by
another employee – at the direction of management – after he reported poor
conditions to federal inspectors. In another federal lawsuit, four female
inmates asserted that they had been raped and assaulted by Esmor’s “resident advocate” – the employee who was
supposed to protect inmates by handling their grievances. The female
inmates’ cases were settled; Moore’s case was administratively closed,
after he became ill. By the mid-1990s, Esmor had
expanded far beyond its New York City origins, winning contracts to manage
a boot camp for young boys and adults outside of Forth Worth, Texas, and
immigration detention centers in New Jersey and Washington state. As the
company grew and sought more contracts, executives hired knowledgeable
government insiders. In New York, Esmor added
political associates linked to U.S. Rep. Edolphus
Towns, a Democrat who represented the Brooklyn district where the company
ran one of its first federal halfway houses. Fueling a push into the
immigration detention business, Esmor brought on
Richard P. Staley, a former acting director of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service’s central office in Washington, D.C., and added to
its board Stuart M. Gerson, a former U.S.
attorney general. At the time, the Justice Department oversaw both the INS
and the Bureau of Prisons — two of Esmor’s
biggest customers. The company also hired James C. Poland, who had worked
in the Texas prison system, where Esmor was
angling for new contracts. All of these recruits positioned the company for
winnings. In 1994, Slattery and his partners cashed in with an initial
public offering on the New York Stock Exchange valued at $5.2 million. Just
a year after going public, a riot broke out at Esmor’s
immigration detention center near Newark International Airport in New
Jersey, a holding tank for immigrants caught trying to enter the country
illegally. As an organized group of inmates began to assault guards, staff
abandoned their posts and fled the jail. An INS official on site ordered
the guards to go back in to quell the riot, but they refused. The detainees
eventually took over the facility, using pieces of tables and chairs to
break through security glass and destroy much of its interior. It took
nearly five hours for outside authorities to regain control. In a statement
after the riot, Slattery said Esmor was “deeply
disturbed and appalled by the apparent conduct” of some employees at the
facility. But the company characterized the incident as a “local problem
not reflected in any of its operations elsewhere around the country.” A subsequent
INS investigation found that staff training by Esmor
had been abysmal. Guards taunted and humiliated inmates, and Esmor frequently failed to alert the INS about staff
turnover issues. According to an INS interview with a facility
administrator, Esmor’s corporate policy was to
“keep INS in the dark as much as possible about any problems or incidents
which occurred.” Joyce Antila Phipps, an
immigration attorney who had several clients at the Newark facility,
recalled many complaints about male guards peering into female group
showers. The report found that many detainees also refused to board their
deportation flights, because Esmor guards hadn’t
returned their money and valuables. “There was a total lack of training of
the staff,” Phipps said. “And on top of that, the staff knew they could get
away with murder, so they robbed people blind.” The INS concluded in its
investigation that Esmor’s management was marked
by “a continuing cycle of contract violations” and a “general failure to
follow sound management practices.” But the INS did not fine Esmor or cancel its contract to manage the facility.
Instead, the agency allowed Esmor to turn that
contract into $6 million in cash, selling it to a rival prison giant, the
Corrections Corporation of America. James ‘Jim’ Slattery, chief executive
of Correctional Services Corp., at his offices in Sarasota City Center in
May 1997. (Barry McCarthy / Sarasota Herald-Tribune / SILVER IMAGE Photo
Agency) Sunshine State Dysfunction: Even before his operations in
the northeast were tarnished by the detention center uprising, Slattery was
looking to move Esmor’s headquarters south, to
the Gulf Coast of Florida. In 1996, he changed the company’s name to
Correctional Services Corp. Slattery had already won several contracts to
operate youth facilities in the Sunshine State before the immigrant riot,
and Florida looked to be a ripe base for expansion. Beginning in the late
1980s, the state had started handing its juvenile inmates to private
companies in an effort to cut costs. By the following decade, this business
opportunity was growing swiftly. Beset by a run of murders by teenagers
that had spooked the public, Florida began intensifying the penalties
facing juvenile offenders. The state asked for bids from private companies,
anticipating a major buildout of juvenile
prisons. In 1995, Slattery won two contracts to operate facilities in
Florida. The two new prisons were originally intended to house boys between
14 and 19 who had been criminally convicted as adults. But the state
realized it had enough beds for that population already, so the Department
of Juvenile Justice began placing some of its delinquent boys in the
facilities – youth who were meant to be housed in far less punitive
settings. In a news release announcing the groundbreaking for the prisons,
Slattery called the new facilities “the future of American corrections.”
Among the new Correctional Services Corp. prisons was the Pahokee Youth
Development Center, which sat in the middle of sugarcane fields in a rural,
swampy part of the state northwest of Miami. Local leaders welcomed the
economic development opportunities that came with prison construction.
Pahokee Mayor Ramon Horta Jr. even joined the
company as a project manager. Recruiting qualified local staff was a
challenge, however, particularly at the rates the company was offering —
$15,995 per year. The Pahokee facility opened to youth in early 1997.
Within months, local judges were hearing complaints about abusive staff,
prison-like conditions and food full of maggots, according to recent
interviews and state audits and court transcripts from the time. Miami-Dade
County Circuit Judge Tom Petersen drove an hour and a half to Pahokee in
1997 and started snapping pictures. As a juvenile judge, he thought he was
sending boys to a moderate-risk program with outdoor wilderness activities.
What he found was a hardcore prison. “I came back with all those pictures
and I raised hell about it,” Petersen recalled in an interview. He saw
small 12-year-olds confined alongside much stronger 17-year-olds. Boys were
served food he called “inedible.” That same year, local public defenders
asked another judge to move children from Pahokee into a less punitive
program. Follow-up reviews by state-contracted auditors confirmed the operation
was dysfunctional. One youth with unpaid prison gambling debts had been so
severely beaten by three others that he required surgery to have his spleen
removed. In a separate incident, four staff members, including two
managers, allowed two boys who had a disagreement to fight for nearly 10
minutes as they stood by and watched. No one reported the incident, and no
one took the boys to see a nurse. Sugarcane farmers in that part of Florida
burn their crops to make them easier to harvest during the summer and fall,
sending rats and mice scurrying from the fields. The reviews said the
facility wasn’t paying enough for pest control to manage the influx. A
special state monitoring report from October 1998 found medical records
showing “instances of youth being bitten by spiders and rodents.” Monitors
from the state also found that Correctional Services Corp. officials were
holding youth past their scheduled release dates in an effort to generate
more revenue — a serious violation of the company’s contract and state law.
Judges throughout the state began demanding that Pahokee be closed. During
a July 1999 hearing, Palm Beach County Juvenile Judge Ron Alvarez warned
that keeping the facility open without improvements courted disaster.
“Treatment of these children comes dangerously close to being inhumane,”
the judge said. “We’re dealing with human beings. We’re not dealing with an
automobile that can wait to be repaired.” The state stopped admitting new
youth to Pahokee in August 1999, after the facility failed an annual audit.
But once again, the state government did not cancel Slattery’s contract.
The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice instead allowed the company to
withdraw from the contract eight months early. In a brief news release at
the time, the company said it was closing Pahokee and three other
facilities across the country that were “unprofitable” in the most recent
quarter. There was no mention of the state’s findings. Slattery said the
company would continue to review facilities for profitability to ensure the
“highest quality services for our contracting agencies and a fair return
for our shareholders.” Residents of the Charles H. Hickey, Jr. School play
basketball behind razor-wire fencing as Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich speaks
during a press conference in June 2005. The governor announced the closing
of the facility in light of an investigation by the Department of Justice
that found civil rights violations during Correctional Services Corp.’s
tenure. (Matt Houston / AP) National Troubles: In the midst of the
abuse allegations at Pahokee, Correctional Services Corp. was enjoying
robust earnings. By 1999, annual revenues reached more than $223 million,
up from $99 million three years before. That year, the company acquired a
rival, Maryland-based Youth Services International, started by W. James Hindman, the founder and former chairman of Jiffy Lube
International, Inc. In addition to five new facilities in Florida, the deal
gave the company access to new markets in the mid-Atlantic and the Midwest.
With more facilities to run, the problems only intensified. In June 1999, a
16-year-old inmate sexually assaulted a female staff member who was left
alone in an unlocked building at the Charles H. Hickey, Jr. School outside
of Baltimore, according to state court documents. Problems at Hickey became
so dire that the Justice Department initiated an investigation. Its
subsequent report, released in 2004, concluded that Hickey staff repeatedly
tried to conceal evidence of physical assaults, disclosing only about
two-thirds of all incidents. The facility was so inadequately staffed that
boys were entering other boys’ rooms and assaulting them. The Justice
Department found that the conditions violated “the constitutional and
federal statutory rights of the youth residents.” The report landed less
than two weeks after the company’s contract ended and the state took over
the facility. The company incurred no penalties and the state agreed to
implement reforms, but ultimately closed the facility the following year.
“These kids were just warehoused,” said Stacey Gurian-Sherman,
a juvenile justice advocate and former state juvenile justice staffer in
Maryland who helped expose some of the problems at Correctional Services
Corp. facilities. “The staff is untrained, and they end up working double
and triple eight-hour shifts. So the kids get abused at worst, neglected at
least, and they come out with many more problems than when they walked in.”
At a Florida Correctional Services Corp. facility called Cypress Creek, north
of Tampa, six juveniles escaped between 2000 and 2001. In 2001, at a youth
prison run by the company in Nevada, juvenile inmates rioted and took over
the facility. After the disturbance, police in Las Vegas charged two former
female guards with having sexual relations with inmates. Both women pleaded
guilty. That same year, 18-year-old Bryan Alexander died of pneumonia while
confined at a Correctional Services Corp. boot camp outside of Fort Worth,
Texas. A report from the Texas Rangers, the state’s premier law enforcement
unit, laid out a chilling portrait of neglect. Other inmates at the
facility had told investigators that they knew something was wrong with
Alexander in early January. He had stopped eating, his lips turned purple,
and he shivered even while taking hot showers. He begged a nurse and drill
instructors to take him to the hospital, but they told him he was faking
it, according to the Texas Rangers’ report. As Alexander pleaded for help,
one drill instructor told him to “go ahead and die already,” according to
the investigative report. The nurse, Knyvett
Reyes, told him to stop lying about his illness. Other inmates at the
facility saw Alexander coughing up blood into trash cans and frequently
struggling to breathe, according to the report. A week after he began
complaining, staff finally took Alexander to the hospital. He died there
two days later. A doctor told the Texas Rangers that Alexander could have
survived had staff taken him to get a chest X-ray when he first reported
feeling sick. In 2002, a judge found Reyes guilty of negligent homicide.
Correctional Services Corp. lost a separate wrongful death lawsuit, and had
to pay $38 million to Alexander’s family. By that time, the company’s
lobbying activities were also coming under scrutiny. In New York, state
auditors and prosecutors began probing a Democratic state assemblywoman,
Gloria Davis of the Bronx, for allegedly accepting gifts from Correctional
Services Corp. as an inducement to help the company win contracts. As Davis
ultimately pleaded, the company had for four years supplied its vans to
transport her to and from the state capitol in Albany free of charge. In
exchange, she helped the company secure contracts to operate halfway houses
in New York City. Davis pleaded guilty to accepting bribes in connection
with Correctional Services Corp. and a scheme involving a separate
non-profit group. She was sentenced to three months in jail and nearly five
years’ probation, and agreed to never again seek public office. At the time
of her 2003 pleading, Correctional Services Corp. no longer had contracts
in New York. But an investigation by New York’s Temporary State Commission
on Lobbying found widespread evidence of earlier undisclosed gifts to state
lawmakers, including free rides and dinners. Correctional Services Corp.
agreed to a settlement in which the company admitted no wrongdoing but paid
a $300,000 fine for failing to document the gifts. It was then the highest
fine ever assessed by the commission, besting a $250,000 fine doled out to
Donald Trump and his business associates for failing to disclose money
spent lobbying against new casinos in upstate New York. Destinee
Bowers, 19, poses at her home Wednesday, May 29, 2013, in Orlando, Fla.
(Chris McGonigal / The Huffington Post) A Clean
Record: Even as the evidence mounted that Correctional Services Corp.
had a tendency to land in trouble, Florida did not hesitate to give the
company new contracts. Indeed, as the company pursued a fresh round of
contracts in 2003, none of its scrapes with authorities in other states
emerged as an issue in Florida’s oversight process, according to a review
of hundreds of pages of state contracting documents. The Florida Department
of Juvenile Justice looks at past performance when choosing contractors, but
evaluators rely on companies to self-report their contracting history. In
some of the most egregious instances of negligence and failure to report
serious incidents, however, Slattery’s companies pulled out of their
contracts early, rather than wait for the government to take action. In
other cases, the contract’s end date worked in the company’s favor.
Executives could then technically say they had never had a contract
canceled. Moreover, state officials don’t examine a potential contractor’s
record in other states if the company already has contracts in Florida.
Jesse Williams, the spokesman for Slattery’s current company, asserted that
the state is well aware of past problems. “This is a close-knit industry
with a very high volume of reporting and connectivity,” he said. Over the
last decade, Slattery’s company has secured 13 contracts in Florida
collectively worth more than $175 million. In 2005, Slattery sold
Correctional Services Corp. to a rival private prison company, the GEO
Group Inc. The deal netted him more than $6.7 million in severance and
stock proceeds, according to securities filings. In a complex arrangement,
Slattery gave up a portfolio of 14 immigration detention facilities and
adult prisons across the country as part of a $62 million sale, while
buying back one division for $3.75 million: Youth Services International.
As this new Slattery venture continued to grow in Florida, the old problems
surfaced again. At one of its largest facilities, a program for boys near
Fort Lauderdale called Thompson Academy, staff members were quitting in
droves, or being fired after violent incidents. Three years into the
contract, in 2006, a state review found that 96 percent of the staff had
left during the previous year. Eight cases of child abuse by staff were
ultimately substantiated that year, according to contract documents.
According to HuffPost’s review of police reports,
internal Department of Juvenile Justice investigations and youth grievance
forms obtained through public records requests, Florida facilities run by
Youth Services International continue to be plagued by violence, high
turnover and unprofessional staff. Youth counselors for YSI — those who
work directly with juvenile inmates — earn about $10.50 an hour, or just
under $22,000 per year, according to contract proposals from 2010. Because
of frequent turnover and absences among staff, double shifts are common,
adding additional stress to the job, former employees said. One night in
July 2012, a juvenile inmate at Thompson Academy was lining up with other
boys after taking a shower when he realized that the boxer shorts he had
been issued were too big. According to a police report and an interview
with the inmate’s mother, the boy asked a female staff member if he could
have another pair. She said no. So he asked another male counselor.
According to the police report, the second counselor turned to the boy,
grabbed his shirt and started to choke him. Another male staffer pulled the
counselor off, but he continued to go after the boy. Staff removed the boy
and took him to his room while leading the staffer who choked him to
another part of the hallway. But after a few minutes, the same counselor
charged into the boy’s room and tried to choke him again, said the mother,
who spoke with staff and her son after the incident. Several other youth
had to hold the counselor back. “Why did he still have access to my son 15
minutes later?” asked the boy’s mother, who requested that her name not be
used in order to protect her son’s identity. “Why wasn’t he removed
immediately?” Her son was unavailable for an interview because he has since
been arrested and incarcerated at another YSI facility. During a similar
incident in February 2012, a Thompson Academy staff member got into an
argument with a 13-year-old boy who wanted to get a folder with schoolwork
from another room. The staffer told him no, but the boy disobeyed.
According to a therapist and other witnesses mentioned in a police report
of the incident, the staff member started choking the boy and picked him
up. The therapist said the staff member’s actions “were preventing [the
boy] from breathing and she feared from [sic] his life.” After she screamed
at the staff member to let the boy go, he dropped him to the floor, leaving
the boy with a bloody nose. When the Pembroke Pines Police Department
called the staffer to follow up, he replied: “This ain’t no big deal,”
while refusing to answer questions, according to the report. At YSI’s
Broward Girls Academy, a 30-bed program less than a mile away from Thompson,
18-year-old Destinee Bowers didn’t want to go to
an evening church service last year. Normally she was permitted to stay in
a dayroom, she said, but staff members declined to watch her, instead
ordering her to go to church. According to Bowers, when she refused, a
staff member tried to pull her out of her bed. She resisted, she said,
prompting the staffer to choke her. “I was trying to tell her, ‘I can’t
resist, you’ve got my arms, you’ve got my throat,’” Bowers recalled. She
said once the staff member released her, she started throwing up. She asked
to call the 24-hour abuse hotline that is supposed to be available to youth
at all times, according to state law. The staffer told her she had to wait
until the facility administrator showed up in the morning. The next day,
the administrator told Bowers she was not allowed to call because she had
resisted. “We simply don’t believe this is true,” said Williams, the YSI
spokesman. “There are multiple ways for detainees to report abuse.” Former
staff and youth at the facility recalled fights erupting almost every day.
“They’d never try to do anything, they’d never try to help us, to keep our
minds occupied,” said Bowers, who was in the program from December 2011 to
August 2012. “We were always bored, which caused a lot of drama.” The
weekends were a “free-for-all,” said Angela Phillips, a former shift
supervisor at Broward Girls. One weekend in the summer of 2012, at a time
when staffing was particularly lean, a riot broke out, Phillips said. Girls
began yelling and hitting one another. The three staff members on duty
intervened, but the violence escalated until staff from another facility
arrived. The morning after, there was blood on the floors and ceilings,
said one youth who witnessed the fight. Another large fight broke out in
the showers last fall, said another former Broward Girls inmate who asked
that her name not be used because she is under 18. A lone staff member
tried to break up a fight involving nine girls, she said, while another
staff member walked away. Williams said there have been incidents between
inmates that required staff intervention, but he denied that anything
termed a “riot” ever occurred at Broward Girls Academy. In another example
of negligence at the facility, staff mistakenly barred the same girl from
visiting her mother because administrators confused her with another inmate
whose mother had brought cash into the facility during visiting hours — a
major violation of contraband policy. Starting last December, a new group
of girls was transferred into the facility, after a program in the northern
part of the state shut down. Violent fights erupted over turf, the former
inmate said. “They were just psychotic,” she said. “I was like, ‘I’ve had
enough of this, I’ve been here for 10 months.’” Earlier this year, the
juvenile public defender in Palm Beach County, Barbara White, managed to
get the inmate transferred out of Broward Girls, citing the chronic
violence there, she said in an interview. Yet despite the girl’s account,
and those of four staff and youth who witnessed the summer 2012 riot in the
facility, there are no police reports or Florida Department of Juvenile
Justice incident reports describing these events. Bowers and Chelsea
Fernandez, 19, who was also at Broward Girls last year, said they
remembered YSI staff from nearby Thompson Academy coming over to quell the
riot. But they didn’t recall any police or state investigation. Phillips,
the former shift supervisor, said it was rare for YSI to call in outside
authorities lest it trigger greater scrutiny from the state. “They don’t
want the attention,” Phillips said. “In order to keep your contract, you
have to make it seem like you were under control.” She said the Broward
Girls facility was so frequently short of basic items like toilet paper,
laundry detergent, tampons and deodorant that management instructed staff
to ration: on some days, fewer than five squares of toilet paper per
girl. “We didn’t uplift them in any way,” Phillips said of the inmates.
“They never felt good about themselves. It just added to the stress level
that was in there.” Thompson Academy, the facility for boys, was one of
YSI’s most troubled institutions until it closed last year as part of what
the state called its “Long Range Program Plan” to phase out larger juvenile
facilities. It was also one of the most profitable. With 154 beds, the
contract was worth $13 million. From the beginning, escapes, fights and
abuse by staff were frequent. In its first two years, Thompson failed
numerous state reviews. Yet it remained open for nine years. A 2010 lawsuit
from the Southern Poverty Law Center referred to youth who described
Thompson Academy as a “frightening and violent place” where juveniles were
denied medical care when abused. “Children are choked and slammed head
first into concrete walls, their arms and fingers are bent back and twisted
to inflict pain for infractions as minor as failing to follow an order to
stand up,” the lawsuit said. The company settled the lawsuit in 2011; the
terms remain confidential. Under the state’s contract guidelines,
allegations of sexual abuse require immediate reporting to the Department
of Juvenile Justice’s Central Communications Center. But local police and
state authorities did not learn of alleged sexual abuse at the same facility
until a boy made his third complaint, according to an internal state
investigation and local police reports. A boy who said he was forced to
give oral sex to a male guard on three different occasions first reported
the abuse in March 2010. In a police report from October of that year, a Pembroke
Pines officer noted: “This is the third time this victim has alleged
sexual abuse.” “Absolutely no paperwork exists with the Thompson Academy as
to internal investigations on this incident or on allegations that occurred
there,” the report said. A former employee at Thompson Academy, who asked
not to be identified because he still works in the field, said staff were
often told not to report physical incidents that were considered minor.
“They said we’ve got to get our contracts,” the employee said. “We don’t
want these points against us.”
This is the second in a two-part
series.
Youth Services International
confronted a potentially expensive situation. It was early 2004, only three
months into the private prison company’s $9.5 million contract to run
Thompson Academy, a juvenile prison in Florida, and already the facility
had become a scene of documented violence and neglect. The Huffington Post
uploaded and annotated the documents — including court transcripts, police
reports, audits and inspection records — uncovered during this
investigation. Hover over the highlighted passages to see the source
document behind each fact. Browse the documents behind this report » One
guard had fractured an inmate’s elbow after the boy refused instructions to
throw away a cup, according to incident reports. Another guard had slammed
a boy’s head into the floor after an argument. The prison was infested with
ants and cockroaches, toilets were frequently clogged and children reported
finding bugs in their meager portions of food. “From day one, it was hell,”
said Jerry Blanton, a former monitor with the Florida Department of
Juvenile Justice, who was then tasked with inspecting Thompson Academy.
Conditions appeared so foul and perilous that he told his supervisors that
he “emphatically recommended that the facility be closed,” according to a
memo about the discussions. What happened next speaks to how Youth Services
International has managed to forge a lucrative business running private
juvenile prisons in Florida and 15 other states even amid mounting evidence
of abuse. The company used connections with state officials to complain
that Blanton was intimidating staff. Less than a week later, the state
removed him as monitor of the facility. Two months after that, he was
fired. Thompson remained open, and Youth Services International retained
its contract to operate it. In the nine years since, the company has won an
additional eight contracts in Florida, bringing 4,100 more youths through
its facilities, according to state records. All the while, complaints of
abuse and neglect have remained constant. Florida leads the nation in
placing state prisons in the hands of private, profit-making companies. In
recent years, the state has privatized the entirety of its $183 million
juvenile commitment system — the nation’s third-largest, trailing only
California and Texas. Florida not only relies on private contractors to
self-report escapes and incidents of violence and abuse, but the state’s
Department of Juvenile Justice routinely awards contracts to private prison
operators without scrutinizing their records, a Huffington Post
investigation has found. “We thought DJJ was going to be our biggest ally,”
said Gordon Weekes, the chief juvenile public defender in Broward County,
who has for years complained to the state about conditions inside two YSI
prisons there. “They turned out to be the ally of the corporations, and the
ally of the system.” Florida’s permissive oversight has allowed Youth
Services International to essentially game the system since entering the
state more than a decade ago. Despite contractual requirements that the
company report serious incidents at its facilities, YSI routinely fails to
document problems, sanitizes those reports it does submit and pressures
inmates to withhold evidence of mistreatment, according to interviews with
14 former YSI employees. “The state is not doing enough,” said Wanda
Williams, a former staffer at YSI’s Palm Beach Juvenile Correctional Facility,
who quit in 2010 after growing disgusted with the violence and squalid
conditions she saw inside the prison. “Because if they were, that place
should have been shut down by now.” Executives at YSI declined requests for
interviews made over the last four months. In an emailed response to
questions, Senior Vice President Jesse Williams said the company’s juvenile
prisons are some of the best in Florida. He added that the state’s
Department of Juvenile Justice rigorously inspects the facilities. “The DJJ
has a very meticulous monitoring system,” he said. “There are numerous
announced and unannounced visits to each facility to check for quality
assurance and contract compliance, and we do very well in our reviews.”
Williams denied that the company fails to report serious incidents to the
state. “Our policy is to report everything,” he said. “In fact, we
communicate to our employees that if there are any doubts about whether it
is a reportable incident to go ahead and notify DJJ.” Senior officials at
the Department of Juvenile Justice declined interview requests. The agency
refused to discuss specific details of HuffPost’s
findings, though a spokeswoman issued a statement asserting the department
is committed to ensuring that youth in its system “remain safe and are
given every opportunity to thrive.” She said contract oversight is one of
the agency’s top priorities. “With 100 percent of the agency’s residential
services provided through contractors, the contract selection and renewal
process is paramount to our success,” said the spokeswoman, Meghan Speakes Collins, in an email. Since 2011, when
Republican Gov. Rick Scott took office in Florida, the department has
“revamped” its review of contractors, she added, by engaging in deeper
statistical analysis of trends such as high staff turnover and the number
of altercations between staff and youth. A Prison Empire Through the
Years: For more than a decade, James F. Slattery focused largely on
incarcerating adults and undocumented immigrants through his for-profit prison
business. In 2005, he sold off the adult division and shifted entirely into
the juvenile market. YEAR 1989, FACILITIES 2, TOTAL BEDS 245, YOUTH BEDS 0.
Bed counts are specified by contract and may not reflect the number of prisoners.Sources: Securities and Exchange Commission,
Youth Services International website via The Wayback
Machine. Former employees say Youth Services International has maintained a
pristine image in the state’s official accounts in part by massaging the
paperwork. Riots often go unreported, meaning law enforcement officers
never arrive to investigate or document evidence of problems, these sources
say. Staff training sessions tend to be conducted in a perfunctory fashion,
with little effect – but they are nearly always well-documented and up to
date. “The paperwork was spotless,” said Angela Phillips, a former shift
supervisor at Broward Girls Academy in Pembroke Pines, northwest of Miami.
“But if you go to a facility that has no toilet paper, no laundry
detergent, no underwear or bras, it seems like somebody would have raised a
red flag.” Annual quality assurance reviews play a major role in
determining whether the state renews a juvenile prison contract. Under
Florida guidelines, a private juvenile prison that fails this test comes up
for review again within six months. A subsequent failure can result in
contract termination. Yet these reviews often fail to probe conditions
inside facilities, merely assessing whether required policies are in place,
not necessarily whether they are followed. When the Department of Juvenile
Justice does examine actual conditions, its reviews often rely on surveys
of staff and inmates, as opposed to interviews and written testimony. “They
rely too much on what the providers tell them, and not enough on what the
children tell them,” said David Utter, the director of Florida policy at
the Southern Poverty Law Center, who has followed the rise of YSI and was
involved in a lawsuit alleging abuse at Thompson Academy. “Quality
assurance is looking at contract adherence, whether they’re meeting the
general terms of the contract, not the goals of the rehabilitation of the
youth,” explained Weekes, the Broward County public defender. “They do a
cursory review of the youth. They look more at whether [the contractors]
are record-keeping properly.” HuffPost reviewed
logs documenting complaints inside state youth prisons recorded between
2008 and 2012. Those logs show that several of the YSI facilities that
received positive “quality assurance” reviews also generated an outsize
share of staff arrests, youth injuries and allegations of excessive force.
Bart Lubow, a juvenile justice expert with the
Annie E. Casey Foundation, says such reviews tend to measure contractual
compliance rather than what actually happens to youth inside the
facilities. “How many people got hurt? Are kids learning anything? Any of
the things that a parent would care about, or that a taxpayer ought to care
about, are not at the heart of this stuff,” he said. According to Speakes Collins, the department spokeswoman, earlier
this year the agency began conducting more inspections and more frequent
interviews with youth across the system in an effort to pinpoint programs
with a high incidence of violence and to discover whether problems are
being covered up. Youth Services International became skilled at navigating
the state’s contracting system in part by hiring the very people who
developed it. Woodrow Harper, the company’s executive vice president, was a
deputy secretary at the Department of Juvenile Justice when the agency was
first formed in 1994. The company’s vice president of contract compliance,
Dorothy Xanos, also previously worked for the
department, helping to develop some of the state’s first quality assurance
standards. Damon Nunn, who runs YSI’s Palm Beach juvenile facility, used to
be the state monitor at one of the company’s programs in South Florida.
State probes of mistreatment claims typically end with inconclusive
evidence. Only about a quarter of cases across the state system involving
allegations of abuse by staff are ever substantiated, according to a HuffPost tabulation of investigations logged by the
inspector general’s office at the Department of Juvenile Justice. Many are
simply ruled “inconclusive” when staff say one thing and youth say another,
despite trends indicating that problems are systemic. At a YSI facility in
St. Augustine in 2009, more than 25 separate children accused staff and
management at the facility of preventing them from calling the state’s
abuse hotline, according to an internal investigation by the DJJ. All the
cases were found to be inconclusive. Even in state-run facilities, outside
authorities found that cases of abuse went undocumented. The U.S. Justice
Department’s civil rights division noted many concerns about state
oversight in an investigation of a violence-ridden state juvenile prison in
north Florida two years ago. Federal investigators concluded that problems
inside the institution indicated a “failed system of oversight and
accountability” across Florida’s youth prisons. The state closed the
facility before the Justice Department finished its report, citing a lack
of funds. In a follow-up letter to the DOJ in January 2012, Gov. Rick Scott
challenged the “unsupported suggestion” that problems in Florida’s juvenile
justice programs were systemic. “Nonetheless, my administration remains
committed to review and reform,” he wrote. Former Department of Juvenile
Justice officials say that because Florida has turned over its youth prison
system to contractors like YSI, the state is effectively complicit in
allowing problems to fester at private facilities. With a fully outsourced
system, there is little incentive to crack down on contractors, former
staffers say. “They don’t want the providers to look bad, because they
don’t have anyone else to provide this service,” said a former Department
of Juvenile Justice executive staffer, who spoke on condition of anonymity
for fear of jeopardizing a continued career in the field. “Bottom line, the
state of Florida doesn’t want responsibility for these kids.” Playground
and buildings at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, Fla., in
1968. (State Archives of Florida / Florida Memory) Troubled Past: Such
pronouncements have dogged authorities in Florida for decades. In the early
1980s, lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union began investigating
reports of horrendous conditions and mistreatment inside Florida’s three
“training schools” for juvenile delinquents. One institution on the Florida
panhandle, the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys – then among the largest
youth jails in the country – had gained a reputation for extraordinary
brutality and neglect. In 1983, the ACLU joined with another juvenile
rights group to sue the state for its treatment of inmates at Dozier and
two other facilities. According to the lawsuit, guards hog-tied children,
forcing them to lay on their stomachs on concrete slabs for hours at a time
while their hands and feet were bound behind them in shackles and
handcuffs. The state rarely screened youth for psychological problems when
they arrived, effectively abandoning those who were developmentally
disabled or suffering from mental illness. To this day, former Dozier
inmates continue to push state law enforcement to investigate the deaths of
dozens of inmates that occurred there from the turn of the 20th century
through the early 1970s. Forensic anthropologists from the University of
South Florida have identified an estimated 50 unmarked graves on the
school’s site. Under a consent decree in 1987, the state agreed to reforms,
including a promise to transition toward smaller facilities with more
dedicated treatment plans for the mentally ill and sexually abused. As part
of the agreement, the state gave a federal judge and a court-appointed
monitor oversight of Florida’s entire juvenile justice system. The federal
monitor, a nationally recognized juvenile incarceration expert named Paul DeMuro, felt the state wasn’t moving quickly enough to
adopt reforms. Six years into the agreement he resigned in frustration,
concluding in a series of reports that the quality and monitoring of the
state’s new programs were “sorely suspect.” A few months after DeMuro resigned, in early 1994, state juvenile justice
officials convinced U.S. District Judge Maurice Paul to release Florida
from federal monitoring, arguing that the state had the proper controls in
place to effectively treat and rehabilitate the youth under its care. The
decision coincided with a rush to construct new youth prisons across the
state. Several headline-grabbing murders by Florida teenagers in the early
1990s had sparked fears in the tourism industry, and state politicians
began toughening penalties for young offenders. “Some of the top
criminologists were basically scaring the hell out of people, saying,
‘We’ve got this wave of new barbarians at the door,’” said Barry Krisberg, a criminal justice expert who is director of
research and policy at the University of California, Berkeley’s Chief
Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy. “It’s true that
youth crime rates were rising. But they were projecting that this was going
to double, triple. It was outrageous.” Amid the prison-building boom, James
F. Slattery and his company – then named Correctional Services Corp. – embarked
on what would eventually grow into a rewarding business relationship with
the state of Florida. Slattery’s company had previously been confined
largely to Texas, New York and New Jersey. In 1995, it won three contracts
in Florida, and then moved its headquarters to Sarasota, on the Gulf Coast.
Problems emerged almost immediately. Juvenile court judges from Miami to
West Palm Beach began fielding complaints about fetid conditions, violence
and staff abuse at one Correctional Services Corp. facility, the 350-bed
Pahokee Youth Development Center. DeMuro, the
former federal monitor, was brought in by public defenders in Miami to
inspect Pahokee in 1997. He described a “negative sub-culture” where
“larger and stronger kids can take advantage of weaker kids.” Staff only
contributed to the vile atmosphere, he found. “Staff often curse at
youngsters, talk about their family situations,” DeMuro
testified in a court hearing about conditions at Pahokee that year. “There
is an inappropriate use of force by banging kids against the wall and
taking them down.” Jesse Williams, the current company spokesman,
acknowledged that Correctional Services Corp. had “some issues that we
dealt with effectively 15 years ago.” By 1999, problems at Pahokee had
become so dire that Correctional Services Corp. risked losing its contract.
Under state law, that termination would have prevented the company from
securing a new contract in Florida for at least a year. So the company
employed the tactic that has kept its record clean in the eyes of the
state: It voluntarily withdrew from the contract several months early,
closing the books before damaging reports might be set down for future
consideration. Crosses made of metal pipes mark the graves of 32
unidentified bodies in a small, hidden graveyard near the former Dozier
School for Boys in Marianna, Fla. (Photo by Emily Michot
/ Miami Herald / MCT via Getty Images) Firing the Monitor: That
clean record would become a valuable asset four years later, as the
Department of Juvenile Justice sought a private contractor to run Thompson
Academy, the 112-bed facility for “moderate-risk” boys northwest of Miami.
Slattery submitted a proposal, touting his company’s “history of
successfully operating juvenile facilities for the Florida Department of
Juvenile Justice.” The 60-page proposal noted that the company’s programs
were “nationally recognized” for “consistent, high-quality services.” The
proposal described other moderate-risk facilities the company had
“successfully operated” in other parts of the country, including the
355-bed Charles H. Hickey, Jr. School outside of Baltimore. The proposal
neglected to mention that the U.S. Justice Department was in the midst of
investigating widespread violence and rampant staff abuse at Hickey that
same year. The proposal also avoided mentioning that the company was in the
midst of a wrongful death lawsuit in Texas, after an 18-year-old inmate
died of pneumonia despite begging to be taken to the hospital. Correctional
Services Corp. was not required to disclose any of this history in bidding
for business with the state of Florida. According to the Department of
Juvenile Justice’s contract scoring process, state officials examine
records in other states only when the private operator has no previous
contracts in Florida. When the state evaluates current contractors, past
performance counts for less than one-fourth of the total score. The bulk of
the rating stems from the quality of the contractor’s technical proposal –
its plans to staff the facility, for example, and its policies on security,
escapes and training. Outside evaluators are instructed not to consider
“any other information, other than the information contained in the
proposal, including personal experience with provider or staff, news
articles, anything heard or said about provider.” “They’re not getting
rated on the things that are most important,” said Vanessa Patino Lydia, who has followed Florida’s juvenile
justice system as a research director at the National Council on Crime and
Delinquency and the Delores Barr Weaver Policy Center, a nonprofit focused
on girls in the juvenile justice system. “The points are about: ‘Did you
respond to the questions on what you’re going to do?’” The Department of
Juvenile Justice asserts that problems with a company’s program in one
state do not necessarily raise concerns about its activities in another.
“Comparisons between states can be difficult since juvenile justice is
administered differently around the country,” said Meghan Speakes Collins, the DJJ spokeswoman. “Additionally,
companies often have different management oversight and personnel operating
programs in individual states.” The proposal Slattery put forward for
Thompson Academy included descriptions of his company’s “expert managers
and well-trained staff that are setting the highest standards in our
industry.” He won the contract. Soon, the same problems that had emerged at
many of his institutions cropped up again, according to HuffPost’s
review of state facility reports. In December 2003, a month before
Slattery’s firm formally took over Thompson, state monitors noted that the
company had yet to fill any of the direct-care staff positions, the guards
who work most closely with children. A state review found that the company
also had yet to detail its plans for recreation and physical fitness, or
arrangements for food services. In February 2004, less than two months into
the contract, a boy escaped Thompson with the help of another youth. An
investigation by the Department of Juvenile Justice found that “facility
policies did not address escape prevention” and staff had not been properly
trained. Furthermore, the company had not notified the state of the escape
within 24 hours, as required. Less than 10 days later, a staff member
attacked a 15-year-old boy, slamming his head to the floor and punching
him, according to incident reports. When the boy complained that he
couldn’t breathe, the guard put his hand over the boy’s mouth. The guard
was later fired. The following month, a youth counselor slapped an inmate
in the face and then head-butted another while saying, “Suck my dick,”
according to an incident report filed by the state. The state only learned
of the latter incident when a therapist called the abuse hotline. The guard
and his supervisor failed to notify state authorities, as required in the
company’s contract. The same month, a group of boys handed a letter to one
of the state monitors noting “a bad bug problem in our cafeteria,”
including in the food. “Staff interviewed stated youth had too small
portions of food, the last group fed got less,” read an email from a
different monitor, Pamela Stillwell. Jerry Blanton, then the state’s top
monitor at Thompson Academy, asked for a special audit team to review the
program. The resulting report found the facility to be seriously
understaffed and unsanitary, and that staff were dismissive of grievances
filed by youths housed there. The average starting salary for youth care
workers was $17,680 and staff turnover was high, according to documents
filed with the state. An emergency state review in March found no evidence
that staff had been trained in the proper ways to restrain youth. According
to an email from a department monitor regarding the March evaluation:
“There is nothing in training files for staff – no training plans, no
documentation of any training regarding [restraints], CPR and first aid,
fire, riot and other emergency situations.” Just as Blanton and others from
the state began documenting problems, the facility administrator at
Thompson Academy, Jasir Diab,
was requesting meetings with Blanton’s superiors at the state Department of
Juvenile Justice, according to internal department memos and company
correspondence obtained by HuffPost. Diab had previously worked at the company’s troubled Pahokee
facility and today serves as corporate regional vice president. A few weeks
after the state’s special review of Thompson in 2004, Diab
met with DJJ regional director Darryl Olson to discuss concerns he had
about Blanton’s behavior, according to department correspondence. In an
April 2004 letter to department officials and corporate higher-ups at the
company, Diab complained that Blanton had been
conducting unannounced visits – allowed under the contract terms – and
intimidating staff and demanding documentation from employees who lacked
the requisite information. Diab also complained
that Blanton encouraged employees to call him with concerns about the
program, “thus undermining the management of the facility,” according to a
letter the administrator sent to the state. In an interview, Blanton
acknowledged that he stuck out within the culture of the Department of
Juvenile Justice, sometimes coming off as confrontational where colleagues
generally projected an air of collaboration with the private contractors
whose programs they inspected. “I dance to my own music,” he said. The
usual spirit of cooperation flowed from a basic understanding about the
nature of the employment cycle, according to the former department
executive staffer who requested anonymity: Many state employees wound up
going to work for the same private contractors they regulated. “It was
widely known in the department that the relationships you are able to build
on the outside are where your next paycheck is coming from,” the former employee
said. “It’s your way of guaranteeing yourself work when the next
administration comes in.” Blanton did not live by that code. A 66-year-old
African-American man from upstate New York in a department dominated by
whites, he says he took particular interest in the welfare of the youths
housed in Florida’s juvenile prisons, who were overwhelmingly black and
Latino. He makes no apologies for confronting his bosses and the private
prison companies alike when he found evidence that young people incarcerated
under the state’s authority were being neglected or abused. “The purpose of
a monitor is to ensure that the mandates set down by the state and the
rules in the contract were followed,” he said. “Two things really stood
out: Staffing was not adequate, and the kids weren’t eating. Therefore they
were not safe.” A week after Diab met with state
officials, Blanton’s bosses removed him as the monitor at Thompson Academy.
He was fired two months later. In a series of memos before he was fired,
Blanton asked his superiors why they took the complaints from the company
as fact without also consulting him. “I have some problems with your
process,” Blanton wrote. “They are as follows: 1) allegations are made and
taken as truth; 2) as a DJJ employee, I was never given the opportunity to
meet with my accuser; 3) you did no investigation or verification of the
validity of the complaint. How does one manage/supervise people in such a
manner?” In the letter calling for Blanton’s termination, his superiors
cited the complaints from Diab and a complaint
from a different contractor that described Blanton as “confrontational” and
“intimidating.” His bosses also cited “apparent attempts at retaliation”
after Blanton told them he “should not be underestimated” following his
removal from monitoring duties at Thompson. Blanton was also cited for
turning in four facility reports late, and for leaving the office without
signing out, according to the termination documents, which Blanton shared
with The Huffington Post. Back in the 1990s, Blanton had run a state
facility in Palm Beach County, where youth had accused counselors of
mistreating them. He was temporarily reassigned as local prosecutors
investigated, but the state never brought charges and he was never found to
have violated procedures. This history was not mentioned as a reason for
his termination, according to state documents. Williams, the current
spokesman, confirmed that the company had lodged a formal complaint against
Blanton, but added: “It was not the reason he was terminated.” He referred
other questions to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. Speakes Collins, the agency spokeswoman, declined to
comment on the issue, asserting that it would be “inappropriate” to discuss
matters that happened during a past administration. Less than four months
after Blanton was fired, another state review of Thompson confirmed and
amplified many of the problems he had documented. Among the “critical”
concerns listed in the annual audit: employees had been hired absent the
criminal background checks required by state law. A review of incidents
involving staff and youth revealed that many had not been reported to the
state within the required timeframe. Only two out of 20 reviewed employees
had completed required training on child abuse and incident reporting
during their first two weeks on the job, as required by the state. The
review also found that staff at Thompson badly neglected preparing
juveniles for release, in one case failing to notify the state social
services agency about the departure of a boy who had previously been in
foster care. Over the next two years, the facility continued to receive low
marks on annual reviews, including a finding in 2006 that youth who had
been placed on suicide watch received minimal counseling. But when the
Thompson contract came up for renewal after three years, the state again
selected Slattery’s company – by then known as Youth Services International
– to continue running the facility. Under Florida guidelines, the question
of whether to renew a private juvenile prison contract “is at the
Department’s sole discretion” and “shall be contingent, at a minimum, upon
satisfactory performance.” In the case of Thompson Academy, the state
renewed YSI’s deal even though documents showed that 96 percent of staff
had left the facility and eight confirmed cases of child abuse had emerged
there over the previous year. The company has continued to win other
contracts while using its successful proposal for Thompson as a template.
The Department of Juvenile Justice maintains that it has improved its
contract oversight process by granting fewer renewals. The new system
allows more companies to submit proposals once a contract is nearing
completion, increasing competition. Speakes
Collins declined to say whether YSI would have seen its Thompson contract
renewed under the new guidelines. Former YSI employees dismissed the review
process as a mere formality. The Department of Juvenile Justice “doesn’t
care about these kids,” said a former manager at two YSI facilities, who
asked not be identified because the person still works in the field. “They
have cut so many costs and taken away so many tools to help these kids,
that it’s just a revolving door.” The Palm Beach Juvenile Correctional
Facility is Youth Services International’s largest youth prison in Florida,
with 118 beds. (Chris Kirkham / The Huffington Post) Doctoring
documents: In recent years, some of YSI’s facilities have shown
improved scores on annual reviews from the state, in some cases scoring so
highly that they won exemption from required reviews the following year.
But interviews with former YSI staff members reveal that this numeric
progress may have little to do with improved conditions. Rather, they said,
it likely reflects the company’s sophistication in fabricating the
necessary paperwork for its annual quality assurance evaluations. Each
facility knows when state auditors are scheduled to visit, according to
former YSI employees. In the weeks prior to such visits, these sources
said, staff work feverishly to prepare documents showing that medical
exams, therapy sessions and staff trainings are conducted as
required—supplementing and back-dating the files as needed. The quality
evaluation process “was a joke,” said Angela Phillips, the former Broward
Girls Academy shift supervisor. “The paperwork looked great, because
someone was going around and spending overtime just to make sure that
paperwork was correct. If there was something missing, they would just forge it.” Several former employees recalled marathon
work sessions in which they sometimes fabricated entire log books to paper
over discrepancies in records, or to fill in the gaps when the files lacked
required reports. “Just about every area you could look into, they were
deficient,” said a former medical employee at YSI’s Palm Beach Juvenile
Correctional Facility. “So they made up documents to make it seem like they
weren’t.” Genesia Williams-Wilkerson, a former
case manager at the same prison who left the institution in 2011, said the
accuracy of paperwork documenting staff training sessions was particularly
questionable. Even if employees missed or showed up late for classes on CPR
or proper restraint techniques, managers told them to sign in as if they
had attended, she said. “They’d just bring around the paper, and you’d sign
it. That way they’d have the papers saying we’ve done the training,” she
said. “They just worry about the audits. They’re not worried about these
kids’ lives.” Jesse Williams, the YSI spokesman, denied claims that paperwork
was backdated and fabricated, calling the inspection process “stringent and
thorough.” But according to former employees, when state officials visited
to review facilities, managers would handpick trusted employees and youth
to be interviewed. “We would be coached,” said Wanda Williams (no
relation), a former youth care worker at the Palm Beach prison. “They’d
say, ‘You better not put anything on this paper that you shouldn’t put
there.’ The state didn’t do enough, and they never wanted to talk to us one-on-one.”
Because the state relies almost entirely on its juvenile jail contractors
to self-report major incidents, staffers said the company consistently
tried to conceal fights and riots from the state Department of Juvenile
Justice as well as state and local authorities. “They don’t want any
outside company, because they want the program to look like it’s running
smoothly,” said Williams-Wilkerson. “Outside support should be called for a
lot of what goes on, but they don’t do that.” The state maintains a special
hotline for juvenile inmates seeking to report mistreatment. But youth who
have been inside YSI facilities told HuffPost
that those wanting access to the hotline must seek permission from staff —
often the same staff they say abused them. Williams, the YSI spokesman,
denied that inmates were pressured not to report abuse. “There are multiple
ways for detainees to report abuse, such as hotlines directly to the state,
reporting to other administrators (anonymously) or simply telling their
family members during visitation,” he said. Chelsea Fernandez, an inmate at
Broward Girls Academy who left the program last year, said she was denied
hotline calls despite suffering bruises after being thrown up against a
wall and onto the floor by a female staff member. “She kicked me like a
dog,” Fernandez recalled. She said the next day, during a group therapy
session, staff told the girls present not to mention the fight to anyone.
To discourage inmates from reporting abuse, staff provided youth with
snacks or special privileges, such as being allowed to stay up late, former
inmates said. Fernandez recalled that before an inspection by state
officials last year, staff promised to throw a party for the girls if they
behaved and answered questions as instructed. After state officials left,
the whole unit was treated to KFC, she said. Phillips, the former shift
supervisor at Broward Girls Academy, said the point of such rewards was
clear to all: It was about burying evidence of abundant troubles. “The
girls would get pizza or ice cream after there was a riot, or some girls
would have a fight and then they would get candy,” she said. “Why would you
reward them and disregard the fact that they just had a fight? It was so
you don’t cause a problem, so you can forget about what happened.”Chelsea
Fernandez, a former inmate at Broward Girls Academy, poses for a photo
outside her home in Miami on May 31, 2013. (Chris McGonigal
/ The Huffington Post) Encouraging Participation: While Florida
looked the other way, the abuse and neglect inside its juvenile prison
system drew the attention of federal officials. A U.S. Justice Department
report two years ago found horrific conditions at two state-run programs in
north Florida. At the Dozier School for Boys – the same jail that landed the
state in federal court in the 1980s – investigators found that the
Department of Juvenile Justice hired staff members who were abusive and
often failed to document fights. Guards choked and slammed boys into the
ground without provocation, according to the Justice Department’s report.
Staff often failed to document these assaults, and made a point of engaging
in violent behavior away from the view of security cameras. The central
takeaway: problems had been allowed to fester because of “the state’s failed
system of oversight and accountability.” “These problems may well persist
without detection or correction in other juvenile facilities operating
under the same policies and procedures,” the report concluded, urging the
state to take “immediate measures” to improve its policies and hire
consultants to rework the system. By the time the report came out in
December 2011, the state had already closed Dozier, citing budget cuts.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott sent a frosty response to Washington, arguing that
the issues were “confined to the closed facility” and “do not constitute a
sufficient, sound or fair basis for concluding that an entire state agency
and its employees are failing to properly administer the juvenile justice
system in Florida.” In response to questions about whether the state has
hired outside consultants to review its juvenile commitment system, as
recommended by the Justice Department, a spokeswoman pointed only to
Scott’s letter. In the push to fully privatize the system and phase out
state-run facilities, Florida has continued both to renew YSI’s contracts
and to award the company new ones. Last year, Florida opted not to extend
YSI’s contract to oversee Thompson Academy, the facility where Jerry
Blanton had blown the whistle and lost his job eight years earlier. In a
letter to YSI sent in summer 2012, the state told the company that the
contract would end because the DJJ was “moving away from large
institutional models” and toward smaller, community-based programs. Still,
the letter added, “We strongly encourage your participation” in an upcoming
bid for new contracts. In January, the state gave YSI a $7.3 million,
five-year contract to run the new Broward Youth Treatment Center, a 28-bed
program less than a mile away from Thompson. And this summer, YSI won
contracts to take over two more state facilities, one in the Tampa area and
another in Jacksonville.
December 24, 2009 Miami-Herald
The former chairman of the Florida Board of Medicine and another Fort
Lauderdale physician have agreed to pay substantial sums to settle federal
civil charges of insider stock trading. Dr. Mammen
P. Zachariah, appointed to the board of medicine by Gov. Jeb Bush in 2004,
and Dr. Sheldon Nassberg allegedly reaped illegal
windfalls by acting on stock tips supplied by Mammen
Zachariah's brother, prominent Broward heart specialist and major
Republican fundraiser Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah. Zach Zachariah, who has
raised millions of dollars for Republican causes and candidates, including
both presidents Bush, faces similar charges, but has declined to settle his
case. A federal magistrate has set trial for Aug. 23, 2010. That trial
promises to offer a unique look at Republican fundraising and how political
access is bought and sold. Among the expected highlights is witness
testimony from two of South Florida's better-known corporate chieftains --
The Geo Group's George Zoley and Phil Frost,
formerly of IVAX. The Zachariah brothers and Nassberg,
all of whom practice at Fort Lauderdale's Holy Cross Hospital, were named
in a May 2008 civil complaint brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission. The complaint accuses them of collecting more than a
half-million dollars in illegal profits during a fraudulent stock-trading
scheme in 2005. Without admitting or denying the government's allegations, Mammen Zachariah, 61, agreed to pay nearly $136,000 in
what a judge labeled ``ill-gotten gains,'' plus an equal amount as a civil
penalty. Nassberg, an endocrinologist, agreed to
similar payments totaling $52,668. He admitted no wrongdoing. Both men are
required to pay up by the end of the month. The final judgments signed by
U.S. Magistrate Linnea Johnson on Wednesday also
include permanent injunctions that restrain both doctors from future
securities law violations. Zach Zachariah, another past chairman of the
Florida Board of Medicine, is alleged to have used nonpublic information to
buy and sell shares of two unrelated Florida companies, Miami-based generic
drug maker IVAX and Sarasota's Correctional Services Corp. (CSC). Zachariah
was on IVAX's board of directors in July 2005 when company chairman Phil
Frost informed him that IVAX had agreed to be acquired by Teva Pharmaceuticals for $26 a share. Within minutes,
Zachariah bought 35,000 IVAX shares for about $21 a share, the SEC said. At
the time of the alleged purchase, company insiders were forbidden from
trading in IVAX stock. Zachariah also allegedly tipped off his brother, who
bought 2,000 IVAX shares for about $23 a share on the last trading day
before the deal was announced in July 25. Zachariah allegedly used inside
information to make even more money trading shares of CSC, which was
acquired by The GEO Group of Boca Raton in 2005. According to the SEC, the
Zachariah brothers and Nassberg turned $380,000
in quick profits. The government says Zachariah acquired that inside
knowledge in a couple of ways. One was through his son Zachariah ``Reggie''
Zachariah, who worked in GEO's mergers and acquisitions department. Reggie
Zachariah has denied under oath tipping off his father to the deal. Another
was through Zachariah's own moonlighting work for GEO. The SEC says
Zachariah made ``millions of dollars'' as a corporate consultant, service
provider and lobbyist for GEO, a giant prison contractor once known as
Wackenhut Corrections. Zachariah, who owns a $2.3 million home on the
Intracoastal Waterway in secluded Sea Ranch Lakes, said under oath last
winter that he was paid to provide access for GEO chief executive George Zoley to top federal and state Republican politicians.
Those politicians include former President George W. Bush, former Senate
Majority Leader Bill Frist, former Florida Senate
President Tom Lee and House Speaker Alan Bense
and former attorney general Charlie Crist, now
Florida's governor.
November 8, 2005 Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The GEO Group, based in Boca Raton, has closed its $62 million deal for the
Sarasota-based private prison management company. GEO ended up paying $6
per share and assuming $124 million in Correctional Services debt. The
local company's founder, James Slattery, plans to continue to run Youth
Services International, which runs detention operations for youthful
offenders, out of Sarasota. That unit manages programs at 17 centers with
1,300 beds. Slattery paid $3.75 million for the business. GEO will continue
to own the 26-acre property in Newport News, Va., that housed one of Youth
Services' juvenile operations. Contingent on the closing was a settlement
by Correctional Services on a $38.8 million judgment that held the company
responsible for the death of Bryan Dale Alexander, an 18-year-old inmate at
a Texas boot camp. The terms were held confidential, but the Sarasota
company paid $2.7 million toward the settlement, with the rest made up by
its liability insurers, which initially balked at paying the award. A Texas
jury in August 2003 found CSC and a nurse at the now-closed Mansfield boot
camp responsible for Alexander's death. He died of a rare
penicillin-resistant form of pneumonia. The judgment against CSC and nurse Knyvett Reyes included $35 million in actual damages,
$750,000 in punitive damages and more than $2.4 million in interest.
Correctional Services' former adult division owns or operates 15 centers
with 7,500 beds. GEO manages 41 prisons and jails with 36,000 beds in the
United States, Australia, South Africa and Canada.
November 7, 2005 Yahoo
The GEO Group, Inc. (NYSE: GGI - News; "GEO"), a world leader in
the delivery of correctional and mental health services, announced today
the successful completion of its previously announced acquisition of
Sarasota-based Correctional Services Corporation (Nasdaq:
CSCQ - News; "CSC"), a leading developer and manager of
privatized correctional and detention facilities, for approximately $62
million, or $6.00 per common share. GEO also assumed $124 million of CSC
non-recourse debt. GEO's acquisition of CSC will add 16 adult male
facilities located in six states, totaling approximately 8,000 beds, to
GEO's operations, representing local, state and federal clients, including
the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the United States
Marshals Service. Post-closing of the CSC acquisition, GEO will have
contracts and awards to manage 58 facilities with a total design capacity
of approximately 48,000 beds, increasing GEO's correctional bed market
share from 22 percent to 28 percent.
October 22,
2005 Sarasota Herald Tribune
Correctional Services Corp. has settled a $38.3 million judgment that held
the company responsible for the death of an 18-year-old inmate at a Texas
boot camp. Terms of the agreement are confidential, but the Sarasota-based
prison manager said Friday it will pay $2.7 million toward the settlement.
The rest will be covered by CSC's liability insurers, which initially
balked at paying the award. The agreement is contingent on the closing of
CSC's previously announced sale to The GEO Group Inc. for $62 million. CSC
shareholders will vote on the sale Nov. 4. If that deal falls through, so
does the settlement. A Texas jury in August 2003 found CSC and a nurse at
the now-closed Mansfield boot camp responsible for the death of Bryan D.
Alexander. Alexander, serving a six-month sentence for a misdemeanor
driving conviction, died in 2001 of a rare penicillin-resistant form of
pneumonia. Trial testimony showed he was treated for a cold and flu even
though he had coughed up blood for five days before his death. His parents
sued CSC and nurse Knyvett Reyes for their loss
and anguish. Reyes was convicted of negligent homicide and was sentenced to
four years of community supervision. She also surrendered her registered nurse's license. The judgment against CSC and Reyes
included $35 million in actual damages, $750,000 in punitive damages and
more than $2.4 million in interest. The settlement will resolve all claims
and lawsuits against CSC and Reyes. It also will end a dispute between CSC
and its liability insurers over who should pay. Boca Raton-based GEO is
paying $62 million in cash, or $6 a share, and assuming $124 million in
liabilities to acquire CSC. It will then sell the Youth Services International
subsidiary to CSC president James Slattery for $3.75 million. That unit
manages programs at 17 centers with 1,300 beds. GEO will acquire the adult
division that owns or operates 15 facilities with 7,500 beds. GEO manages
41 prisons and jails with 36,000 beds in the United States, Australia,
South Africa and Canada. Shares of CSC were selling for $5.91 on the Nasdaq at the close of trading Friday, up 1 cent.
May 13, 2005 Sarasota
Herald Tribune
Private prison manager Correctional Services says a lack of use of its
immigration holding centers as well as prisons in Texas bit into its bottom
line during the first quarter. The Sarasota-based company reported a loss
of $509,000, or 5 cents per share. That compared with a loss of $656,000,
or 6 cents per share a year earlier. Correctional Services, which runs both
adult and juvenile detention centers, closed four juvenile operations
during 2004 and expects to close another two this year.
Cypress Creek Juvenile Detention Center,
Lecanto, Florida
Two years ago, Cypress Creek Juvenile Detention Facility in Lecanto was
wrought with scandal - from female guards having sex with inmates to
allegations of brutal inmate treatment. The Department of Juvenile
Justice terminated its contract with Correction Services Corporation last
year and brought in Securicor to
run the Level 10, or maximum security, juvenile jail. "But we
still have a considerable amount of turnover. It's probably in line with
the rest of the industry," he said. "It's just the nature of this
business. Stress is always a factor. But if you run good programs and
people can see the light at the end of the tunnel and that they're making a
difference, then you'll keep good people." (Citrus Chronicle,
June 28, 2004)
Mrs. Diane Wilbur says she has reached a
kind of closure. It took a lot of perseverance, and even guts, for her to
stand up to a multimillion-dollar corporation, but last week in Federal
District Court in Ocala, she was vindicated. After a four-day-long trial
and a jury that deliberated for more than six hours, Federal Judge William
Terrell Hodges found in favor of Wilbur in her case against Correctional
Services Corp, alleging sexual harassment. Wilbur told the Ocala jury that
her employers fired her because she refused to have sex with her bosses.
Her attorney, Craig Berman of St. Petersburg, said that it was also clear
that her dismissal from Cypress Creek had something to do with her
complaints to the company and Department of Juvenile Justice over
wrongdoings in the facility. These wrongdoings involved beatings of teen
inmates and sexual misconduct galore. Her reports were ignored or covered
up. (Citrus Chronicle, September 3, 2003)
At midnight Monday, Cypress Creek Academy came under new management.
Securicor New Century took over operations of the 96-bed facility, one of
four maximum-level juvenile facilities in the state. Cypress Creek had been
operated by Correctional Services Corp., a Sarasota-based private company,
since 1998 when it acquired Youth Services International. The department's
contract with Correctional Services came up for bid in December. Under
Correctional Services' management, there were escapes from Cypress Creek in
2000 and 2001. In addition, a female guard was charged last year with
having sex with three inmates older than 18; she later accepted a plea
agreement and was sentenced to four years of probation. In 2002, a critical
concern was an inadequate amount of mental health and substance abuse
treatment services, according to the review. Before Correctional Services
and Youth Services International, there was another private company,
Rebound, that ran Cypress Creek on the state's behalf. The state canceled
its contract with Rebound after the company experienced many problems. (St.
Petersburg Times, July 2, 2003)
Eagle Lake Juvenile Facility, Columbus,
Texas
November 29, 2005 Victoria Advocate
The Colorado County Commissioners Court has formed a committee to determine
which of the county's taxing entities will be able to use the new voting
machines for its elections. "We formed the committee to come up with
an equitable system for all of the voting entities in the county to use the
equipment," County Judge Al Jamison said after Monday's court meeting.
"We've purchased 16 of the machines and have three cities and three
school districts." "Now that the county is running the facility,
the school district wanted the contract to be with us rather than
Correctional Services Corporation," Jamison said. "The district
operates an off-campus program at the juvenile facility with a principal
and five teachers. That way the kids at the facility are not in an
educational vacuum. For example, if they are in eighth grade, they follow
an eighth grade course of learning at the facility."
Elizabeth Detention Center, Elizabeth,
New Jersey
September 7, 2005 AP
Immigrants who claimed they were abused at a detention center won a $2.5
million settlement from a private company that operated the center for the
federal government. After legal fees, some 1,600 detainees will divide
about $1.5 million based on how long they were held and what they said was
done to them, the New Jersey Law Journal reported this week. U.S. District
Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise, in Newark, approved
the settlement Aug. 10. The detainees were being held at the Elizabeth
center between August 1994 and June 1995 for what was then called the
Immigration and Naturalization Service. Many have since been deported. The
center was operated by Esmor Correctional
Services, then based in Melville, N.Y., until shortly after a June 1995
riot, when about 100 immigrants broke windows, destroyed furniture and
overpowered guards, claiming they had suffered physical abuse and other
inhumane conditions. The INS closed the center and fired Esmor after its investigation found that poorly trained
guards abused the detainees physically and mentally, gave them spoiled food
and deprived them of sleep. The detention center reopened in January 1997
after renovations were completed by its new operator, Corrections Corp. of
America, of Nashville, Tenn. Still pending is a related lawsuit against Esmor, now known as Correctional Services Corp., of
Sarasota, Fla., by nine detainees who claim that political asylum seekers
were abused and harassed at the center.
November 17, 2004 AP
Evidence shows political asylum seekers were abused and harassed while
detained at a privately operated facility that lacked clean food, clothes
and bedding, a federal judge found as he refused to dismiss a lawsuit by
nine immigrants. "You don't need to beat someone to a pulp until
they're ready to die to violate human rights law," said the lawyer,
Penny M. Venetis, associate director of the
Constitutional Law Clinic at Rutgers School of Law-Newark. The ruling,
filed Nov. 10 by U.S. District Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise
in Newark, is the latest milestone in a lawsuit filed in 1997 against what
was then called the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the company
that ran its detention center in Elizabeth. The judge dismissed charges
against the INS and its officials, saying the government cannot be sued. He
also dismissed some charges against the company's guards, finding that
individual actions did not rise to the level of international human rights
abuses, Venetis said. But he refused to dismiss
all charges against Correctional Services Corp. and its officials. The
Sarasota, Fla.-based company was known as Esmor
Corp. when it operated the INS detention center. The judge said the
evidence showed that detention center administrator Willard Stovall was
"fully aware" of abuses, and listed 21 examples, including the
beatings of detainees and the sexual assault of one female detainee. Other
examples cited by the judge were sexual harassment that included guards
watching women detainees take showers, broken toilets, defective heating,
and lack of access to supplies such as toothbrushes and toothpaste. In
addition, guards interfered with detainees' efforts to practice their
religions, whether they were Christian, Hindu or Muslim, the judge said.
The Elizabeth center was operated by Esmor, then
based in Melville, N.Y., until shortly after a June 1995 riot, when about
100 immigrants broke windows, destroyed furniture and overpowered guards,
claiming they suffered physical abuse and other inhumane conditions. The
INS closed the center and fired Esmor after its
investigation found that poorly trained guards abused the detainees
physically and mentally, gave them spoiled food and deprived them of sleep.
The detention center reopened in January 1997 after renovations were
completed by its new operator, Corrections Corp. of America, of Nashville,
Tenn.
Florida Department of Juvenile Justice
December 19, 2004 Orlando Sentinel
Florida has regularly locked up many underage offenders for months or years
longer than they were told, shuffling them from program to program and
forcing them to restart their terms. It's a practice that can harm the
young people the system is supposed to help, stealing a wide swath of their
adolescence and keeping them locked up in a sometimes-violent environment
long after they might have been sent home. Often, even those who stayed out
of trouble and followed the rules were forced to start their terms over, a
six-month Orlando Sentinel investigation found. · The department transferred 3,631
offenders during five years, an average of 726 a year. That, according to
the department's own calculations, was about 10 percent of its annual
admissions. The transfers extended the offenders' stays dramatically -- up
to four times longer than those who were not moved. · The extended stays inflated the cost of
treatment at least by an estimated $20.3 million during the five-year
period studied by the Sentinel. · In
the overwhelming majority of transfers, an offender was moved from one
privately run program to another. Children's advocates argue that all those
transfers raise serious questions about the ability of the department to
manage its programs, the bulk of them operated by private companies. The
Sentinel estimated that, during the five years it studied, transfers cost
the state an extra $20.3 million. To arrive at that number, the paper
analyzed a department database -- the most recent available -- that tracked
the comings and goings of 35,107 juvenile offenders from fiscal 1999 through
2003. Of those, 27,882 began and completed their treatment during the
five-year period the paper examined. And almost 10 percent were transferred
at least once. Twice in the past three years, the audit branch of the
Florida Legislature criticized DJJ for making so many transfers. The Office
of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability looked at the same
data as the Sentinel, except it had three instead of five years' worth. In
April, the Sentinel reported that DJJ and its contractors were responsible
for 661 confirmed cases of child abuse or neglect during nine years,
according to data provided by another state agency, the Florida Department
of Children & Families. Most of the abuse occurred at programs run by
private companies. Many of the department's residential providers are
nonprofit, but three of its top five are not. They are Securicor New
Century LLC of Richmond, Va.; Premier Behavioral Solutions Inc. of Coral
Gables; and Correctional Services Corp. of Sarasota. Combined, they account
for a third of the system's beds. Securicor was involved in at least 792
transfers during five years, according to DJJ data. For Premier, the number
was at least 873; and Correctional Services Corp. and an affiliate, Youth
Services International, accounted for 736. Industry executives said they
emphasize helping kids.
Frio County Detention Center, Texas
March 12, 2005 Express-News
An alleged member of the Mexican Mafia who was part of a jailbreak last
summer at the Frio County Jail pleaded guilty Friday to escape. Reymundo Alaniz Flores - one
of five inmates who escaped - entered the plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge
John Primomo in San Antonio. The escape occurred
Aug. 6 at the privately run jail in Pearsall that used to house federal
inmates. Authorities allege Robert Lee Jack and Randy
Wayne Folsom helped the escape by cutting a hole in a perimeter fence,
supplying wire cutters to the inmates and driving them away.
January 21, 2005 Express-News
A San Antonio man admitted Thursday that he helped five federal inmates
escape from Frio County Jail last summer. At a hearing before U.S.
Magistrate Judge Pamela Mathy, Robert Lee Jack,
32, pleaded guilty to instigating and assisting the Aug. 6, 2004, escape.
Jack admitted he went to the privately run jail in Pearsall the day of the
escape and tossed a pair of bolt cutters over a perimeter fence to an
inmate. Jack also admitted cutting a hole in an outside fence. He faces up
to five years in prison when he's sentenced May 12. Two of the inmates
remain at large.
October 13, 2004 Houston Chronicle
Two federal inmates
who escaped from a South Texas detention facility in August were captured
Wednesday near Laredo, officials said. The men were among five inmates who
fled a Frio County lockup Aug. 6, possibly with the help of the Mexican
Mafia. One of the escapees was caught shortly after the escape. The two who
remain on the loose are presumed to be in South Texas, officials said. The
"Frio Five" were able to flee the jail through holes cut in
security fences, possibly with outside assistance. An investigation
continues into whether they had inside help.
Federal
authorities are hoping $50,000 will persuade someone to give up the
whereabouts of five inmates who escaped last week from the privately
operated Frio County Jail. LaFayette Collins,
U.S. marshal for the Western District of Texas, said at a news conference
today that it is offering rewards of $10,000 apiece for information leading
to the recapture of the former jail residents, who slipped to freedom Aug.
6 through holes cut in two perimeter fences. Collins also said the
escape probe continues, including interviewing — and re-interviewing - jail
guards to see what they know. No determination has been made on whether the
inmates — who are said to have ties to the Texas Mexican Mafia gang — had
help inside or outside the lockup, or both. "We suspect everything and everybody at this point,"
Collins said. Meanwhile, the Sarasota, Fla.-based company that runs the jail
under contract, Correctional Services Corp., has refused to publicly
explain the foul-up, ordering its local officials to turn down media
interviews and not returning numerous calls seeking comment. (Express-News,
August 13, 2004)
The first round of layoffs began Tuesday at the privately run Frio County
Jail in the wake of last week's broad daylight escape of five federal
inmates. Jose "Nacho" Hernandez, a former detention
officer, said his son, Joel, and a friend were among those who lost their
jobs. He said he didn't know how many detention officers received
letters Tuesday notifying them of the layoffs. But up to 30 employees
are expected to be laid off, County Judge Carlos Garcia said Tuesday.
Garcia said representatives with Correctional Services Corp. advised him
the cutbacks were necessary after the U.S. Marshals Service withdrew its
remaining 240 inmates from the jail over the weekend, citing security
concerns. The five inmates that escaped Friday remained on the loose
Tuesday. (Express-News, August 11, 2004)
Big changes at the Frio County Jail, as
hundreds of inmates are shipped out. They were sent to another
facility just one day after five convicts escaped from the jail, and more
changes could be on the way. "What are we waiting for are. Are
we waiting for one of these persons to go into one of these homes and kill
somebody?," said Mayor Roland Segovia. The mayor of Pearsall is
concerned about the company that runs the Frio County Jail. Segovia
says Correction Services Corporation out of Florida is a good company but,
"having six breakouts in the past eight years and only catching one of
the 15 that have escaped, that's pretty scary," said Segovia. He
says on Saturday about 200 jail inmates were shipped to another jail.
"We stand at only about 40 inmates in the Frio County Jail," said
Segovia. Segovia also says he's heard dozens of Frio County CSC
employees are being laid off as operations are scaled back. "To
lose 75 people in a matter of two or three days that's a lot," said
Segovia. (WOAI.com, August 10, 2004)
After the fifth breakout at Frio County
Jail in the past eight years, nearby residents reacted Saturday with a mix
of anger and indifference to the rash of escapes. Five inmates cut
through two fences and walked away from the jail at about 1 p.m. Friday,
before a massive nine-hour manhunt came up empty and was called off due to
darkness, rain and thick brush in the area. Since the start of 1996,
14 inmates have escaped from the jail in five incidents. On Saturday
afternoon, a bus from the LaSalle County Detention Center in Cotulla was at
the Pearsall jail to transfer some of the federal inmates out of the Frio
County facility. Jail officials declined to provide details on the number
of inmates being sent to LaSalle County. Some nearby residents
complained because they didn't learn of the escape for hours. Like
many Pearsall residents, Judy Stacy, who lives two blocks from the jail,
was incredulous after another escape. "It's absurd," she
said. "How could you cut two holes through the fences and just walk
out? Don't they have people watching them?" Nell Youngblood
lives a block from the jail, but did not hear about the escape for more
than two hours. Then her husband locked all the doors and all but one
window. (Express-News, August 9, 2004)
Five federal prisoners escaped today from
a privately run lockup near San Antonio, according to the Frio County
Sheriff's Department. Spokesman John Butler said the escape from a
Correctional Services Corp. facility in Pearsall occurred around 1 p.m. He
said the prisoners were in the custody of the Marshal's Service office in
Laredo, which uses the lockup under contract. Butler, based in San
Antonio, said a headcount was under way this afternoon to determine who was
missing and how dangerous they might be. Investigators were
also trying to determine how the prisoners got away, though Butler said
witnesses reported seeing them crawling under perimeter fences. (AP,
August 6, 2004)
Law officers continued searching today for two federal inmates who escaped
from a South Texas lockup. The prisoners, both Mexican nationals, were
reported missing late Monday morning from the Frio County Detention Center.
Jorge Perez Delgado, 45, and 29-year-old Oscar Herrada
Herrera were held on federal drug charges out of Laredo, said David Sligh, supervisory deputy U.S. marshal for the Western
District of Texas. (AP, September 10, 2003)
Genesis Treatment Center, Newport News,
Virginia
May 14, 2005 Daily Press
The former operations director of a treatment center for troubled youth
has filed suit against the companies that ran the now-defunct center,
alleging he was discriminated against because of his race and fired in
retaliation for his complaints. In the suit, filed last week in Newport
News Circuit Court, James E. Graves of Hampton seeks $1.85 million in lost
wages and damages as a result of losing his job at the Genesis Treatment
Center. The suit names center operator Youth Services International and
parent company Correctional Services Corp. as well as the center's former
facility administrator as defendants. The treatment center, which operated
out of the old Newport News General Hospital on Marshall Avenue, treated
boys and young men between the ages of 12 and 21 for severe emotional
disorders and sexual delinquency. It closed in October 2003 because of
financial problems, although former employees questioned whether internal
problems there had something to do with it. At the time the center closed,
at least five employees had reportedly filed discrimination complaints with
the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. At least one of those
complaints was settled, Graves said, while the EEOC gave him the green
light to sue.
Geo Group, Florida
July 14, 2005
Correctional Services Corp., the Sarasota-based prison management company,
is being bought by Boca Raton’s GEO Group Inc. for $6 per share. That
is a 37 percent premium based on the Sarasota company’s closing price of
$4.39 per share on Wednesday. The all-cash deal works out to $62 million price
for Correctional Services. GEO Group, which also manages prisons and
mental health operations, also will assume $124 million in Correctional
Services debt and said that it plans to divest the Sarasota company’s
juvenile services division, which has been problematic for the prison
manager.
Grenada County Detention Center, Grenada,
Mississippi
May 28, 2006 Daily Star
The operators of the Grenada County Jail have told county officials they
plan to give it back to the county in 120 days. Geo Group, Inc., the leaser of the local correctional facility, met with
Grenada County officials last week to discuss the financial shortfalls
which the leaser is suffering. "We have had an initial discussion with
the county and we are hoping to come to a resolution beneficial to both
parties," said Pablo Paez, the Director of
Corporate Relations with The Geo Group. Geo took over the county jail last
year when the Florida based Correctional Service Corporation's (CSC)
contract ended. Paez said yesterday that Geo is
working with the county but no final decision has been made yet. Grenada
County Board of Supervisors President Columbus Hankins said Geo did give a
notice and they were asked to submit a proposal to the county if they had
any adjustments that were to be made. "We are seeking bids for a new leaser even though it is still in the early
stages," said Hankins. Hankins said it would be too expensive for the
county to run the jail and the sheriff and the county is too busy to do so.
November 29, 2005 Greenwood
Commonwealth
Carroll County District Attorney Doug Evans soon will receive the results
of the state Highway Patrol's investigation into the death of Debbie Denise
Loggins, a patrol spokeswoman says. "All
investigative findings, including autopsy results, will be forwarded to the
district attorney's office within the next few days," Delores Lewis
said in a written statement Monday. She had been arrested for fighting and
was driven from the sheriff's office in Carrollton to Grenada. She was,
according to Lewis, "unresponsive upon arrival at Grenada County
Correctional Services Corp., a private prison in Grenada."
November 29, 2005 Sun Herald
An autopsy is complete on the body of a North Carrollton woman who died in
September after being found unconscious in the back of a Carroll County
Sheriff's deputy's car, the Mississippi Highway Patrol says. "All
investigative findings, including autopsy results, will be forwarded to the
district attorney's office within the next few days," Highway Patrol
spokesman Delores Lewis said. Debbie Denise Loggins,
33, had been charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. She was
unconscious when she arrived at a private prison in Grenada, authorities
said. Sheriff Don Gray has said he is confident the final autopsy report
will show Loggins' death was not due to excessive
force while she was in the custody of his deputies.
March 24, 2005 Sun Herald
The family of an inmate who died this past weekend during an apparent fight
at the Grenada County Detention Center has filed a lawsuit against the
operators of the lockup. The jail is operated by Correctional Services
Corporation, a private prison company headquartered in Sarasota, Fla. The
lawsuit was filed Wednesday against CSC in U.S. District Court in Oxford.
It seeks unspecified damages. CSC will have 20 days to respond. Grenada
County Sheriff Alton Strider identified the dead inmate as Kenneth Kendall,
22, of Grenada. He said Kendall was killed Sunday night in his cell. An
autopsy has been ordered. Kendall was serving a 30-day sentence for failing
to pay fines, authorities said. Jay Westfaul, an
Oxford attorney representing the Kendall family, said Thursday that the
sheriff and Grenada County are not defendants in the lawsuit but that may
change once the investigation and autopsy are completed. "Jails and
prisons should be run by governmental entities not private corporations out
to make a profit," Westfaul said in a
statement. Westfaul said the lawsuit alleges the
facility was understaffed at the time of the incident and that Kendall was
placed in an area with "hardened criminals, many of whom were being
held for capital murder."
March 22, 2005 ZWire
A young man killed during an attack in the county jail was serving time for
contempt of court, according to authorities. The inmate beaten to death at
Correctional Services Corporation (CSC) had been in jail for the charges
related to fines owed to the city. According to Grenada County Sheriff
Alton Strider, Kenneth Kendall, 22, of Grenada was being held at CSC on
contempt fines. Kendall died in what the sheriff called an altercation with
other inmates in his cell. According to Grenada County Justice Court Clerk
Brenda Mullen, a simple assault charge against Kendall had been remanded by
the county; he remained in jail on the charge from the Grenada Police
Department. The investigation is continuing. Information about charges
related to the death was not available at press time.
Jefferson
County Downtown Jail, Beaumont, Texas
August 10, 2005 The Enterprise
Three guards at a privately managed downtown jail have been fired after
authorities decided their mistakes led to the escape last month of three
dangerous prisoners, law enforcement officials said Tuesday. The inmates
were recaptured within 25 hours of their July 10 escape. On Tuesday, the
U.S. Bureau of Prisons listed the men as being in custody at the Beaumont
federal penitentiary. Jefferson County Sheriff Mitch Woods, who ultimately
controls the jail managed by Correctional Services Corp., said CSC's
internal investigation pointed to human error in handling inmates as the
cause of the escape, as is often the case. The inmates - Todd Christian,
David Lee Jackson and Arzell Gulley - took
advantage of their chance to leave their floor of the jail and found an
open gate when they arrived downstairs, Woods said. The sliding gate had
been left open in preparation for the arrival of inmates, Woods said.
Without the open gate, the prisoners would not have been able to leave the
jail, Woods said. The escape also prompted meetings between the CSC warden
and Beaumont police officials. Beaumont Officer Carman Apple said police
were unable to get color photos and full information about the escapees
immediately, which made for a less effective search.
July 12, 2005
AP
Authorities have now captured all three federal prisoners who escaped from
a private jail in downtown Beaumont, police said. Todd Christian, 26,
was captured about 10:30 p.m. Monday after he knocked on the door of a home
in Beaumont's South Park section and asked to use the telephone. Beaumont
Officer Crystal Holmes, police spokeswoman, told Beaumont television
station KFDM that the homeowners managed to stall Christian until police
arrived. Arzell Gully, 34, was nabbed by
police at the Port of Beaumont seven minutes after the escape Sunday
night. The second inmate caught, David Jackson, 45, was arrested
Monday morning near a hospital in Beaumont after he was spotted by hospital
security guards, Holmes said. Jackson gave police a false name but
was taken into custody and later identified by the warden, Holmes
said. The inmates at Correctional Services Corp.'s jail used pepper
spray and a shank to overpower the guards, she said. All three men were
federal inmates awaiting trial who were involved in the killing of another
prisoner in 1999. Holmes said she did not have details about the killing
and whether the inmates had been convicted of other crimes.
New York Legislature
October 19, 2004 1010 Wins
He's been convicted of theft, reviled by the press and pushed from office
in a scandal that came to symbolize lax ethics in Albany
. Roger Green is still feeling pretty good. Running all but unopposed for the state
Assembly, he's poised to retake the Brooklyn
seat he resigned in June after pleading guilty to stealing public money by
submitting fake travel vouchers to the state. Green's legal
troubles emerged from a probe of free transportation given to lawmakers by
Sarasota, Fla.-based Correctional Services Corp. Albany
County prosecutors
charged Green with stealing from the state by submitting fake travel claims
for expenses he never incurred when he was riding the CSC vans. Green filed
bogus claims for about 30 trips between Albany
and New York ,
prosecutors said. Green also was among a host of current and former state
lawmakers who wrote to state officials supporting extensions of CSC's state
contracts for halfway house services. CSC received $25.4 million from the
state to provide such services between 1992 and 2000. Green was sentenced to three years'
probation and ordered to pay $5,000 in fines and restitution after
admitting to two counts of petty larceny and one count of offering a false
instrument. He acknowledges using the CSC vans but said he paid CSC for gas
and asked for state reimbursement because he did not understand the state's
vague guidelines. But good-government advocates say Green's ethical troubles
and impending return to office show a pressing need for reform. "The system is broken," said
Barbara Bartoletti, legislative director for the
League of Women Voters of New York State. "The system has not overseen
itself at all."
FORMER
INMATES of a federal community confinement center operated by defendant, a
private company under contract with the federal Bureau of Prisons, alleged
that defendant was negligent in hiring, retaining, training, and
supervising an employee whom plaintiff alleged sexually abused them.
Defendant moved for summary judgment, arguing that plaintiffs, who failed
to submit expert testimony, need expert testimony to establish a prima
facie negligence case. The court held that defendant is not entitled to
summary judgment on this ground, noting that a lay juror could determine
without expert testimony that defendant should not have retained the
employee if defendant had been placed on notice that he had engaged in
sexual misconduct with the residents of the confinement center. The court,
however, granted defendant summary judgment on the vicarious liability
issue, finding that no reasonable jury could conclude that the employee's
actions were within the scope of his employment. (New York Law
Journal, April 15, 2004)
A state assemblyman was sentenced Monday to three years probation, and
ordered to pay $3,000 restitution and a $2,000 fine in connection with a
probe into free transportation provided to lawmakers by a state contractor.
Roger Green, 54, had pleaded guilty in an Albany city court Feb. 5 to three
misdemeanor charges, including two counts of petty larceny and one count of
offering a false instrument, in connection with charges he pocketed travel
reimbursements from the state for expenses he never incurred. Green acknowledged taking rides from Correctional
Services Corp., but had denied any wrongdoing, saying he gave the
Florida-based prison services company nothing in return. The probe began after Gloria Davis, a Bronx Democrat,
resigned her Assembly seat last year and pleaded guilty to bribery. As part
of a plea deal, Davis admitted getting free rides from CSC back and forth
to Albany. Last year, the private prison company was fined a record
$300,000 by the state Lobbying Commission for failing to report it provided
free transportation and other gifts to state lawmakers. From 1992-2000, CSC
received $25.4 million from the state to provide halfway house services to
the New York prison system. The state contracts were scrapped in 2001 after
the Pataki administration said the services were no longer needed.
(Newsday, March 22, 2004)
Newton County Correctional Center,
Newton, Texas
June 2, 2006 Idaho Statesman
Correctional officers at a private Texas prison have been disciplined
for abusing Idaho prisoners this spring, the state Correction Department
said Thursday. At least half a dozen department employees, including
department Director Tom Beauclair, flew to Texas
after the department received complaints from inmates and family members,
department spokeswoman Melinda Keckler said in
response to an inquiry from the Idaho Statesman about allegations of abuse.
The state team inspected the Newton County Correctional Center in Newton,
operated by Geo Group Inc. The company disciplined security staff members
in response to the team's findings, Keckler said.
"We have received concerns from several parties, all in relation to
one or two specific incidents in the Texas facility," Keckler said. "(Department) employees interviewed
offenders and staff and observed the physical operations of the facility,
and as a result of that, some corrective action was taken on some employees
in Texas." Keckler said she could not
describe the nature of the abuse or specify how prison employees were
disciplined. The media contact for the Geo Group was on vacation and could
not be reached, and the prison's warden would not comment. Keckler said the department is satisfied that the
Newton prison is complying with its agreement with Idaho. The state has
turned to out-of-state prisons to handle inmate overflow from Idaho's
jam-packed prisons. In mid-March, 150 prisoners were moved to the Texas
prison. Since then, 270 more Idaho prisoners have been transferred from the
Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, Minn. after that private prison
needed to make space for more Minnesota prisoners. All out-of-state Idaho
prisoners are now housed at the 872-bed Newton prison, as are prisoners
from Arizona and Texas and federal immigrations and customs detainees.
Josie Daniel, a 32-year-old homemaker from Fruitland, said her brother,
Eddie Daniel, an Idaho inmate transferred to Texas in April, was
interviewed by Correction Department employees in response to abuses he and
six other prisoners suffered in early April. In a letter Josie Daniel
received from her brother April 14, he said he and six other prisoners had
been put in an isolation area without explanation for five days from April
3 to April 7. On the fifth day they were handcuffed, beaten and maced by 15 people, the letter claimed. "So these
people came in ... and take turns beating us up," Daniel wrote.
"And when I say beating us I mean beating us, kicking us in the face
... They went cell to cell during this." According to the letter, the
beatings of the prisoners stopped when the warden intervened. Eddie Daniel
also said food, showers and recreation time were withheld, and beatings
continued after the first incident. "Even though we're in Texas, Idaho
is still responsible for us," he wrote. "You need to call IDOC
and let them know what's going on. Now every day they come to our cells
threatening to beat us again." Josie Daniel said she contacted at
least five IDOC employees, including Keckler, to
report the abuse. Eddie Daniel is serving a six-year sentence for drug
trafficking and had already served six months of it in Idaho, according to
Josie Daniel, who served a two-year sentence herself for grand theft that
she committed when she was 19. Josie Daniel said her brother had served
five years in Idaho prisons for earlier crimes and never complained of
mistreatment or abuse. "My brother is the kind of person that he has a
lot of pride, and he's not going to ask anyone for help," Josie Daniel
said. "My heart sunk when I read this letter because he is pleading
for help." Keckler said the department had
not received any abuse complaints at the private Minnesota facility. Idaho
staffers will continue with routine checks of the Texas prison and will
investigate any future complaints, she said. "Of course whenever we
have charges of abuse we take them very seriously," Keckler said.
Northwest Detention Center, Tacoma,
Washington
November 4, 2004 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Two people are suing a private corrections company, saying one was
viciously beaten and the other sexually harassed while they were being held
in Tacoma on federal immigration charges. Dozens of inmates witnessed the
allegedly unprovoked beating in July of Jose Mancilla
Gutierrez, 22, at the Northwest Detention Center, according to his
attorney, Gwynne Skinner. Correctional Services Corp., which operates the
detention center on the Tacoma tide flats for the federal Immigration and
Customs Enforcement agency, is named as the defendant in the suit along
with five of the company's guards and officials. Skinner and her partner, Daniel Gross, filed
suit in U.S. District Court last week for Mancilla
and Marisela Manzo
Torres, 27, who contends that officers sexually harassed her. Mancilla told his attorneys that on July 5, guards
ordered detainees to return to their cells. As he was doing so, a guard
identified only as Lt. McIntyre, "yelled at him to stop."
"For no justifiable reason, defendant McIntyre then handcuffed
plaintiff (Mancilla), threw him to the floor, and
forcefully put his knee into plaintiff Mancilla's
back," the lawsuit says. McIntyre then walked Mancilla
to the exit and slammed his face into a wall. The impact chipped a tooth,
split his lip and caused him to bleed. The lawsuit says McIntyre
"repeatedly without justification shoved plaintiff Mancilla
against the wall." McIntyre is alleged to have taken Mancilla into a hallway still visible to many cells,
where he "violently threw plaintiff (Mancilla)
to the ground." Then, joined by a guard identified only as Portillo,
both officers "attacked plaintiff, beating and kicking him and
repeatedly hitting his head against the floor," the lawsuit says. As
the handcuffed Mancilla begged for mercy, the
beating continued and blood pooled on the floor, the lawsuit says. Manzo also says in the lawsuit that she suffered
mistreatment at the hands of McIntyre and other officers. The lawsuit
accuses McIntyre of brushing against her "so that his arm or other
parts of his body would touch her breasts." McIntyre passed her cell
at night, "shined a flashlight over her body" and repeatedly said
"show me." She complied, lifting her blanket, out of fear,
according to the lawsuit. Manzo says that a guard
described only as officer Twogood worked in a
control room during the night shift and would engage in sexual banter with Manzo over an intercom in her cell.
Paulding
Regional Youth Detention Center
Paulding County, Georgia
10/30/2013 huffingtonpost.com
The state of Georgia will close a juvenile jail where a federal report
found an extremely high rate of youth alleging sexual misconduct by staff,
ending a nearly 15-year contract with the facility's troubled private
prison operator. A spokesman for the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice
wrote in an email that the decision not to renew the contract with
Florida-based Youth Services International at the end of this year was
about cutting costs, not a June report from the Bureau of Justice
Statistics that uncovered allegations of rampant sexual misconduct.
Department spokesman Jim Shuler pointed to a news release that described
the closure of the company's Paulding Regional Youth Detention Center as an
"economics-based option" meant to save the state more than $6
million. In a report released this summer, the Bureau of Justice Statistics
surveyed more than 300 juvenile institutions across the country and found
that YSI's Paulding youth jail, northwest of Atlanta, had the highest
reported rate of sexual victimization among all facilities surveyed. More
than 30 percent of youth surveyed at Paulding alleged inappropriate sexual
contact with staff, according to the report. Youth Services International
did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. The Georgia
Department of Juvenile Justice did not make staff available for interviews,
responding only to emailed questions. Shuler wrote that state officials
reviewed "every 2012 incident report" at Paulding since the
federal government released its report in June and have "been in
regular communication" with the Bureau of Justice Statistics. YSI
still operates two other facilities in Georgia. The Paulding facility is
the only state juvenile jail scheduled to close this year, according to
state news releases. Shuler also cited a "reduced number of
youth" coming from the area served by the Paulding detention center as
a reason for the closure. YSI was the subject of a recent Huffington Post
investigation that documented a more than two-decade history of abuse at the
company's juvenile and adult facilities across the country. Despite that
record, HuffPost found that the company has
continued to win multi-million-dollar juvenile prison contracts --
particularly in Florida -- by cultivating political connections. Shuler
said the HuffPost articles were not a factor in
the state's decision to close the facility. In a statement, Georgia DJJ
Commissioner Avery Niles said the department "continues its
longstanding relationship with YSI." A major riot occurred at the
Paulding detention center in December 2011. Staff lost control of the
facility and youth were "using fire extinguishers as weapons,"
according to a local police report on the incident obtained through a state
public records request. Police responding to the scene found
"extensive damage", including broken windows and a broken,
spraying water fountain that left six inches of water standing throughout
the jail. Shuler wrote that the riot occurred during a prior
administration, and that current DJJ staff are developing new policies
intended to "focus new attention on safety and security." Another
disturbance recently erupted at a YSI facility in Minnesota. According to
local news reports, two youths climbed out of a window at a facility called
Elmore Academy in August and stole a pickup truck from a nearby home. Local
sheriff's deputies pursued the escapees, resulting in a car chase across
two counties that left three police cars damaged. The Paulding detention
center was built in 1998, and was one of the company's longest-running
contracts. It will close at the end of the year and juvenile inmates will
be transferred to other state detention centers. For more on Youth Services
International, read HuffPost's two-part
investigation, "Prisoners of Profit":
Smith
County Jail
Smith County, Texas
Corplan/Correctional Services Corporation
November 7, 2005 Tyler Morning Telegraph
Smith County commissioners picked Lee Lewis Construction Inc. of Lubbock,
along with Dallas architects Wiginton Hooker
Jeffry PC, with which to enter into negotiations for the design and
construction of a new Smith County Jail. In Monday's meeting of the Smith
County Commissioners Court, Commissioner JoAnn
Hampton explained that the three private firms that responded to the recent
Request for Proposals were evaluated according to a specific set of
criteria. The next highest was Correctional Services Corporation, with a
score of 55, she said. Hale-Mills received 51 points. The court, with
Gary's help, also looked at the potential legal entanglements of each of
the three firms, after they were forced to reject an early RFP due to the
legal troubles of bidder CorPlan.
September 1,
2005 Tyler Morning Telegraph
Smith County commissioners on Tuesday could vote to put a bond referendum
for a new criminal justice complex on the Nov. 8 ballot, County Judge Becky
Dempsey confirmed Thursday. Commissioners have not yet picked a specific
proposal, but have three to choose from, she said. The prices in those
proposals from private firms range from $46.52 million to $55.71 million. "We have some
preliminary numbers already, and I'm working with our bond counsel on exact
wording," Judge Dempsey said. "We have to fill in some blanks,
but I'm hopeful we can do that in the jail workshop on Tuesday." Also, all three of the firms that submitted proposals failed
to provide the disclosure of their legal troubles commissioners wanted;
they've been asked to provide that information to the county by Friday. Any
firm that fails to do so presumably would be considered out of the running.
August 25,
2005 Tyler Morning Telegraph
If the instructions weren't explicit enough before, Smith County officials
say, they'll make it perfectly clear: The private firms offering proposals
to build a new jail complex must disclose all their legal troubles
immediately. Assistant District Attorney Michael Gary will send a letter on
Friday, he told attendees at a public hearing on the jail that county
commissioners held in Lindale on Thursday. Smith County officials are wary
of such lawsuits because in July, they threw out a proposal by Corplan Corrections for a new facility after learning
of a growing scandal in Willacy County. Their vote was not based on the
bribery-related convictions of three county officials there, but on the
"contingent liability" of a lawsuit filed in May against Corplan and Hale-Mills Construction by Willacy County.
They wish to avoid any more such surprises, they say. The private proposals
were one issue that emerged at the public hearing attended by more than two
dozen citizens at the county offices in Lindale. Sheriff J.B. Smith began
the hearing with a brief presentation on jail overcrowding, followed by
County Judge Becky Dempsey explaining what overcrowding is doing to the
county's finances.
August 24,
2005 Tyler Morning Telegraph
A general partner of Hale-Mills Construction says his firm's proposal to
build a criminal justice complex for Smith County is in full compliance
with the county's request for proposals, and that a lawsuit filed by
Willacy County alleging that his firm conspired to bribe officials there
will soon "dry up and blow away." Smith County commissioners have
expressed concern that not one of the five proposals submitted last week
included the disclosure about lawsuits and criminal charges that they asked
for in the request for proposals. And all five lead firms have either sued
or been sued over construction projects or jail operations in that period.
The merit of the lawsuits filed by or faced by each of the companies is not
the issue, county commissioners say; it's that they didn't tell the county
about the lawsuits when asked in the RFPs. In July, Smith County threw out
a proposal by Corplan Corrections for a new
facility after they learned of a growing scandal in Willacy County. Their
vote was not based on the bribery-related convictions of three county
officials there, but on the "contingent liability" of a lawsuit
filed in May against Corplan and Hale-Mills by
Willacy County. The lawsuit claims that Corplan
and Hale-Mills conspired to bribe county commissioners, to be selected for
a $14.5 million project.
August 22,
2005 Tyler Morning Telegraph
The most recent round of proposals for a new Smith County jail and
sheriff's office are in, with private firms offering to build and run a new
facility for sums ranging from $46.52 million to $55.71 million for
construction, and $31.65 to $45.51 per day, per prisoner for privatized
operations. But Hale-Mills Construction, a firm linked to a South Texas
prison project scandal, has apparently submitted a proposal that doesn't
disclose that the firm is being sued by Willacy County. That county alleges
that Hale-Mills and Corplan Corrections conspired
to bribe Willacy County officials in order to win a project. Smith County
commissioners in July threw out a proposal by Corplan
Corrections for a new facility after they learned of a growing scandal in
Willacy County. Their vote was not based on the bribery-related convictions
of three county officials there, but on the "contingent
liability" of a lawsuit filed in May against Corplan
and Hale-Mills by Willacy County. The lawsuit claims that Corplan and Hale-Mills conspired to bribe county
commissioners, in order to be selected for a $14.5 million project. Smith
County commissioners added extra language to their new Request for Proposals
to avoid any more such surprises. "List all criminal charges, lawsuits
or alternative dispute resolutions to which Respondent is a party or has
been a party in the past five years and the nature of the issue," the
county's RFP reads. "Indicate if and how each was resolved." No
such disclosure about the Willacy County lawsuit appears to be in the
Hale-Mills proposal packet.
June 27, 2005 Tyler Paper
It's no longer a choice between public and private, Smith County officials
say - it's a matter of combining the best of both to come up with a
workable solution to jail overcrowding. In Monday's jail workshop
session, county commissioners agreed in principle that a new jail should be
publicly financed, privately built and run by the county. County Judge
Becky Dempsey added, "It's more cost effective for us to do our own
financing." That's because generally, government entities can
borrow money more cheaply. Corplan, when
discussing financing the facility itself, cited an interest rate of 5.125
percent. Smith County, on the other hand, could get an interest rate of 4.8
percent or less. Over the 20-year life of millions of dollars worth of
bonds, that extra point of interest would add up. "Just a slight
difference in interest rates over 20 years could prove quite costly,"
Judge Dempsey said.
December 9,
2002
A private jail contractor drew interest and skepticism Friday from members
of a committee formed to study Smith County's jail space crunch. But
after touring the county's cramped facilities, CSC Vice President Bill
Bryan conceded whether or not county leaders embrace his product, they need
to do something - and fast. "My hat's off to the sheriff and his
staff," said Bryan. who retired as chief jail administrator in Bell
County before joining the staff of the nationwide CSC. Bryan said a
lack of infirmary and space for one is causing medical bills to skyrocket
because inmates constantly must be hospitalized for ailments that could be
treated in an onsite infirmary. The county's jail facilities, which
consist of 755 beds, failed the most recent state inspection due to
overcrowding. Bryan joked he would be glad to take the inmates at a
900-bed facility his company recently opened in Newton County. CSC
currently contracts with four counties in Texas and open spaces in those
jails are rented to counties and other states with overcrowded
facilities. Bryan said CSC has a large contract with Arizona and has
been able to nearly fill its Texas facilities with Arizona prisoners.
Friday's committee meeting consisted of the sheriff and jail staff, his
administrative staff, County Auditor Ann Wilson, purchasing agent Jacque Pelson, attorney "Buck" Files, who represents
the county in jail matters, and Taxpayers Association President JoAnn Fleming. Answering a question from Files,
Bryan said indemnity clauses and insurance could be built into a contract
for liability purposes. Still, Files was skeptical about contracting
jail services, which would mean bringing in inmates from other states to
fill empty beds. "The more inmates we have, the more problems we
have," Files said. (CLEAT News)
Smith
County Jail
Smith County, Texas
Corplan/Correctional Services Corporation
November 7, 2005 Tyler Morning Telegraph
Smith County commissioners picked Lee Lewis Construction Inc. of Lubbock,
along with Dallas architects Wiginton Hooker
Jeffry PC, with which to enter into negotiations for the design and
construction of a new Smith County Jail. In Monday's meeting of the Smith
County Commissioners Court, Commissioner JoAnn Hampton
explained that the three private firms that responded to the recent Request
for Proposals were evaluated according to a specific set of criteria. The
next highest was Correctional Services Corporation, with a score of 55, she
said. Hale-Mills received 51 points. The court, with Gary's help, also
looked at the potential legal entanglements of each of the three firms,
after they were forced to reject an early RFP due to the legal troubles of
bidder CorPlan.
September 1,
2005 Tyler Morning Telegraph
Smith County commissioners on Tuesday could vote to put a bond referendum
for a new criminal justice complex on the Nov. 8 ballot, County Judge Becky
Dempsey confirmed Thursday. Commissioners have not yet picked a specific
proposal, but have three to choose from, she said. The prices in those
proposals from private firms range from $46.52 million to $55.71 million. "We have some
preliminary numbers already, and I'm working with our bond counsel on exact
wording," Judge Dempsey said. "We have to fill in some blanks,
but I'm hopeful we can do that in the jail workshop on Tuesday." Also, all three of the firms that submitted proposals failed
to provide the disclosure of their legal troubles commissioners wanted;
they've been asked to provide that information to the county by Friday. Any
firm that fails to do so presumably would be considered out of the running.
August 25,
2005 Tyler Morning Telegraph
If the instructions weren't explicit enough before, Smith County officials
say, they'll make it perfectly clear: The private firms offering proposals
to build a new jail complex must disclose all their legal troubles
immediately. Assistant District Attorney Michael Gary will send a letter on
Friday, he told attendees at a public hearing on the jail that county commissioners
held in Lindale on Thursday. Smith County officials are wary of such
lawsuits because in July, they threw out a proposal by Corplan
Corrections for a new facility after learning of a growing scandal in
Willacy County. Their vote was not based on the bribery-related convictions
of three county officials there, but on the "contingent
liability" of a lawsuit filed in May against Corplan
and Hale-Mills Construction by Willacy County. They wish to avoid any more
such surprises, they say. The private proposals were one issue that emerged
at the public hearing attended by more than two dozen citizens at the
county offices in Lindale. Sheriff J.B. Smith began the hearing with a
brief presentation on jail overcrowding, followed by County Judge Becky
Dempsey explaining what overcrowding is doing to the county's finances.
August 24,
2005 Tyler Morning Telegraph
A general partner of Hale-Mills Construction says his firm's proposal to
build a criminal justice complex for Smith County is in full compliance
with the county's request for proposals, and that a lawsuit filed by
Willacy County alleging that his firm conspired to bribe officials there
will soon "dry up and blow away." Smith County commissioners have
expressed concern that not one of the five proposals submitted last week
included the disclosure about lawsuits and criminal charges that they asked
for in the request for proposals. And all five lead firms have either sued
or been sued over construction projects or jail operations in that period.
The merit of the lawsuits filed by or faced by each of the companies is not
the issue, county commissioners say; it's that they didn't tell the county
about the lawsuits when asked in the RFPs. In July, Smith County threw out
a proposal by Corplan Corrections for a new facility
after they learned of a growing scandal in Willacy County. Their vote was
not based on the bribery-related convictions of three county officials
there, but on the "contingent liability" of a lawsuit filed in
May against Corplan and Hale-Mills by Willacy
County. The lawsuit claims that Corplan and
Hale-Mills conspired to bribe county commissioners, to be selected for a
$14.5 million project.
August 22,
2005 Tyler Morning Telegraph
The most recent round of proposals for a new Smith County jail and sheriff's
office are in, with private firms offering to build and run a new facility
for sums ranging from $46.52 million to $55.71 million for construction,
and $31.65 to $45.51 per day, per prisoner for privatized operations. But
Hale-Mills Construction, a firm linked to a South Texas prison project
scandal, has apparently submitted a proposal that doesn't disclose that the
firm is being sued by Willacy County. That county alleges that Hale-Mills
and Corplan Corrections conspired to bribe
Willacy County officials in order to win a project. Smith County
commissioners in July threw out a proposal by Corplan
Corrections for a new facility after they learned of a growing scandal in
Willacy County. Their vote was not based on the bribery-related convictions
of three county officials there, but on the "contingent
liability" of a lawsuit filed in May against Corplan
and Hale-Mills by Willacy County. The lawsuit claims that Corplan and Hale-Mills conspired to bribe county
commissioners, in order to be selected for a $14.5 million project. Smith
County commissioners added extra language to their new Request for
Proposals to avoid any more such surprises. "List all criminal
charges, lawsuits or alternative dispute resolutions to which Respondent is
a party or has been a party in the past five years and the nature of the
issue," the county's RFP reads. "Indicate if and how each was
resolved." No such disclosure about the Willacy County lawsuit appears
to be in the Hale-Mills proposal packet.
June 27, 2005 Tyler Paper
It's no longer a choice between public and private, Smith County officials
say - it's a matter of combining the best of both to come up with a
workable solution to jail overcrowding. In Monday's jail workshop
session, county commissioners agreed in principle that a new jail should be
publicly financed, privately built and run by the county. County
Judge Becky Dempsey added, "It's more cost effective for us to do our
own financing." That's because generally, government entities
can borrow money more cheaply. Corplan, when
discussing financing the facility itself, cited an interest rate of 5.125
percent. Smith County, on the other hand, could get an interest rate of 4.8
percent or less. Over the 20-year life of millions of dollars worth of
bonds, that extra point of interest would add up. "Just a slight
difference in interest rates over 20 years could prove quite costly,"
Judge Dempsey said.
December 9,
2002
A private jail contractor drew interest and skepticism Friday from members
of a committee formed to study Smith County's jail space crunch. But
after touring the county's cramped facilities, CSC Vice President Bill
Bryan conceded whether or not county leaders embrace his product, they need
to do something - and fast. "My hat's off to the sheriff and his
staff," said Bryan. who retired as chief jail administrator in Bell
County before joining the staff of the nationwide CSC. Bryan said a
lack of infirmary and space for one is causing medical bills to skyrocket
because inmates constantly must be hospitalized for ailments that could be
treated in an onsite infirmary. The county's jail facilities, which
consist of 755 beds, failed the most recent state inspection due to
overcrowding. Bryan joked he would be glad to take the inmates at a
900-bed facility his company recently opened in Newton County. CSC
currently contracts with four counties in Texas and open spaces in those
jails are rented to counties and other states with overcrowded
facilities. Bryan said CSC has a large contract with Arizona and has been
able to nearly fill its Texas facilities with Arizona prisoners.
Friday's committee meeting consisted of the sheriff and jail staff, his
administrative staff, County Auditor Ann Wilson, purchasing agent Jacque Pelson, attorney "Buck" Files, who represents
the county in jail matters, and Taxpayers Association President JoAnn Fleming. Answering a question from Files,
Bryan said indemnity clauses and insurance could be built into a contract
for liability purposes. Still, Files was skeptical about contracting
jail services, which would mean bringing in inmates from other states to
fill empty beds. "The more inmates we have, the more problems we
have," Files said. (CLEAT News)
South Texas Detention Complex, Pearsall,
Texas
May 18, 2005 San Antonio Express-News
Overcoming some last-minute glitches, homeland security officials have
opened the doors to the country's largest and most modern immigrant
detention center. The $49.5 million South Texas Detention Complex is to
begin housing detainees in the next month or two. It has room for 1,020 of
them — 850 men, 150 women and a temporary holding area for 20 minors. The
massive, high-tech structure — the main corridor stretches one-fourth of a
mile — isn't immune to technical difficulties. During the tour, an administrator
had trouble opening and closing a back entrance through which detainees
will arrive and be processed. The door could be opened both automatically
and manually, but the operator inside and the guard outside spent several
frustrating minutes before getting it to work. "It's a brand-new
facility," ICE supervisor Valentín De La
Garza said with a smile. "There are still some kinks left to be worked
out."
Summit View Youth Correctional Facility,
Las Vegas, Nevada
After being closed for nearly two years, the state-owned Summit View male
juvenile detention center in North Las Vegas will be reopened Jan. 26 and
will take in 24 boys the first week. "We intend to keep (the inmates)
engaged and busy," newly hired superintendent Robert W. McLellan said. "There will be little unstructured
time." From 6:15 a.m. until lights-out at 10 p.m. there will be
schooling and a variety of programs with only a minimum of free time, he
said. Classes at the facility will begin Jan. 29. The $14 million, 96-bed
center originally opened in June 2000 with Correctional Services Corp.
hired by the state to operate the facility. But there were problems,
including escapes and sex between female staff and inmates. The private
company pulled out of the contract in January 2002, complaining it could
not make money. (Sun Capital Bureau, January 5, 2004)
Travis County, Texas
June 28, 2005
Travis County plans to send 100 inmates to a jail near San Antonio that,
although recently upgraded, has been cited for violating state rules and recently
lost a federal contract after five inmates escaped in broad daylight.
Travis is moving the inmates to ease crowding in the county jail system.
The inmates are being sent to the Frio County Detention Facility in
Pearsall. The 391-bed, privately managed facility has the room Travis
County was looking for and will take inmates at less cost than the other
available jail, in Limestone County. But the space in Frio County is
available almost one year after the U.S. Marshals Service removed 240
federal inmates because five of their prisoners escaped in August 2004. A
surprise inspection by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards in July 2004
resulted in citations for understaffing and crowding, including housing
inmates in a classroom. Federal officials also were concerned last
year that prisoners were not properly monitored, said Gary Brown, an
assistant chief deputy for the U.S. marshals' western Texas division.
The August escape was at least the fifth in the nine years, according to
state and federal records. Tavis County Judge Sam
Biscoe and Commissioner Gerald Daugherty said they hadn't heard about Frio
County's troubles. Daugherty said he's asked the Travis County sheriff's
office to give the commissioners a detailed rundown of Frio's recent
history. "I fully expect that when something like this goes
before the commissioners, these traps have been sprung," Daugherty
said. "If we think Frio County hasn't cleaned their act up, then we
have to really think about whether we should be sending our inmates there."
|
|
Angelina County, Texas
November 10, 2004 KTRE
The old Angelina County jail is locking up. The county started
leasing the building about eight months ago to the Correctional Services Corporation
so dozens of undocumented immigrants could be housed there. The Immigration
and Naturalization Service can no longer afford that arrangement.
Charles H. Hickey Jr. School, Towson,
Maryland
Gov. Robert Ehrlich has asked attorneys to find out if the state can end a
contract with a Sarasota, Fla., company that runs a juvenile detention
center in Baltimore County. Ehrlich wants to know if the state can place
the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School under new management in the wake of a
report that staff members hit, sexually abused and intentionally
intoxicated children. Correctional Services Corp., a subsidiary of Youth
Services International, has a five-year contract to operate the Hickey
School until March 31. (Gainesville Sun, June 13, 2003)
More than 20 cases of suspected child abuse and neglect have occurred at
Charles H. Hickey Jr. School in Baltimore County so far this year,
including instances of staff allegedly having sex with youths and bringing
alcohol and pornographic materials into the juvenile detention facility,
according to a report by an independent monitor. The highly critical report
further revealed that documented cases of youth-on-youth assaults and other
violent incidents occur at the school, on average, 2.5 times each day. (The
Baltimore Sun, June 12, 2003)
Nine teen-age boys who removed a window
and cut through two fences to escape from the Charles H. Hickey School on
Saturday were back in custody by the end of the night, authorities said
yesterday. The boys, ages 15 to 17, were on foot, unarmed and wearing their
Hickey School uniforms. They have committed "everything from drug
crimes to assault," said Lee Towers, a spokesman for the Department of
Juvenile Justice. (Sunspot, July 1, 2002)
Two teen-age sex offenders were back in custody yesterday after escaping
from the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School in Baltimore County, officials said.
The offenders, 17 and 19 years old, escaped about 7 p.m. Wednesday, said
Lee Towers, spokesman for Maryland's Department of Juvenile Justice. He
said the teens were dressed in street clothes. A guard, apparently
believing they were employees, opened the gate and let them pass. The two
were being held at a 26-bed facility for sex offenders run by the
Chesapeake Center that is housed on the Hickey grounds. An employee at the
Kmart at North Plaza Mall called police after seeing two teens shoplifting
walkie-talkies yesterday morning, Towers said, and county police arrested
them across the street. (Sunspot, March 8, 2002)
Officials for the private company that runs the jail admitted this year to
destroying dozens of reports of force against teens in 2000, and an
investigator with the juvenile justice agency concluded that cases of abuse
were hidden by employees who destroyed records the two previous years.
(Sunspot, December 5, 2001)
Top administrators at two state juvenile jails have resigned amid
allegations of continuing abuse and public outcry concerning youth
detention. Donald Brooks became the third director this year to leave
Charles H. Hickey Jr. School in Baltimore County when he announced his
resignation Wednesday, said Laura Townsend, a spokeswoman for the Maryland
Department of Juvenile Justice. Brooks took over the top job at Hickey in
July. Townsend said Richard Daugherty, the clinical director of Victor
Cullen Academy in Frederick County, also resigned Wednesday. Daughtery was responsible for administering the
substance abuse program at Victor Cullen. A coalition of 50 juvenile
justice advocacy groups demanded reform, including the closing of Cullen, at
a forum on Wednesday. High turnover of staff was one of the deficiencies
the state cited in an audit of Florida-based Youth Services International,
the private agency which has a contract to run Cullen until 2002 and Hickey
until 2004, Townsend said. (AP, November 29, 2001)
A male teenager disguised with a tee-shirt wrapped around his face,
sexually assaulted a female nurse. The inmate had slipped through an
un-locked door in the kitchen and jumped a Dutch door to get to his victim.
(AP, June 28, 2000)
Cold Springs Correctional Facility
(Mansfield Boot Camp), Fort Worth, Texas
January 22, 2003
A former Mansfield boot
camp nurse convicted of negligent homicide in the 2001 death of an inmate
is appealing and asking for a new trial.
Knyvett Reyes, 36, was sentenced in August
to four years of community supervision for the death of boot camp
probationer Bryan Alexander, 18, of Arlington. Reyes struck a deal with
prosecutors to avoid serving two years in state jail. The judge who presided over the non-jury
trial in June found that Reyes failed to provide timely and adequate
medical care to the teen-ager, who died of a rare lung infection that was
resistant to antibiotics.
Alexander's parents are suing Reyes, the boot camp's doctor and a
Florida-based private contractor that ran the facility. The suit contends
that Alexander's pleas for medical help were ignored and his death could
have been prevented. The civil case
is scheduled to begin July 7 in Judge Tom Lowe's 236th District
Court. (Star_Telegram)
December 31,
2002
Attorneys for parents of an 18-year old who died after falling ill at a
Mansfield boot camp filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against Tarrant County
and its 19 judges who managed the correctional center. The lawsuit
contends that the judges who supervised the Tarrant County Community
Correctional Facility failed to ensure that its staff provided proper
medical care for Bryan Alexander, 18, of Arlington. The boot camp's
former nurse, Knyvett Reyes, was sentenced in
August to four years of community supervision. She was convicted of
negligent homicide in Alexander's death for failing to provide the
teen-ager with timely medical care. A $755 million wrongful death
lawsuit filed by Alexander's family is pending. (Star-Telegram)
August 31,
2002
FORT WORTH - Former Mansfield boot camp nurse Knyvett
Reyes was sentenced Friday to four years community supervision for
negligent homicide and ordered to pay restitution to Bryan Alexander's
family. Alexander, an 18-year-old probationer at the boot camp, died in
2001 of a lung infection that led to pneumonia after leaving her care.
During her trial, the prosecution accused Reyes of failing to provide
adequate and timely attention. Reyes was sentenced to two years in jail,
but the probationary sentence was imposed in lieu of jail time. Reyes was
also ordered to pay $10,939.74 in restitution. The attorneys for the state
and Reyes negotiated the sentence. Alexander, who was in the boot camp
because of a drunken-driving conviction, died after being taken from the
camp to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. Reyes is also barred from
performing any nursing duties involving direct patient care during her
probation. She is working as a hospital clerk. Barring an appeal, criminal
proceedings are now concluded. But family members have filed a $755 million
wrongful death civil lawsuit. The family two weeks ago moved to add Tarrant
County's 19 criminal judge to the suit. (Star-telegram)
June 29, 2002
A nurse accused in the
death of a probationer at the former Mansfield boot camp was convicted
Friday of negligent homicide. Knyvett Reyes, 36,
of Arlington, faces up to two years in state jail in the death of
18-year-old Bryan Alexander, a probationer at the camp. "It's kind of
difficult to feel sorry for nurse Reyes because she didn't show any empathy
for Bryan," the teen's father, Rickey Alexander, said outside the
courtroom. "The important thing for us was we didn't want her in a
position where she could do the same thing to some other person."
"Bryan Alexander died as a result of being ignored," special
prosecutor Bill Turner said during closing arguments. A pending $755
million wrongful death lawsuit in Alexander's death kept the courtroom
packed throughout Reyes' two-week trial. Alexander's parents are suing Florida-based
Correctional Services Corp., the private company that ran the 370-bed
Mansfield facility for probationers. (The Star-Telegram)
June 28, 2002
A former boot camp nurse
thought an inmate who died after complaining of coughing up blood had a
cold or strep throat, she testified Thursday. Knyvett
Reyes, 36, of Arlington, is being tried on charges of manslaughter and
negligent homicide in the death of Bryan Alexander, a probationer at the
Mansfield camp. Prosecutors contend Reyes failed to provide Alexander with
adequate and timely medical attention. Witnesses for the prosecution have
said Reyes was skeptical of inmates' illnesses, and that she did not
provide physicians with enough information to detect Alexander's infection.
During Reyes' cross-examination, special prosecutor Bill Turner accused her
of altering Alexander's medical records, ignoring his complaints and
failing to take some vital signs that could have helped doctors save the
teen-ager's life. Turner accused Reyes of creating records after Alexander
died to help in her defense. Original boot camp records and inmate's files
have not been located, he said. (The Star-Telegram)
June 25, 2002
A Colorado prison warden
testified Monday that a Mansfield boot camp nurse could not have known an
inmate under her care had a fatal illness based on his written request for
medical treatment. The nurse, Knyvett Jane Reyes,
is on trial on negligent homicide and manslaughter charges in the death of
18-year-old Bryan Alexander, a probationer at the camp who medical examiners
determined died of a form of pneumonia. Prosecutors have argued that Reyes
did not thoroughly examine Alexander. They contended she should have taken
several vital signs, such as his blood pressure and heart rate, which would
have revealed a rare infection that eventually caused his death Jan. 9. An
official with the state nurse licensing agency testified last week that
Reyes should have sent Alexander to a doctor Jan. 5. Alexander was taken to
the hospital Jan. 7 and died two days later. Special prosecutor Lindsey
Roberts said Alexander's weight loss - about 25 pounds during his two
months at the camp - and claims that he was coughing up blood should have
been red flags. Roberts said Alexander was 6 feet tall and weighed 150
pounds when he died. (The Star-Telegram)
September 27, 2001
The boy knew rage. A troublemaking, dope-smoking misfit, "Brad"
was in and out of trouble with the law, and more in than out. He ran away
from home, stayed out all night, stole. Help came in the form of
confinement to a juvenile "boot camp" run by Correctional
Services Corp., a private company that manages two Dallas County juvenile
facilities. Sent to CSC's program for emotionally disturbed youths in
Southern Dallas, Brad's condition quickly deteriorated. Privately, the
boy's group counselor told his grandmother, "I am not qualified. I do
not have the education. He needs more than I can give him." Those
words, from one of CSC's own employees, might be used to sum up the
company's long and troubled history of running juvenile and other jail
facilities here and nationwide with what one critic calls a
"Costco" approach to juvenile treatment. It is a track record
that includes chilling episodes of sexual abuse, gross mismanagement and,
in one Tarrant County case, the death of an 18-year-old. In the past
decade, in New York, Florida and Texas, local authorities and the federal
government have canceled contracts with CSC, following a host of complaints
from former CSC inmates and their families. One top Texas government official
in the juvenile justice system, who declined to be named, says CSC has a
two-pronged pitch when it sells its services. First, it promises much lower
costs. The Texas Youth Commission, for instance, budgets $129 per day per
juvenile at its facilities, compared with the $80 or $90 a day CSC charges.
In other instances, CSC pledges to help counties make money. At CSC boot
camps in North Texas, drill instructors are hired at $7.46 an hour. Their
training consists of observing other instructors for a week, before being
put to work. "There were a whole lot of people hired to do jobs they
didn't know how to do," says one educator who taught at the facility,
speaking on the condition that she not be identified. She worked for
another company hired by the county to provide schooling at the CSC
facility but quit after six months because she believed she and her staff,
who went for weeks without offices or phones, were ill-equipped to handle
their responsibilities. One fresh-out-of-college education major, she recalls,
was handed the responsibility of developing a special education program.
After the July 1999 attack on his grandmother, Brad was taken to the Dallas
County juvenile detention center. A month later, state District Judge Hal
Gaither committed him to the CSC boot camp. Initially, his grandmother
welcomed the development. She believed the help she had sought had finally
arrived. But even behind bars he continued to misbehave and spent countless
hours, sometimes shackled and handcuffed, seated on a concrete bench in a
small confinement room that reeked of urine. Brad, like many of his peers,
did not meet with an individual counselor, family counselor or psychiatrist
for months. When he did see a doctor, the juvenile simply told the
psychiatrist to halt his prescribed drugs, and the physician agreed,
according to records. The lack of promised counseling wasn't unique to
Brad's case. Attorney Craig Sargent represented a
mentally retarded client sent to CSC's unit for emotionally disturbed kids.
His client, he says, was also denied the family counseling he had been
promised. At a hearing to determine whether the boy should be sent to a
Texas Youth Commission facility, Sargent grilled
a CSC drill instructor and program director Brown. The instructor testified
that despite working with the youth every day, she had not realized he was
mentally handicapped. "That would be important to know when you're
addressing someone as far as their mental capacity and their ability to
follow your directive, if they have any defect. Would you agree with
me?" Sargent asked. "Yes, sir,"
the employee replied. For four months, CSC had been receiving $82 a day to
treat the boy, Sargent notes. "It pissed me
off as a taxpayer," he recalls. In the late '90s, the company ran into
similar problems in Florida. Dade County officials terminated contracts
when they discovered CSC had deliberately kept delinquents beyond their
release dates to pocket extra money. The local school district paid the
company to teach kids in its custody; CSC was accused of collecting money
for days when it provided no schooling. "They are a completely greedy
company. They have a Costco approach to meaningful intervention," says
Marie Osborne, an assistant public defender in Dade County who went to
court to get 11 of her indigent clients removed from a CSC facility. The
Florida Department of Juvenile Justice conducted a study of the facility
and found a lack of training, inadequate background checks on employees and
inadequate food service. Employees had even helped stage fights between 13-
and 14-year-olds while their peers watched and referred to these bloody
scrabbles as "The Main Event" in memos, according to CSC
employees' testimonies. The lawsuits against CSC are mounting to the point
analysts say that they are threatening the corporate bottom line. Once a
Wall Street darling, CSC has fallen on hard times. (Dallas Observer)
July 13, 2001
Five former Mansfield boot camp inmates filed a civil lawsuit Thursday,
alleging that they were sexually harassed or given inadequate medical care
while housed there. Two female plaintiffs allege that a male guard
fondled them and repeatedly made sexually suggestive comments. Three
former male inmates allege that they suffered long-term physical problems
after failing to receive prompt and adequate medical attention.
Arlington attorney Howard Rosenstein, who filed the suit Thursday,
represented three female former boot camp inmates who won a $2.8 million
award in a sexual harassment suit against Correctional Services Corp. in March.
"Again, we find ourselves in the situation where, due to the absence
of enforcement of a security policy at CSC, instructors and guards were
allowed to isolate, torment and sexually abuse these women," Mr.
Rosenstein said. The suit is the latest in a series of legal battles
facing the company, which operates more than a dozen facilities in Texas
and runs facilities in 18 states. A $ 755 million lawsuit alleging
inadequate medical care was filed by the parents of Bryan Alexander, who
died Jan. 9 from pneumonia while an inmate at the boot camp. The
company also faces a civil lawsuit by a former operations manager who
alleges that he was improperly fired for reporting staffing
shortages. The company has repeatedly denied the allegations in those
cases. (The Dallas Morning News)
June 21, 2001
A panel of judges voted unanimously Wednesday to close the Mansfield boot
camp and residential drug treatment facility July 6 and reopen it as a day
treatment program for probationers. The Board of Criminal Judges, with
11 of its 19 members in attendance, decided to move up the closure date
from Aug. 31. A contract with Florida-based Correctional Services
Corp. to operate the 370-bed facility ends Aug. 31, but the company has
agreed to end its obligations sooner. The judges voted this year not
to renew the contract with Correctional Services Corp. The company
came under scrutiny after some female inmates were sexually assaulted by
employees and because of questions about the quality of health care for
inmates. Probationer Bryan Alexander, 18, of Arlington died of
pneumonia Jan. 9, two days after being transported to a Fort Worth
hospital. Alexander's parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit
against the nurse who treated him, the company and others. (The Fort
Worth Star-Telegram)
May 19, 2001
Two Tarrant County judges pulled about a dozen probationers from
drug-rehabilitation programs at the Mansfield boot camp facility Thursday
after reports that a guard had consensual sex with an inmate. Boot
camp administrator Randy Tate declined to discuss details of the
allegations, other than saying that the reports are being investigated and
that the guard has been suspended. State District Judges Jamie
Cummings and Sharen Wilson removed probationers
from the substance-abuse treatment program at the facility Thursday after
officials notified the county's probation department of the reports.
(Arlington Morning News)
May 17, 2001
A privately operated prison that was the subject of a Texas Rangers
investigation over prisoners' treatment will now be shuttered. The
370-bed Tarrant Community Corrections Facility will close in less than
three months due to a $2.8 million budget shortfall. Earlier this
year, the judges voted to not renew a contract with Florida-based
Correctional Services Corp. to operate the facility. The company,
which has run the center since 1992, has been criticized because of
escapes, sexual assaults by employees and questions about the health care
inmates have received. Earlier this month, a Tarrant County grand
jury indicted a nurse who provided medical treatment for a boot camp
probationer until two days before he died of pneumonia. (AP)
May 4, 2001
Rick Alexander, hat clutched in hand, sat for nearly 50 minutes as a lawyer
defended the woman the Arlington resident is convinced helped kill his
18-year-old son. Mr. Alexander listened intently as Fort Worth
attorney Jack V. Strickland lambasted the Tarrant County grand jury's
indictment on charges of manslaughter and negligent homicide against Knyvett Jane Reyes, a nurse at the Mansfield boot camp
where Bryan Alexander was an inmate. " I don't think that Nurse
Reyes is a victim," Mr. Alexander said in a hallway at the Tarrant
County Justice Center. "Bryan told me he filled out three
requests, not to see the doctor, but to go to the hospital. But he
said, ' She's real mean and she doesn't like me. ' He told me that
himself." Bryan Alexander died Jan. 9 at John Peter Smith
Hospital in Fort Worth. He was sentenced to the camp for assault and
drunken driving. The teen filed a written request for medical
attention Jan. 4. Camp officials contend that he was seen by Ms.
Reyes the next day and given antibiotics, but the teen was required to
continue a workout regimen through Jan. 6. James Slattery, chief
executive officer of Sarasota, Fla.-based Correctional Services Corp., was
out of town Thursday and was unavailable for comment on the pending court
case. (Arlington Morning Star)
May 4, 2001
A 35-year-old nurse at the Mansfield boot camp was indicted Thursday on
charges of manslaughter and negligent homicide in connection with the death
of an 18-year-old inmate. The indictment alleges that Knyvett Jane Reyes recklessly and negligently caused
the death of Bryan Alexander of Arlington by failing to adequately assess
his condition, report his illness and provide adequate care at the Tarrant
County Community Correctional Facility. The two-page indictment
states that Ms. Reyes failed to adequately assess and evaluate Mr. Alexander's
medical status, failed to accurately report his status to the boot camp's
attending physician, and failed to stabilize Mr. Alexander's medical
condition and prevent complications. The indictment also says Ms.
Reyes did not order bed rest, and did not prohibit strenuous physical
exertion or transfer Mr. Alexander to the hospital in a timely
manner. Florida-based Correctional Services Corp. has operated the
Mansfield facility since 1992. The boot camp is part of the Tarrant
County Community Correctional Facility. (Arlington Morning News)
May 4, 2001
The parents of a Mansfield boot camp inmate, who died of pneumonia days
after complaining of being ill, filed a $755 million wrongful death lawsuit
Friday against the company that runs the camp and others. Bryan
Alexander, 18, of Arlington, died Jan. 9, two days after being transferred
from the camp to Fort Worth's John Peter Smith Hospital. The lawsuit
contends the camp and its employees ignored signs of Alexander's
"falling health" and were grossly negligent in providing medical
treatment. Defendants in the lawsuit are Correctional Services Corp.,
a private, Florida-based company that runs the camp; CSC attorney Tony
Schaffer; the Tarrant County Community and Corrections Department; CSC
nurse Knyvett Reyes; and Dr. Samuel Lee, who was
employed by the company. Reyes was indicated Thursday on a charge of
manslaughter and negligent homicide in Alexander's death. An Austin
administration law judge, who suspended Reyes' nursing license in March,
wrote that Alexander "would most likely have been" cured if his
illness was diagnosed earlier and treated with other antibiotics. In
February, three former inmates were awarded $2.8 million by a Tarrant
County judge for sexual harassment the women suffered at the facility.
(Star-Telegram)
April 20,
2001
Members of Tarrant County's judiciary have voted to stop sending
probationers to the Mansfield boot camp out of concerns that there won't be
enough money to keep the camp open long enough for the next platoon to
graduate. Under the contract with Florida-based Correctional Services
Corp., the county pays $21.94 a day per bed, regardless of whether the beds
are occupied. This arrangement will continue until the contract expires
Sept. 1. The judges voted in February to manage the facility after
the private contractor's contract expires in September. Allegations
of sexual harassment by guards and the death of a probationer in January
have plagued the boot camp. (The Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
April 6, 2001
A Tarrant County grand jury will decide whether to indict officials at the
Mansfield boot camp in connection with the death of a former inmate, a
special prosecutor said Thursday. Grand jurors will hear evidence
April 25 from witnesses and the Texas Ranger's investigation into the death
of 18-year-old Bryan Alexander of Arlington, who was an inmate at the boot
camp, also known as the Tarrant County Community Correctional
Facility. Mr. Smith has notified Correctional Services Corp., which
has run the boot camp since it opened in1992, that the Alexander family may
file a civil lawsuit. A Correctional Services Corp., official said
Thursday that a grand jury was the proper venue for consideration of the
investigation. The Texas State Board of Nurses Examiners on March 2
indefinitely suspended the license of Knyvett
Jane Reyes, the boot camp nurse who provided medical care to the
teenager. Two other inmates have alleged that they received
inadequate medical care at the camp, charges facility officials have
denied. The Board of Criminal Court Judges voted Feb. 21 to assume
management of the 370-bed facility when Correctional Services' operating
contract ends Aug. 31. On March 5, a Tarrant County judge awarded
$2.8 million in damages to three female former inmates who sued Correctional
Services Corp. and a former drill instructor for sexual harassment.
(The Dallas Morning News)
March 21,
2001
A Tarrant County criminal justice task force has recommended that the
Mansfield boot camp program be discontinued and its beds used for housing
probation violators. If approved, the program would occupy the 120
beds currently used for the boot camp. (Dallas Morning News, March 21,
2001)
March 6, 2001
Bryan Alexander's medical treatment while incarcerated at the Mansfield
boot camp was so poor that one official compared it to "modern day
torture," and the nurse supervising him has her license temporarily
suspended. Knyvett Jane Reyes' nursing license by
the Texas State Board of Nurse Examiners was suspended Feb. 13, according
to documents released Monday by State Sen. Chris Harris' office. Mr.
Alexander died Jan. 9 at John Peter Smith Hospital of antibiotic-resistant
pneumonia caused by a staphylococcus inflection. Charles Smith, attorney
for Rick Alexander, Bryan Alexander's father, said the nurse's suspension
validates his client's claims. "This is what we've been saying all
along, that medical service was substandard," he said. On Jan. 3, Mr.
Alexander first notified medical staff through a locked drop box that he
was not feeling well. Inmates at the boot camp submit sick forms into a
locked box. In the case of Mr. Alexander, his form was not read until Jan.
4.Documents show Mr. Alexander was not assesses by Ms. Reyes until Jan.5,
two days after he filled out a report detailing his complaints of flu-like
symptoms. "I caught the flu or something from somebody. My whole body
is sore. It hurts real bad when I cough," Mr. Alexander wrote on Jan.
3. "My nose gets closed up to where I can't even breathe and the pills
I've been taking are not working. Mr. Reyes, who had been on Christmas
vacation, returned to work Jan. 3. According to the drill instructor's
testimony, Ms. Reyes was aware of the ailing teen's symptoms Jan. 4. On
Jan. 5, he filled out another form. According to registered nurse carol Dobrich, an independent expert hired by the board to
review the case, the treatment of Mr. Alexander, who died at John Peter
Smith Hospital on Jan. 9, amounted to "modern day torture."
"By 2 p.m. on January 5th, once she knew Bryan Alexander had as
temperature of 101, and a red, sore throat, respondent knew he had an
infection," according to Ms. Dobrich's
testimony, outline in the order suspending the license. "And her
failure to have him seen by a doctor or send him immediately to the
emergency room was an inappropriate nursing response. (Arlington Morning
News)
March 1, 2001
Three women who allege they were sexually harassed while inmates at the
Mansfield boot camp asked a state judge Wednesday for up to $4 million in
damages. "If this court does not dress down and discipline this
attitude every women, everyone else, is subject to the same consideration
these women got," Brice Cottongame, the
attorney representing the three women, said in closing arguments. But the
attorney for Correctional Services Corp., the Florida-based company that
operates the boot camp, said employees, not the company, are at fault. the
civil trail's final day included testimony from a Correctional Services
executive, who refuted earlier testimony from a state senator. On
Wednesday, Mr. Rau suggested that the senator misinterpreted a comment he
made. "I did not make any statement like that," Mr. Rau said.
"There was point in the conversation where I said I would like to get
all the facts and hear both sides of the story. "The senator said,
"What could the other side of the story be?' which is when the
statement was made. That is the other side of the story." "We
stand of Senator Harris' credibility," Mr. Cottongame
said. "Sen. Harris has no ax to grind, no interest in this
lawsuit." (Arlington Morning News)
February 27,
2001
In the latter dated Jan. 30, 2000 - 11 days after Kari Echels
Chattha graduated from the boot camp - she wrote
to Joseph Fonville telling him she missed him and
she was worried about him. She used the term of endearment
"honey." Tony Schaffer, an attorney representing Correctional
Services Corp., which runs the boot camp, said Mrs. Chattha
's letter proves she was involved romantically with Mr. Fonville.
Mrs. Chattha, 19, and two other plaintiffs, Karen
fowler, 21, and Annawaynette Creek, 33 allege in
their suit they were fondled and sexually harassed by boot camp workers
during their incarceration at the Mansfield boot camp over a seven-month
period in 1999. Ms. Fowler and Ms. Creek also are suing former boot camp
maintenance worker Michael Zahn. Fred Bagely, a former vice president of CSC, testified in a
videotaped deposition that sexual harassment was a problem at the Mansfield
Facility. he initially learned of the allegations made by Mrs. Chattha, Ms. Fowler and Ms. Creek in 1999. he said.
(Arlington Morning News)
February 26,
2001
The county's 19 criminal court judges voted unanimously last week to stop
using a private contractor at the Tarrant County Community Corrections
Facility, which houses the boot camp and three substance abuse programs.
Three former female inmates are suing Florida-based Correctional Services
Corp., alleging sexual abuse at the 370-bed facility. The company's
contract expires Sept. 1. The lawsuit's allegations are among recent
criticisms of the facility. Accusations of sexual misconduct by male guards
against female inmates have plagued the camp since it opened in 1992. The
facility has also endured accusations of the staff shortages and questions
of proper medical care. Bryan Alexander, 18, a boot camp inmate, died of
pneumonia Jan. 9. Relatives allege he didn't receive timely medical care.
"I don't think any of us want to see CSC or any private company run
this camp any longer," Judge Gallagher said last week. State Sen.
Chris Harris, R-Arlington, who testified against Correctional Services
Corp. on Friday in civil trail, said the
company's problems may be a result of paying many of its employees near the
minimum wage. Last year, 50 of 77 employees at the facility were paid less
than $17,000 per year, according to company records. "They are in
business of making money," Harris said. "As result, they are out
there cutting corners." Attorneys for the plaintiffs have alleged that
a corporate culture exists at the company. On Friday, Harris testified that
a company executive vice president told him in a telephone conversation
that the women at the boot camp "got what they wanted." He said
the company "seemed to have no concern about what happened to the
women." According to the company's contract, a female inmate cannot be
alone with a male guard unless a female guard is present. Testimony during
the first three days suggested that staff shortages prevented the company
from following its policy of female inmate supervision, which is part of
its contract with the county's probation department. "They are
allowing employees to work 16-hour shifts, and sometimes more than
that," Harris said outside the court after his testimony Friday.
"It obviously came down to the corporate bottom line."
(Star-Telegram)
February 23 ,
2001
The private company that operates the Mansfield boot camp filed false
reports about staffing hours to Tarrant County officials, the facility's
former manager testified Thursday. John Renfroe,
a former U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who worked for the Florida-based
Correctional Services Corp. between June 1994 and June 2000, testified that
he had reported the practice to his supervisors since 1995. "The data
that had been in the monthly reports indicated that CSC as meeting or
exceeding contract hour requirements," said Mr. Renfroe,
a witness in a civil trail in which three women
are suing the company because of sexual harassment at the facility.
"If you did the math, what was being reported included extraneous,
inappropriate figures." (Arlington Morning News)
February 22,
2001
Tarrant County criminal judges agreed Wednesday to assume management
of the Mansfield boot camp when a contract with Correctional Services Corp.
ends in August. the 19-member Board of Criminal Judges cited a $2.5 million
budget shortfall in its decision not to renew the private company's
contract. The facility could close by Sept. 1 if the legislature does not
approve additional funding, the judges said. Recent controversies -
including the death of an inmate, the hospitalization of two others and
allegations of sexual exploitation of female inmates - were factors
in the decision. State Sen. Chris Harris, R-Fort Worth, who has strongly
criticized the boot camp's operation, praised the judges' decision and said
he will ask other state agencies funding. "I think the judges are the
ones who are accountable on that since they're the ones with the
oversight," Mr. Harris said. "I think this is smartest thin they can do." (Dallas Morning News)
February 22,
2001
The private company that runs the Mansfield Boot Camp was negligent in
allowing two former workers to sexually harass women at the facility. an
attorney for the three former inmates said in court Wednesday. An attorney
for Florida-based Correctional Services corp. apologized for the incidents
and defended the company's record of quality management. Ms. Fowler and Ms.
Creek allege former maintenance worker Michael Zahn
sexually harassed and exploited them during their several month stays in
1999 at the boot camp. Mrs. Chattha alleges
Joseph Fonville forced her to participate in
improper sexual activity during her 1999 stay. In July, Mr. Zahn received two years' probation after he pleaded
guilty to two counts of official oppression in connection with both
incidents. "The attitude of this corporate defendant will outrage
you." (Arlington Morning News)
February 22,
2001
As compliance officer at the Mansfield boot camp, John Renfore
spent six years faulting the private contractor that runs the facility,
citing staff shortages and a failure to protect female inmates from sexual
abuse. That testimony Thursday before 141st District Court Judge Paul Enlow bolstered the case of the three former female
inmates who are suing Florida-based Correctional Services Corp., which runs
370-bed facility for probationers. The women assaults contend CSC employees
sexually abused then while they were serving sentences at the Tarrant
County Community Corrections facility in Mansfield. On Thursday, Renfore said he outlined staffing shortages and inadequate
supervision of female inmates in numerous memos that he sent to CSC
officials and his bosses with Tarrant County Community Corrections
Department. those complaints began in 1995 and continued until the
probation department fired him in June, he said. Fort Worth lawyer W. Brice
Cottongame, who is representing the women, said
the incidents were caused by a corporate culture in CSC that does not
protect female inmates and ignores their complaints of abuse. Sherry
Johnson, who worked as a drill instructor at the camp last year, said
grievances filed by inmates are often thrown away or shredded by CSC
supervisors. She also said CSC employees retaliate against inmates who file
grievances. "They would read them out loud and laugh, then throw them
in the trash," she said. "They would be disregarded for
misspelling a CSC employee's name." (Star-Telegram)
February 07,
2001
The former operations manager of a Mansfield boot camp filed a lawsuit
Tuesday charging he was unjustly fired after pointing out deficiencies at
the camp. Mr. Renfore says his relationship with
Correctional Services and Ms. Calaway soured 1999
after he began filing critical reports with boot camp administrators. The
reports said that because of staff shortages, the company was not keeping
the facility properly cleaned and maintained, and not adequately
supervising its staff and did not have enough drill staff on duty to
properly supervise probationers.
(Arlington Morning News).
January 23,
2001
The Texas Rangers agreed Wednesday to act on a local judge's request for an
independent investigation into the death of an 18-yeat old former Mansfield
inmate. Mr. Harris, who called for wholesale changes at the boot camp five
months ago in the wake of the alleged sexual abuse of three former inmates.
since the Mr. Alexander's death, various judges have removes more the 50 of
the camp's 120 inmates. (Arlington Morning News)
December 14,
2000
A former employee of the private company that operates a North Texas
correctional facility is denying a lawsuit's claims that female inmates
were sexually harassed. Zahn, in deposition
released this week, said his behavior was limited to peeping through an
attic vent while one of the women performed unsolicited sexual acts.
(Arlington Morning News)
October 2,
2000
Three teenagers ran from security officers and scaled a seven foot fence in
a recreation yard at the minimum-security center for non-violent offenders.
(Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Oct.6, 2000)
January 16,
2000
Accusations that neglect caused the death of an inmate at a Mansfield
boot camp last week may slam the door on a million-dollar deal for Tarrant
County to lease its long-shuttered Cold Springs Correctional Facility,
officials said Tuesday. The contract to operate the 384-bed Cold Springs
facility for state inmates. After months of negotiations and some last
minute changes, the contract, signed by CSC officials, was received by
county officials Tuesday. But all five members of Commissioners Court
and the sheriff now say they won't approve it unless the investigation into
the death last week of 18-year old Bryan D. Alexander -- whose family says
boot officials failed to get him proper medical care for pneumonia -- shows
that CSC was not at fault. County officials' concerns about contracting
with CSC for new prisoners were heightened last week when several district
judges began pulling offenders out of the facility after Alexander died.
The boot camp has gone through a year of turmoil, including escapes and
allegations of drill instructors sexually assaulting female inmates, and
has struggled with staffing. Similar issues plagued the facility in the
mid-1990's, said James Slattery. Commissioners Dionne Bagsby
and Marti Vanravenswaay voted against the CSC
contract last year, saying they were concerned about problems at the boot
camp. (Star-Telegram)
Colorado County Juvenile Facility, Eagle
Lake, Texas
A juvenile sent to a military-style correctional boot camp in Eagle Lake
died Saturday from what officials there said was a "clear case of
suicide." Police in Eagle Lake were contacted after the young man's
death and are conducting an investigation, MacIntyre
said. They could not be reached for comment Sunday. The Colorado County
facility, operated by the Sarasota, Fla.-based Youth Services
International, is part of a growing trend of private correctional centers.
(The Houston Chronicle, September 5, 2002)
Correctional Service Corporation,
Sarasota, Florida
October 23, 2002
A discharged youth counselor with a back injury alleged his employer
violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it did not allow him to
return to work after his disability leave. Charles C. Hasbrouck was a youth
counselor for Youth Services International Inc. He had to help maintain the
security of the detention facility and provide crisis intervention. Often
he had to restrain disruptive students, which sometimes required twisting
and kneeling. Hasbrouck injured his back in a motor vehicle accident. His
doctors permanently restricted him from lifting more than 40 pounds and
banned him form repetitive bending or twisting.
When he returned from disability leave, Youth Services refused to allow him
to continue in his position as a youth counselor, he said.
Cypress Creek Juvenile Detention Center,
Lecanto, Florida
A prison guard fired after co-workers said they caught her engaging in
sexual intercourse with a 19-year-old inmate was arrested Wednesday. Deritha Earlane Gaskins, 31,
of Dunnellon, a former guard at Cypress Creek Academy, one of the state's
toughest youth prisons, has been charged with two counts of sexual
misconduct, a second-degree felony. This is not the first time a guard at
the facility has been arrested on charges of sexual misconduct. In 1999, a
38-year-old Cypress Creek guard was fired for having a sexual relationship
with an 18-year-old inmate. (St. Petersburg Times, May 2, 2002)
A guard handed a key to the three youths who escaped from Cypress Creek
Correctional Facility in May, but that wasn't the only problem. Management
also wasn't keeping the doors locked, state investigators have found. Also,
the master control panel, which is used to control all the facility's
doors, frequently gave false readings, which means guards could not tell if
a door was really locked or unlocked, the report said. All of these factors
contributed to the May 4 escape of three inmates from Cypress Creek, which
houses some of the state's most hard-core juvenile offenders. The person
most directly responsible for the escape was detention guard Ryan Johnson,
the report said. Other guards told inspectors the locks at Cypress Creek
did not work properly and the doors were frequently kicked in by inmates.
In addition, inspectors faulted Cypress Creek for having an inadequate
number of guards on duty. The ratio of guards to inmates is supposed to be
1-to-8 at night, according to Department of Juvenile Justice standards. The
ratio at Cypress Creek was 1-to-6. (St. Petersburg Times, August 25, 2001)
When three inmates at Cypress Creek Detention Facility decided to escape
Friday night, they didn't have to come up with an elaborate plan. One of
them already had the key which unlocked an exterior door. The escape
incident began when inmate Anthony Valazquez, 18,
was given a key to the shower room by Cypress Creek staff members at about
6 pm Friday, according to a report filed by the Citrus County Sheriff's
Office. Somehow, Valazquez knew the key was a
master key which would also open the door leading to the exercise yard. Valazquez waited until 10:15 pm to make his move. He
used the key to unlock the door leading to the exercise yard and bolted
toward the first of two security fences. He was joined by fellow inmate Darious L. White, 18, and an unidentified juvenile
inmate. (Citrus Times, May 6, 2001)
The Department of Juvenile Justice is considering a fine against the company
that runs Cypress Creek after the escape of the three teenagers last month.
But the state and company officials assured an audience of about twenty -
mostly people connected to the juvenile justice system - that more changes
are under way to address the problems at the prison. Carolyn Floyd, the
state department's northeast region director for residential and correction
facilities said her agency had hired employees who will visit the prison
weekly to inspect the quality if programs there. Gallon, the facility
administrator, said, "We don't mind the department doing that because
we need to be doing things right." (Citrus Times, November. 22, 2000)
Three teenagers escaped from the maximum-risk Cypress Creek juvenile center
after shimmying underneath a perimeter fence and running. Authorities are
investigating how the teenagers, one of whom was being held on a sexual
battery charge, got out of a secured detention center building. This
incident places another black mark next to Cypress Creek and the corporation
that runs it. The company is under pressure from the Department of Juvenile
Justice to improve conditions at Cypress Creek after scoring only
marginally satisfactory marks on a 1999 evaluation. The prior evaluation
gave the company poor marks in several areas, including faulting Cypress
Creek for a lack of order and poor documentation of serious incidents such
as fights. One example was the discovery of a teen hiding in a ceiling
compartment. (St Petersburg Times, October 3, 2000)
Genesis Treatment Center, Newport News,
Virginia
October 10, 2003
A treatment center for troubled youths will close Friday, about two years
after community activists protested the center's opening in Newport News'
East End. The Genesis Treatment Center treats boys and young men
between the ages of 12 and 21 for severe emotional disorders and sexual
delinquency. "It was one of those kind of programs that we
didn't need in the community," said activist Lawrence Atkins.
The 51-bed center had 16 patients when officials notified the state's
mental health agency of the pending closing. A state spokeswoman said two
patients remained at the center Wednesday. Others were transferred
elsewhere. Youth Services International, a subsidiary of
Florida-based Correctional Services Corp., operates the center. The company
runs 19 treatment centers nationwide, treating about 2,500 youths.
"The reason for closing is purely an economic issue," said senior
vice president Woodie Harper. Harper said
Genesis struggled to increase the number of patients it served in the past
nine to 10 months, mirroring a widespread industry trend. In August,
president James Slattery attributed a $5.6-million drop in second quarter
profits compared to the previous year to "lower than expected occupancy
rates in our juvenile division due to systemwide
budget cuts." Some former employees wonder whether internal
problems at Genesis also contributed to its closing. State inspectors
investigated two incidents - one in December and one in January - of
Genesis staff members improperly restraining patients. One patient suffered
a broken arm and another a broken nose. In response, the center fired two
employees and gave other employees more training. Also, at least five
to seven former employees have filed discrimination complaints with the
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to several people
who filed complaints. Harper said company investigations are under
way. He declined to say more. Julia Cudjoe,
former special education coordinator at Genesis, attributes the center's
low occupancy rate to high turnover among employees. This raised questions
about the center's quality of care at social services departments making
patient referrals. (Daily Press)
April 21, 2003
State inspectors said two patients suffered broken bones at a treatment
center for young men with severe emotional disorders after they were
improperly restrained by staff members. One patient at the 51-bed
Genesis Treatment Center suffered a broken arm, the other a broken nose.
The center has fired the two staff members responsible and agreed to offer
more training and draft new policies for staff. But inspectors are
also include alleged sexual misconduct between a staff member and a
patient, staff members allegedly assaulting patients, and patients not
receiving proper care. A patient's mother has complained of insults,
poor food quality and excessive force. Youth Services International
operates the treatment center for young men between the ages of 12 and 21
in the former Newport News General Hospital. (AP)
Frederick County Juvenile Detention
Facility, Maryland
The state Department of Juvenile Services and the private contractor that
runs the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School in Baltimore County disclosed
yesterday that the company will pay the state $792,470 to settle claims
resulting from numerous contract violations at the facility. As it
announced the settlement, the state released a recent performance audit
that detailed the company's failure to live up to the terms of the five-year,
$ 79 million contract to run the troubled juvenile detention center. (The
Baltimore Sun, September 10, 2002)
A group of juvenile justice advocates is urging Maryland to close a
Frederick detention home that state investigators found failed to provide
adequate treatment, education and staffing and where workers committed
numerous incidents of violence. The group has made similar charges against
other state facilities. The incidents at the Victor Cullen Center include a
"Saturday morning fight club" in which staffers set children
loose to settle their differences with their fists. In addition, numerous
youths have been taken to the hospital with broken bones and other injuries
caused by staff. The incidents were documented in a state audit completed
this fall and were publicly detailed for the first time this week in the
Baltimore Sun. (The Washington Post, November 28, 2001)
Three inmates escaped yesterday from the facility in the second security
breach at a Baltimore-area CSC facility in 48 hours. They pried open the
security screens and escaped in a stolen facility car. The escape follows a
rape last week of a female employee. (The Baltimore Sun, June 28, 1999)
Frio County Detention Center, Texas
Two inmates escaped by digging a hole behind the toilet in their prison
cell continue to elude authorities. They crawled from the hole onto an
unguarded walkway and then slipped out of the building through an unsecured
back door. (San Antonio Express-News, August 30, 1999)
Jefferson County Detention Center,
Beaumont, Texas
July 13, 2005
Less than two weeks after Jefferson County contracted with a private
company to manage prisoners, a manhunt was under way for escaped
inmates. On July 1, the county entered into a contract with
Correctional Services Corp. to house overflow prisoners from other state
and national correctional facilities at the Jefferson County Detention
Center in downtown Beaumont. Shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday, three
inmates escaped from the center by overpowering guards. As of press time
Monday, two of the escaped inmates had been captured, and law enforcement
agencies from throughout the area were still searching for the third.
The county signed a two-year contract with CSC, a Sarasota, Fla., company,
to house up to 250 inmates through the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice.
Le Marquis Community Correctional Center, New York
January 20, 2003
Dismissal denied private prison company in sexual abuse case Four former
inmates of a halfway house operated by a private company under contract to
the Federal Bureau of Prisons brought this action to recover for injuries
after being sexually abused by a company employee. Background: In 1998,
Susan Scainetti, Yvette Adorno,
Stephanie Womble and Rosemarie Johnson were
federal inmates at a community corrections facility In New York City, Le
Marquis Community Correctional Center. The facility is owned, operated and
maintained by Correctional Services Corporation, under contract with the
BOP. Between Nov. 6 and Dec. 28, 1998, Miguel Carriera,
an inmate counselor And CSC employee, allegedly lured the individual
inmates individually into his office and sexually assaulted them. The
assaults were facilitated by the fact that Carriera's
office was at the end of a hallway and was isolated by double doors though
which no sound could be heard. Within two years after the alleged sexual
assaults, the inmates filed claims with the BOP for damages. When no
settlement was offered, Scainetti filed suit, and
CSC moved to dismiss. Company representatives said the claim was time-barred.
Ruling: On its face, the three-year statue of
limitations barred Scainetti's claims, since her
complaint was filed three years and three days after the date of the
alleged assault. However, after filing her complaint, Scainetti
received BOP records under a Freedom of Information request that showed she
originally complained about The incidents on Dec. 30, 1998. Scainetti had told investigators that Carriera had made numerous sexual advances toward her
and others over a period several months. She said the sexual assaults
occurred on at least four occasions, "from sometime in October through
December 1998." Since the alleged assaults continued through December
1998, at least some - if not all - of the assaults were within the statute
of limitations, the court said. The CSC's motion to dismiss was denied. Scainetti, et al., v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, et
al., No. Civ. 9970(SHS) (S.D.N.Y. 12/18/02). (Corrections Professional)
December 26, 2002
FORMER INMATES of a community confinement center operated by a private
company under contract with the federal Bureau of Prisons brought this
action to recover his injuries they suffered when allegedly sexually abused
by an employee of that company. The court rejected defendant Correctional
Services Corp.'s motion to dismiss, holding that a corporation that runs a
correctional center for the federal government cannot invoke the government
contractor defense. The court noted that the Second Circuit found that the
defense "only shields a government contractor from claims arising out
of its actions where the government has exercised its discretion and
judgment in approving precise specifications to which the contractor must
adhere." The instant court added that a contractor can still be found
liable where it exceeded authority given it by the federal government, or
"where the federal government's authority was not validly
conferred." (New York Law Journal)
McKinley County Detention Center,
McKinley, New Mexico
On Friday, November 26, five inmates escaped from the county jail operated
by Correctional Services Corp. This brings the total to nine the number of
inmates who have escaped from the prison in the last three months. CSC’s
vice president blamed the escapes on the facility claiming it is
structurally unsound. The inmates climbed through a skylight. CSC recently
lost the contract to run this prison. (Albuquerque Journal, November 26,
1999)
Four inmates escaped from the private jail in New Mexico operated by Correctional
Services Corp. The sheriff’s office was not notified of the escape until an
hour and 15 minutes has passed. They crawled through an air vent. Two were
jailed on parole violation and burglary charges. The other two escapees
were in jail awaiting trial on murder, aggravated battery and kidnapping
charges. (Albuquerque Journal, September 6-8, 1999)
Newton County Correctional Center,
Newton, Texas
March 9, 2003
An escaped jail inmate was captured early Sunday in downtown Newton, almost
exactly a week after he broke out of the Newton County Correctional Center
by cutting a hole in a fence, a Beaumont television station reported.
Duncan is the fifth inmate to escape from the Newton County Correctional
Center since 1998, and each has been caught. (AP)
March 7, 2003
It's unclear what possessed convicted felon James Duncan to cut through a
prison fence here and head for the woods, but one thing is
certain: He's just as good at getting into places as he is at getting
out. (The Enterprise)
March 3, 2003
Residents here were concerned, but didn't seem too surprised to learn
Sunday that an inmate escaped from the Newton County Correction Center -
after all, it's the fifth escape in seven years. James R. Duncan, 38,
an Arizona inmate housed at the facility, escaped at approximately 2:30
a.m. Duncan was in the fourth year of a seven-year, six-month sentence for
the offense of armed robbery. "They need to shut down that
prison," said a resident who declined to be named, visiting the store
with his small daughter in tow. "Those son of a guns are busting
out like roaches," he said angrily. Another woman who also
declined to give her name, complained that though the inmate escaped at
2:30, residents were not informed until after 6 a.m. After past incidents,
prison officials had promised to give prompt warning of danger.
Others in the store verified her statements. The prison, opened in
1991, was originally pitched to the community as a minimum-security
facility, but it was found that it could not turn a profit, security
measures were increased and maximum-security inmates - referred to by some
as "the baddest of the bad" - were
brought in. It has been a source of controversy ever since. The
first and by far most dramatic escape occurred in February of 1996, when
Larry Earl Pagan, a Hawaii inmate, escaped and abducted 51-year-old Wilma
Parnell. Pagan made it to Mexico with Parnell, where she made a break
for it. Pagan was later arrested. (The Beaumont Enterprise)
March 3, 2003
Southeast Texas law-enforcement officials were searching late Sunday for a
Newton County jail escapee. Investigators said 38-year-old James R.
Duncan, a state of Arizona inmate being housed in the Newton County
Correctional Center, broke out about 2:30 a.m. Sunday. Duncan is
charged with armed robbery. He was last seen wearing a two-piece
orange jail uniform with the letters "ADC" in black on the back
of the shirt. Duncan is white, 6 feet, 4 inches tall, weighs 215 pounds and
has bushy blond-brown hair and blue eyes. He had blue jeans and a black
jacket on. (Houston Chronicle)
January 4, 2003
An uprising by 82 Arizona inmates at a private prison in Texas caused an
estimated $15,000 in damage and lead the Department of Corrections to delay
transferring more prisoners to the facility until an investigation is
completed. Since November, 346 Arizona inmates have been transferred
to the Newton County Correctional Center under a contract with Correctional
Services Corp., which charges $38.25 a day per prisoner. On Thursday,
inmates flooded dormitories, tore up mattresses, destroyed TV sets and
broke windows until the prison staff fired pepper gas into the dormitories,
the department said. (AP)
July 21, 1998
A convicted rapist who cut his way out of a maximum security private prison
and then hitched a ride out of town was shot wounded Monday by a deputy who
was trying to arrest him. Saofaiga Loa Jr.,
24, a Hawaii resident incarcerated at the Newton County Correctional
Center, escaped sometime before dawn, authorities said. Using an
unknown tool, Loa cut his way through two security fences and was given a
ride out of town, said Billy Bryan, a spokesperson for Sarasota, Fla.-based
Correctional Services Corp., which runs the prison. (Houston
Chronicle)
Polk Correctional Institution, Mulberry,
Florida
One of seven former employees of the Polk Youth Development Center has won
a $ 14,000 verdict in a whistleblower lawsuit against the company that
manages the detention center. The other six came away with nothing. The
employees claimed they were fired after telling state officials that their
supervisors told them to falsify the center's documents. But Circuit Judge
Dick Prince, in his final judgment in the case, said only one of the
employees, Detrice Lippett
of Winter Haven, was fired out of retaliation. The remaining six, Prince
ruled, followed their supervisors' orders and falsified information in the
juvenile files, which made them ineligible for relief under the state law.
Employees said they were told to forge signatures and backdate reports, according
to the lawsuit, so the company wouldn't lose its $ 31.3 million contract
with the state Department of Juvenile Justice to operate the 350-bed
detention center from December 1996 through June 2000. (The Ledger, August
10, 2001)
Two juvenile inmates successfully escaped from CSC’s facility. Both had
prior escape attempts on record and remain at large. (The Ledger, December
14, 1998)
Summit View Youth Correctional Facility,
Las Vegas, Nevada
Teen-age inmates surrendered Friday after a disturbance at a maximum
security youth correctional facility outside Las Vegas. Some of the inmates
took to a rooftop and could be seen brandishing sticks or clubs before the
standoff ended without further incident. The uprising by at least 15 teens
came on the first anniversary of the opening of the Summit View Youth
Correctional Center, a privately managed 96-bed state prison for the most
serious teen-age offenders. (FOX News, June 1, 2001)
Tri-County Justice and Detention Center, Uliin,
Illinois
The Tri-County Civic Organization needs a new plan to refinance the
Tri-County Justice and Detention Center in Ullin,
officials say. The organization's application for a federal rural
development loan has been rejected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
under its status as a nonprofit group, said Jerry Thurston, chairman of the
Pulaski County Board. Thurston said officials from Pulaski County alone
will have to reapply for the money, with an updated agreement from both
Union and Alexander counties to help continue paying off the jail.
"It's basically signing an intergovernmental agreement saying they are
going to use the facility the way they have been," Thurston
said. The Tri-County jail opened in 1998. All three counties house
inmates there to pay for the jail's costs. The center employs people
from Union, Alexander and Pulaski counties. Thurston said now, under new
management from Correctional Services Corp. of Florida, the detention
center employs 38 people and is increasing the number of inmates.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services also houses detainees at the
center. Officials from Union, Alexander and Pulaski counties plan to
meet at 6 p.m. today at the Pulaski County Courthouse in Mound City to
discuss options. Union County Sheriff Jim Nash said that while
Tri-County isn't the cheapest place to house inmates, it is the most
convenient for his department. Union County pays roughly $53 a day
per inmate at the detention center. Nash said the expense has risen because
Correctional Services Corp. won't cover the first $250 of an inmate's
medical bills. He said the previous management company did. Last
month, the county board reported spending roughly $10,000 in medical bills
for inmates. On average, Union County houses 13 people at the center,
according to county records. (Southern Illinoisan, July 22, 2004)
Victor Cullen Juvenile Facility,
Frederick County, Maryland
In a victory for child advocates opposed to Maryland's large juvenile
jails, Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend announced Thursday that the 185-bed
Victor Cullen Center will be sharply scaled down and most of its teens sent
to community programs. Victor Cullen is operated by Correctional Services
Corp., a Florida-based company whose contract expires June 30. The company,
which also operates the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School in Baltimore County,
has been in financial trouble and under fire from juvenile justice
officials for not living up to its contract. Correctional Services paid
Maryland a $600,000 penalty in August for failing to meet contractual obligations
at Victor Cullen. (The Baltimore Sun, December 27, 2001)
The father of a teen-aged boy formerly incarcerated at the Victor Cullen
Center said Thursday the boy was sexually assaulted by other students last
month at the Sabillasville treatment center.
Guards witnessed the act but did nothing to try to stop it, the father said
in an interview Thursday. "He'll be testifying against the kids,"
the father said of his son. "It's a shame he's not testifying against
the guards. As far as I'm concerned, they're conspirators in the whole
thing." (Fredrick News Post, December 22, 2001)
Officials for the private company that runs the jail admitted this year to
destroying dozens of reports of force against teens in 2000, and an
investigator with the juvenile justice agency concluded that cases of abuse
were hidden by employees who destroyed records the two previous years.
(Sunspot, December 5, 2001)
When state officials audited the Victor Cullen Center earlier this year,
they found a mess at the juvenile jail: not enough staff, a failing
education system, inadequate mental health services and way too much
violence. The findings were predictable for at least two reasons. Private
companies across the country are struggling - and often failing - to turn a
profit by operating state facilities. And the company that operates Victor
Cullen, Correctional Services Corp., has a history of serious problems at
facilities in several states, and its financial condition has been steadily
deteriorating. The company's most recent problems in Maryland - which
include reports that guards at Victor Cullen and the Charles H. Hickey Jr.
School have been assaulting teens in their care - have state officials
debating whether to continue contracts with Correctional Services. (Sunspot
, December 1, 2001)
The contractor that manages Victor Cullen Academy has agreed to pay the
state $600,000 after auditors concluded the boys reform school was severely
understaffed and fell far short of requirements for mental health care,
education and financial controls. After nine months of negotiating, the
Department of Juvenile Justice announced the settlement with Youth Services
International on Wednesday. The Cullen audit was ordered more than a year
ago after two students escaped through a third-floor window using a
makeshift rope. Their absence went unnoticed until state police returned
them four hours later, and it was at least the fourth escape in 18 months.
(AP, September 15, 2001)
Two Victor Cullen Academy employees have been fired amid a broadening state
investigation into allegations that they staged fights between teen-age
inmates. The employees, who were not identified, were dismissed about two
weeks ago, said Woodie Harper, a vice president
for Correctional Services Corp., the parent company of the contractor that
runs the school. A third employee at Victor Cullen resigned, state
officials said. The counselors allegedly took the boys to secluded parts of
campus and let them fight out their differences. An audit was ordered after
at least four inmates escaped in 18 months. Several escapes have been
reported since. (AP, July 3, 2001)
Two counselors at the Victor Cullen Academy have been suspended while
officials determine whether they allowed youths to resolve conflicts in
"fight club." Victor Cullen staff told The News-Post that the
fights involved boys from the academy's Silver Charm cottages, which houses
youths with drug and alcohol problems. The counselors allegedly took the
boys to secluded parts of campus and let them fight out their differences.
State auditors recommended fining Youth Services International, the Owings
Mills-based contractor that runs the school. Youth Services is a division
of Corrections Services Corp. of Sarasota, Fla. The audit was ordered after
two boys escaped from a third-floor bedroom using a makeshift rope. The
escape, which went unnoticed until state police arrested the boys hours
later, was at least the fourth escape in 18 months, and several have been
reported since then. (AP, June 27, 2001)
Two 16-year-olds were apprehended by state police about four hours after
sliding down a makeshift rope from a third-floor dormitory window around
1:30 a.m. Staff members did not know the boys were gone until police
brought them back. One staff member was fired and another resigned as a
result of an initial probe into the June 11 escape (Frederick News-Post,
June 30, 2000)
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