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Articles by Alex Friedmann

Indictment: The News Media and the Criminal Justice System (Book Review)

Reviewed by Alex Friedmann

Indictment, a report by the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University, presents a hard look at the shortcomings of crime coverage by the press. The authors, two experienced journalists, condemn simplistic reporting of complex criminal justice issues that all too often is a mile ...

CCA - Prison Realty Merger Approved

A merger between Corrections Corp. of America (CCA) and Prison Realty Trust was approved by shareholders of both companies on Dec. 1, and Dec. 3, 1998, respectively. CCA had spun-off Prison Realty Trust in July 1997, then announced merger plans last April [See: CCA Sells Self; Wackenhut Creates REIT," PLN ...

Juveniles Held Hostage for Profit by CSC in Florida

According to a consultant hired by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, the Pahokee Youth Development Center (Juvenile prison) operated by the Correctional Services Corporation (CSC) kept ten juvenile detainees beyond their release dates for no other reason than to beef up corporate profits.

Consultant David Bachman wrote in a ...

Private Prisons in the United States: An Assessment of Current Practice (Review of Report)

Reviewed by Alex Friedmann

In 1997 Congress instructed the Attorney General's office to undertake a study of prison privatization, to include a review of legal issues and existing research regarding cost effectiveness. The study was conducted by Abt Associates, Inc. through a cooperative agreement with the National Institute of Corrections, ...

Suicides Plague Florida Women's Prison

Florence Krell, a 40-year-old mother of two serving an 18-month sentence for grand theft after she failed to return her boyfriend's rental car, hanged herself from her cell door at the Jefferson Corr. Institution on October 11, 1998. She had been at Jefferson, an all-female prison located about 30 miles ...

Losing the Vote: The Impact of Felony Disenfranchisement Laws in the United States (Book Review)

Review by Alex Friedmann

"The expansion of suffrage toall sectors of the population is one of the United States' most important political triumphs .... Today, all mentally competent adults have the right to vote with only one exception: convicted criminal offenders." So begins Losing the Vote, a collaborative report by ...

University Professor Shills for Private Prison Industry

Much of the statistical and academic information regarding prison privatization that is reported in the media (and consequently relied upon by lawmakers deciding whether to contract with private prison companies) comes from Charles W. Thomas, director of the Private Corrections Project at the University of Florida, Gainesville.

The Private Corrections ...

Juvenile Crime Still Pays -- But at What Cost?

Juvenile Crime Still Pays – But at What Cost?

by Alex Friedmann

[Last February, PLN published a cover article, "Juvenile Crime Pays," concerning the proliferation of for-profit juvenile justice services. This month we revisit the topic following recent reports of abuse and mis- management at privately operated juvenile prisons.]

The ...

Youngstown Break-Out Leads to Political, Financial Fall-Out

On July 25, 1998 a half-dozen prisoners, including four convicted murderers, cut through two fences and escaped from the CCA-operated Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown, Ohio. According to Warden Jimmy Turner the successful break-out was due to errors by prison employees -- including guards leaving their posts, not watching ...

Abuses Continue at Private INS Facility

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) continues to experience problems at a privately -operated detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey. In June 1995 detainees rioted at the facility, which was then run by Esmore Correctional Services. The detainees mostly asylum-seekers who had not been charged with any crime complained of ...