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Jailing Kids for Cash
As many as 5,000 children in Pennsylvania have been found guilty, and up to 2,000 of them jailed, by two corrupt judges who received kickbacks from the builders and owners of private prison facilities that benefited. The two judges pleaded guilty in a stunning case of greed and corruption that is still unfolding. Judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan received $2.6 million in kickbacks while imprisoning children who often had no access to a lawyer. The case offers an extraordinary glimpse into the shameful private prison industry that is flourishing in the United States.
Take the story of Jamie Quinn. When she was 14 years old, she was imprisoned for almost a year. Jamie, now 18, described the incident that led to her incarceration:
"I got into an argument with one of my friends. And all that happened was just a basic fight. She slapped me in the face, and I did the same thing back. There [were] no marks, no witnesses, nothing. It was just her word against my word."
Jamie was placed in one of the two controversial facilities, PA Child Care, then bounced around to several other locations. The 11-month imprisonment had a devastating impact on her. She told me: "People looked at me different when I came out, thought I was a bad person, because I was gone for so long. My family started splitting up ... because I was away and got locked up. I'm still struggling in school, because the schooling system in facilities like these places [are] just horrible."
She began cutting herself, blaming medication that she was forced to take: "I was never depressed, I was never put on meds before. I went there, and they just started putting meds on me, and I didn't even know what they were. They said if I didn't take them, I wasn't following my program." She was hospitalized three times.
Jamie Quinn is just one of thousands that these two corrupt judges locked up. The Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center got involved when Hillary Transue was sent away for three months for posting a Web site parodying the assistant principal at her school. Hillary clearly marked the Web page as a joke. The assistant principal didn't find it funny, apparently, and Hillary faced the notoriously harsh Judge Ciavarella.
As Bob Schwartz of the Juvenile Law Center told me: "Hillary had, unknown to her, signed a paper, her mother had signed a paper, giving up her right to a lawyer. That made the 90-second hearing that she had in front of Judge Ciavarella pretty much of a kangaroo court." The JLC found that in half of the juvenile cases in Luzerne County, defendants had waived their right to an attorney. Judge Ciavarella repeatedly ignored recommendations for leniency from both prosecutors and probation officers. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard the JLC's case, then the FBI began an investigation, which resulted in the two judges entering guilty-plea agreements last week for tax evasion and wire fraud.
They are expected to serve seven years in federal prison. Two separate class-action lawsuits have been filed on behalf of the imprisoned children.
This scandal involves just one county in the U.S., and one relatively small private prison company. According to The Sentencing Project, "the United States is the world's leader in incarceration with 2.1 million people currently in the nation's prisons or jails-a 500 percent increase over the past thirty years." The Wall Street Journal reports that "[p]rison companies are preparing for a wave of new business as the economic downturn makes it increasingly difficult for federal and state government officials to build and operate their own jails." For-profit prison companies like the Corrections Corporation of America and GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut) are positioned for increased profits. It is still not clear what impact the just-signed stimulus bill will have on the private prison industry (for example, the bill contains $800 million for prison construction, yet billions for school construction were cut out).
Congress is considering legislation to improve juvenile justice policy, legislation the American Civil Liberties Union says is "built on the clear evidence that community-based programs can be far more successful at preventing youth crime than the discredited policies of excessive incarceration."
Our children need education and opportunity, not incarceration. Let the kids of Luzerne County imprisoned for profit by corrupt judges teach us a lesson. As young Jamie Quinn said of her 11-month imprisonment, "It just makes me really question other authority figures and people that we're supposed to look up to and trust."
Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
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Show AllAs young Jamie Quinn said of her 11-month imprisonment, "It just makes me really question other authority figures and people that we're supposed to look up to and trust."
What a wonderful thing for a child to learn!! Too bad she didn't learn it in school.
one old atheist
Yeah, but what a way to learn it.
Skkkool's the last place a child will learn that.
What? That's where I learned that the more authority you give an adult the more of an arsehat they are. That's where I learned that the more bits of paper a teacher gets from a university the dumber they are. All that before the age of 10.
The results of corrupt and corporatised justice are tragic and inhumane as other branches of corrupted corporatised government. Politicians and corporate media are no help either. Once again the need for the much maligned "trial lawyers" and ACLU is painfully clear.
www.davedubya.com
"The Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center got involved when Hillary Transue was sent away for three months for posting a Web site parodying the assistant principal at her school. Hillary clearly marked the Web page as a joke."
THIS MORE THAN THE FACT OF RAILROADING KIDS UNDESERVEDLY INTO PRISON PROGRAMS IS THE MOST ALARMING!!!!! Does not the 1st Amendment that is supposed to protect speech in this country extend to kids also? Ms. Goodman: This deserves its own story! Interview Hillary Transue! My sympathies to all the mistreated children, all of them, because no child deserves to be sent to lock up no matter what they have done, but this horrific assault on free speech is a nightmare! I noticed the same minimal attention to the issue in the last CD article that was written about this story, with this example included, (Judges Plead Guilty in Scheme to Jail Youths for Profit
by Ian Urbina and Sean D. Hamill)
If even parodying, making a simple joke, about an authority figure is a jail-able offense, then how far off are we to being executed for calling for the impeachment of the president? Something like that extreme is the ultimate destination! Wake up!
Many years ago, my then-teenage niece got "in trouble" for calling a high-school vice-principal a "jerk" on a Web site outside the school environment. My brother-in-law was supposedly "embarrassed", because he was then an administrator of another school in the area.
They survived, but I also thought it was outrageous in the first place to hassle my niece for expressing herself.
· Yr Obd't Servant
Can we set up stock options or futures in this?
If there's money to be made on criminal justice what's stopping Wall street from getting it's cut!
The builders and private owners of prison complexes who traffic in human beings can sell stock in their companies, if they haven't already.
A stupid and shameful system.
Another feather in the cap of capitalism . The people best get used to eating Macaroni.
The vile behavior of these judges is unfortunately just a predictable consequence of the privatized, capitalist, for-profit, prison-industrial complex the US has. It is unique amng all nations of the world.
The US imprisons (or for juvinlues "detains") more people than China - not incarceration rate but gross numbers. So this means an incarceration rate about 5 times that of authoritarian China.
“The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.” -Fyodor Dostoevsky
---USAn---
Dafoe
Everything is for sale, everything, the culmination of the American way, nothing is sacred and under the guiding light of the GOP administrations all the gloves were off, it is the survival of the fittest or as the the fundamentalist brothers would tell us it is "intelligent design". I hear of children who have skipped school being hauled before a judge, God forbid schools have given up on administrative discipline and gone to criminal court. The only business to buy into these days is the growing prison business, incarceration for fun and profit. What in the hells name has this nation come to, it has sold its "soul" for a mess of potage and the boobeoise don't recognize it?
There was a case about twenty years ago of a pedophile judge sending juveniles to a "boys ranch" detention center...
Several kids claimed they were raped by various adults, including prominent politicians and preists and businessmen...
The investigators conveniently concluded that the kids made it all up, just like Lawrence King's "boys town" in Nebraska...
The revelations about these corrupt judges gives more credence to the children's version of the story...
Hopefully more victims will find the courage to speak up about other atrocities,...
You can bet your life that this is just the tip of a very large iceberg. This entire for profit "justice" system is just as corrupt as anything has ever been.
In my situation, I was busted a year and a half ago for growing my own medicinal cannabis, which I had been doing for over 15 years with no issues to or from anyone. A brand new next door neighbor was trespassing on my property, and his friend, an off duty cop, filed a complaint. 3 weeks later, I was subject to a raid with 12 armed and masked goons running around my yard threatening me and my cat, tearing up everything they could. They stole whatever they wanted to from hy house, and I was originally charged with cultivation, posession of BOTH over and under 1 OZ., posession of 8 OZ (I had bags of stems that I hadn't thrown out for 5 years or so), and possession of paraphernailia.
The plea bargain was for posession of under and over 1 OZ, which left me with paying fines of $1,650.00, probation costs of $1,200.00, as well as mandated "anger management classes" for an additional $500.00, and a suspended driver's license that I needed to pay an additional $60.00 to reinstate. This doesn't count the drug testing, at $19.00 per test, and the breathalyzer tests at $1.00 for blowing in a tube for 5 seconds. It also doesn't count the money I will have to pay to get the felony charge erased from my record after this time is over. So it's cost me well over $3,000 because I grew a plant that no one knew about until someone was trespassing in my yard. Tell me THAT is justice in any way, shape or form, and not just a state sponsored extortion racket.
I'd been using cannabis for depression and relief of alcoholism for 23 years, and since this started, I've had to live with it all over again. I have another year to go on this insanity, and I won't let these scum break me. It's now been 24 years since I've had a drink, and I won't let these dirtbags drive me back to it.
What really bothers me the most is two things. One, the detective in this case lied to the DA, telling her that I said I would "assist" her in something or another. I have no one to turn in, nor would I cooperate in something so unconstitutional and cruel as this. I've been growing my own for 15 yeears, who WOULD I have to turn in, and why would I promise something I couldn't deliver? As a result of her lie, I am going to have to do the full 2 years, even though I would get time off for good behavior if I were in jail.
Secondly, I've had more people try and shove drugs down my throat since this started than ever in my life. It started when my pretrail supervisor looked across the desk at me when I mentioned my depression and said "They have drugs for that, you know". So I'm supposed to take drugs because I had been "taking drugs"? The ones they want to put me on kill 20,000 Americans every year, while cannabis has NEVER killed a single human in over 4700 years of medicinal use (for depression from day one, BTW). I suspect a kickback scheme from the pharmaceutical companies, as well as the for profit justice scum.
It's just not right that we treat everyone like a crook, now adays. Especially when you have had a VP who authorized the use of torture, which is against the law in every civilized country in the world, and no one does anything about that. And according to the former AG, "Just because a law has been broken doesn't mean a crime has been committed". I guess that only means for him and his high power buddies. The rest of us have to pay to keep the rich in their billions.
I hope these two judges get everything the prison population can throw at them. I can't think of anything more fitting for those who would ruin the lives of children for their own profit.
"You can bet your life that this is just the tip of a very large iceberg"
WJM, that's exactly what I was thinking. Out here on the farm when you catch a mouse in a trap you know that there are twenty more hiding in the walls.
One thing that certainly does trickle down is lawlessness. Everyone sees the big guys at the top getting away with whatever they want. Why not them? I'm betting that white collar crime has soared in America, yet that would be hard to prove since so many have gotten away with it.
I recently had the pleasure of paying $80 for a court case that was dismissed in my favor, so I can understand a little bit of your pain and frustration.
As far as the weed goes, on another thread I commented: Isn't it ironic that one single plant, which grows enthusiastically almost anywhere, that can feed our minds, bodies and fuel tanks, is, well, illegal. Doesn't this almost define our government's plan for its people? If it's free, natural and good for the environment, let's replace it with something chemical, costly and non-renewable that we can control and make a profit on. People who don't like this plan will be arrested and prosecuted.
Hang in there, buddy.
Thanks for the thoughts. You are right about the mice, but I prefer rats, in this case.
BTW, my mother's name is Elaine, and last intital M.
How true about the rats, plague carriers throughout history.
I forgot to mention in my earlier post, congratulations on your continued resistance to the insanity of alcohol addiction. (I'm happy and proud to report that I've just passed my 18 yr. anniversary.)
Doesn't it burn you up that alcohol is so heavily promoted, widely accepted and totally legal, yet a quick internet check of drunk driving deaths reveals that over 1700 people have been killed just in 2009 in alcohol related accidents?
Those subtly hypnotic, seductively sex-filled commercials that ask users to "please drink responsibly" really frost my cookies.
What a nifty bit of synchronicity, your mom having the same name (almost) as me. Did you have a moment when you thought I might be her? I have a feeling I'd be proud to have you as my son, though I don't think I'm quite the right age!
Congrats on your 18 years. The most annoying thing about this situation has been having to do the damned breathalyzer tests after 23 years of not drinking. I've never been arrested for anything but this, and they are making me out to be the next Al Capone.
Alcohol is one of the worst things that man has ever done to himself. And you never know how it's going to affect someone. Some people get happy, some sad, some very mean and some seriously violent. But as long as we are run by those who use it, all other drugs will be seen as "unacceptable". Alcohol kills 150,000 Americans every year, and that is just counting the health related effects, not the drunken driving, the fights, the murders. And yet we seem perfectly able to handle it as a society.
Prescription drugs as a class kill 200,000 Americans every year. That doesn't count the suicides, the homocides, and the aidental deaths from those under their infulence, just the health effects. And yet we seem prefectly able to deal with their effects as a society.
Tobacco kills about 450,000 Americans every year, including my last lady friend who died a year ago this Friday. She was in bad shape from the effects of 5 botched back operations over 5 years, the pain and antidepression meds they were giving her, and she just wouldn't stop smoking the cigs, even while on oxygen. I still miss her greatly, as I'm sure do the rest of the others who are left behind by those who lose their battle to them every year. But we seem okay that we lose half a million of us a year to them.
Cannabis has been used for over 10,000 years, if you look at the history of man in the far east, where it came from, and has been used since the year 2737 BC as medicine. In all that time, there has not been one death that can be attributed to the use of it. But for some reason, it is the single most hated substance known to man, and why?
If you look at it historically in this country, it was originally so that states like CA could kick the Mexicans out (1913). By the time it got to the federal level in 1937, it was so we could "protect" the white women from being "conned" into sleeping with black men. In the 60's we were told that it would make you a communist, while at the same time, it was being told to the communists by their gov't that it would make you a capitalist. Funny thing is that it was the use of the term "marijuana" that made it possible to scare the public about something they had known about and used for the better part of two centuries by that time. If they had called it cannabis, they would have been laughed out of the country.
They will lose every time in a fair and honest debate. They know it, too, which is why whenever anyone tries to have a policy debate about it, the feds (especially) won't discuss it, and they will do everything they can to stop anyone else from discussing it, too. It's nothing but a huge cash cow, and they know that in any open and honest debate that they are on the losing side. They are in an indefensible position, but they want to keep the power and the money they have now.
My question is and always has been (and has yet to be answered) "What is the behavior that cannabis users DO that makes it so necessary to bring the weight of the gov't down on them?"
As to my mother's name, I had considered the possibility of you being her for a slight second, but seeing as how she doesn't write things on the net like this, and I doubt she knows about CD, I had to write it off pretty quickly. And unless you are about 70, there really isn't any way you COULD be her. Thanks for the kind thoughts.
I'm so sorry about your lady friend. It's almost impossible to quit now with the amount of addictive toxins they pump into a cigarette. My husband says quitting smoking was harder than quitting drinking. That was a while ago and now even more of the nasty stuff goes in.
Do you remember the movie "Reefer Madness"? That was 1936. Talk about catapulting the propaganda. Watching it at the midnight movies as a teen in the 70's, it was so over-the-top it was hilarious. But I'm sure that it scared plenty of people at the time it came out. And it was only one of many.
You ask a tough question, but maybe it's not what cannabis users DO, it's what they DON'T do. First and foremost, they don't feel like killing one another NEARLY so much. They don't feel as anxious or hateful or greedy. They don't feel intolerant. They don't need Prozac, or Viagra, or Rush Limbaugh. They don't blindly trust authority.
To the pro-chemical, pro-consumption crowd that is pretty scary stuff. What happens when people don't need all the poison they sell? So they spend a lot of money making sure there is someone for us to hate and fear, and innumerable ways for us to slowly kill ourselves while they make a profit.
Call it "conscienceless capitalism", and we're right back to the topic of the article, judges jailing kids for money. What a system!
WJM,
You posed the question about behavior of cannabis users. I, myself, am not a user but have been to many concerts where the rowdiest, most obnoxious people had been drinking beer. The later the evening, and the more beers consumed, the worse the behavior (which included tossing beer cans at the musicians on stage). Those who'd been smoking joints were laid back and peaceful. All smoke bothers me, makes my eyes and throat burn, so I didn't care to stand next to them, either- but at least they weren't throwing things at the stage and shoving peope in the crowd.
NMLib
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of
patriots and tyrants. ....Thomas Jefferson
I hear you, friend and I sympathize. Someone dropped a dime on me a while back. Luckily, I had just "cleaned" my acreage up. Local drug enforcement cop searched 10 acres for three hours and found zip. Someone had called the "TIPS" hotline. Do not know who to this day. Live and let live. I used to grow for my own useage..much as yourself. Just can't trust your neighbors any longer in this fascist state.
Very sad, considering that an administration that committed genocide looks as if it will get off without a slap on the wrist.....
Makes you wonder is there anything people won't do for money? How low can you go? America: money-whore nation.
The federal government views these kids as Collateral Damage, which is confirmed by the 800Million appropriated for prisons but no money for schools. Yet another example of the federal government as a failed institution. And I'm willing to bet big money that these two "judges" are just the tip of a huge iceberg. The rise of the Prison Industrial Complex dovetails wiith the Reagan administration operation to flood inner cities--especially Los Angeles--with crack cocaine as a part of the illegal Iran-Contra War--a GHW Bush operation and one of the most pernicious untold/censored aspects of US history. Gary Webb wrote Dark Alliance and was driven to suicide for his efforts. Mike Ruppert was able to sue the CIA and forced then to admit publically (but never reported by the "press") that the CIA did indeed engage in massive drug imports which created the "Crack Epidemic" of the 1980s that gave us the Bloods, Crips, and others. Here is a link to Ruppert's FTW archieve on this topic for those interested.
It's no coincidence that most of the state governments are bankrupt. Plundering the treasury, that is, siphoning off taxpayer money to your buddies via little scams like "reform programs" and "rebuilding programs" has become endemic to all levels of our society copying the misbehavior of our past Commander in Thief, the decider, the bushmonkey.
If Haliburton and the Pentagon get away with it in the form of trillions of missing funds, it sends a signal all the way down to the local county level that it's O.K. to torture and steal from people you're supervising.
It's the new business: Framing the middle class for profit.
I know dozens of people with similar stories to WJM earlier in this thread.
Alas, the land of the free is no more. I fear the only answer to such abuse is the same answer that was in 1937 Berlin: get out as fast as possible.
TJ
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson
In the still-unwritten "History of Stupid Ideas," privatization will surely rate a separate chapter.
The Repubs will get a whole volume, as will literary critics.
8 Years without a Leader:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA8WVHm-CcA
This is about the states and the failure of the general public of demanding honest officials. We are now essentially a police state, nationwide, if that isn't too much of a contradiction in terms. The key is, never again vote for an incumbent, never again vote to fund anything related to the police state, and demand tougher laws for those who hold authority. Oh, and vote to kill any union for the police.
thong-girl
Barack Obama presides over an Injustice System.
It brings new meaning to the concept of "No Child Left Behind".
· Yr Obd't Servant
Do other countries even have "private prison facilities"?
kw
I am quite sure there is not one private prison in Europe, probably not anywhere in the world, maybe Australia.
There are 11 private prisons in the UK.
http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/prisoninformation/privateprison/
Trust the British to come up with "creative" and "innovative" solutions for "tackling" the problem of overcrowded prisons. After all, when their prisons started overflowing with people who might have committed just petty crimes out of poverty, they hit upon the idea of transporting ship loads of these unfortunate folks to a continent at the other end of the earth - I'm talking about Australia:
Convicts and the British colonies in Australia
Extraordinary rendition and colonization, all rolled into one profitable venture.
Actually, they first started sending their prisoners and undesirables to the Colonies In America.
Australia was used once the ex cons in the 13 colonies threw the jailers out.
America is insane about money. They'll do anything to acquire power! It's tragic that other people suffer while things like this happen. I find this appalling. And all of this combined with a rapid falling economy!
Regards,
Ryan
My Ultra Green Tea Blog
I believe we must have been responsible for the sinking of the Titanic too.
Yes, Thomas, you were. It was your iceburg. Direct from Alaska.
The Court system throughout the US is so corrupted that in the rare case that Justice prevails, it is in spite of, not because of the system.
The problems in Luzerne County (my old home town) have been known to the locals, but this news report has been kept out of the national media. Yes, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Examine the Judicial system in any State any you will find corruption under the surface. In Pennsylvania it is bribes. In Vermont it is cronyism which is even worse because it is NOT illegal.
For years, I have challenged the practice of using 'expert witnesses'. It is a big part of the problem. With enough money, you can get any 'expert' to testify in any way you want. Added to that, often the jury is never told that the testimony was purchased.
God help anyone who must endure the US Court System.
It saddens me how the Court System in the US operates...There is so much corruption in the judicial system and that is why our economy is what it is today.
Peter Schiff was right about everything back in 2005. If you haven't seen his YouTube videos I highly suggest you check them out. Everything he predicted has become a reality. The sad thing is is that people mocked up for his predictions and he was 100% right! Goes to show you how greedy our society is.
Trucos de Starcraft
How many hostages are really held in our prisons-for-profit? Wackenhut and CCA will never say.
Can our government officials ever be cured of Blackwater Fever? In Carceration We Trust, eh?
There is a joke about a man who had a tailor make a suit that didn't fit.
The right sleeve is two inches too long.
No problem. Bend your elbow and hold your arm up level with your head.
Now my right shoulder is higher than the left
No problem. Just crook your back to the right.
Now it doesn't fit in front
No problem lean backward.
As the man left the shop one lady said to another "That tailor is a genius. He made a suit to fit that poor crippled man perfectly."
Education, law enforcement, organized religion, and most families conspire to be that tailor for our kids.
Ray Berthiaume
What is it about authorities being so anti-youth? Why the fear? Why are they threatened? If they can't get the innocent ones, they promote boys becoming thugs via TV, movies and music, and promote girls dressing/acting like whores. Plenty of victims to fill this new prison industry.
camus13
All we hear from our mass media is Palin, Blogo and chimps but not much coverage about these two SOB's.
Surprise they both pleaded guilty I believe for only one reason....and how I wished they went to trial. With the families of these kids as the jury.
They cut a deal for a little over 7 years if the judge OK's it and you guessed it they out on bail. It will take our genius court system a few months to decide on the jail time.
As an ex newsman I just can't believe that this is one hell of a great story and we don't cover it. I'm sorry to say and I don't any longer care as I see newspaper after newspaper go down the drain. For the job they do they deserve it.
800 million for more prisons in stimulus bill? This is treason and those judges should be tried and given life or worse for ruining 2000 children's innocent lives.
This is the fruit of the right-wing push for privatization, part of Reagan's "government is the problem" legacy.
If the people are not involved with their own government, or at least taking an interest in what it's doing, it will be used against them by those who are involved in it: corporate interests, special interests.
Maybe this crisis will reawaken the dormant sense of "we the people" and the idea of the general welfare, the commons, that right wing propaganda has tried to destroy.
Here's an important comment from Maplefudge on an older article speaking about this topic.
"Maplefudge February 13th, 2009 11:30 am
Imprisoning people for profit is kidnapping, which is a felony. 87 months? For kidnapping five thousand kids? I would have expected them to get Life, or Death. The judges are lucky that none of those parents were allowed to judge them."
and here's the wikipedia entry about kidnapping
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.", Albert Einstein.
Ed note: white phosphorous, dense metal super weapons, nuclear stick-up, missile defense, bailouts and propaganda!!
I like the idea that the judges should be charged with kidnapping.
http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/world/2009/02/11/8356176-ap.html
Another reason that a for-profit prison system is a really bad idea.
An appropriate response would be for every high school and college newspaper everywhere in the country to write about this abuse and similar abuses in their communities. They should fight against any censorship and we should be ready to back them up.
Kids should be outraged that their freedom is being sold away by greedy old men who are supposed to be protecting them. Where is Charles Dickens now that we need him?
Joe
Well I have much to say about justice, or the fairness of the distribution of justcie. Still waiting for for the agencys involved in my 2 year, 24/7 gang stalking surveillance TORTURE to stop,step up,apologize and make an offer in a damage settlement for falsly accusing me of being a "Domestic Terrorist" or a threat to my community, trust me , I am not holding my breath.
That said, since these two Judges have been found guilty and are addicted to the torture and punishment of minors for money,jail time might not be an appropriate punishment.
Perhaps some sort of job in one of the prisons.They can go home every night, just not in a Lexus, or fine clothes.Oh lets not forget the home probation ankle bracelet. A short jail time will have done nothing, and they probably stashed a bunch of cash somewhere, so when they get out, there gone.
How about they be asked to conduct Seminars with other Judges around the country, you know, share thier experience of what happened to them and how it has changed their life. Judges ask repeat DUI offenders go to AA meetings in prisons, to share thier expereince , strength and hope.
By the way , here in Florida, not a word have I heard about this case till I read it here.
BornFreeMen
The private prison growth industry, another conservative created monster, should be in the sights of the Obama administration early on if they are going to try to reverse some of the worst of conservative disasters. Screw bipartisanship with the conservative devils. Do the right thing.
Are private prisons funded by the government to hold people convicted by a public judicial system even constitutional? Just wondering.