For a minute there, it looked like California’s prisons were on the verge of positive reforms. But the current situation in the state’s massive prison system — one of the largest in the world — is far from encouraging. It’s been a kaleidoscope of bad news lately. Full Article
Read MoreTag: Prison
California signs private-prison deal
SACRAMENTO — California has signed a contract with private prison contractor Geo Group to lease space for 1,400 inmates in overcrowded state lockups. The company announced the contract early Monday morning, even before Gov. Jerry Brown learns whether federal judges will grant his request for a three-year delay in the courts’ orders to cap the prison population. The governor’s lawyers have asked judges to make their own decision by Friday. Full Article
Read MorePrison Quotas Push Lawmakers To Fill Beds, Derail Reform
After three violent inmates escaped from an Arizona private prison in July 2010, prompting a two-week, multi-state manhunt, state corrections officials demanded improvements and stopped sending new inmates to what they called a “dysfunctional” 3,300-bed facility. Less than a year later, the company that runs the prison, Management & Training Corp., threatened to sue the state. A line in their contract guaranteed that the prison would remain 97 percent full. They argued they had lost nearly $10 million from the reduced inmate population. State officials renegotiated the contract, but ended up…
Read More