AFSC - Tucson, Arizona
SAY “NO!” TO PRIVATIZING ARIZONA’S PRISONS
Urgent Action Alert!!!
Some Arizona state legislators are determined to privatize ALL state prison complexes, as well as medical care and food services to prisoners, in spite of the Governor’s veto. This includes the state’s only women’s facility and may extend to maximum and supermaximum security units, including death row.
If this proposal goes through, it will be Arizona’s largest ever relinquishment of state control over a core government function to the for-profit sector. No private prison corporation has ever attempted to run an entire state’s prison complexes. Very few manage high security prisoners, and only in small numbers. This is a risky, unproven strategy that gambles with public safety in the name of questionable returns.
If these prisons are privatized and the state abdicates its authority, this will place over 11,000 additional prisoners in the hands of for-profit corporations that have chronic histories of wasteful expenditures, contractual failures and public endangerment.
Why Arizona should SAY NO to for-profit prisons:
1. Privatizing an entire state’s prisons would be a reckless experiment that gambles with public safety.
No private for-profit prison corporation has ever attempted to run an entire state’s facilities. Even Tennessee, the home state of Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), refused the corporation’s bid to take over that state’s prisons. These companies have no track record to prove that they can safely manage all the various security levels and special needs of prisoners in Arizona. Do we really want our state to be a guinea pig for a national experiment? Every for-profit prison corporation that would compete for these contracts has a history of serious problems, ranging from financial mismanagement, abuse scandals, riots and disturbances, and patterns of violence and abuse. The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) found a significantly higher rate of prisoner-on-prisoner assaults in private prisons (66% more) than in public prisons. Inmate-on-staff assaults were 49% higher in the for-profits. For specific information regarding lawsuits, incidents, and poor management of prison facilities for some of the prison corporations doing business in or with the state of Arizona for, please see the attached “Rap Sheets”or go to: http://www.privateci.org/. This risky, unproven strategy could prove to be a disaster for Arizona.2. Private, for-profit prisons are no bargain.
Every credible, independent cost comparison study ever conducted has found that analyses of purported cost savings of private prisons in legitimate apples-to-apples comparisons, conclusively demonstrate that the for-profits cost about the same or in some cases are more expensive.
Maximus, an independent, reputable research firm, studied Arizona's prisons in 2006. It determined taxpayers were spending an estimated $1,526,289 MORE annually on two privately run prisons.
Counties and states often pick up the tab for things that private prison companies don’t provide, like mental health and medical care. And when there are riots or escapes, it is local law enforcement that has to put out the fires, send in SWAT teams, and track down escaped prisoners—at taxpayer expense.
Giving one private corporation a monopoly over Arizona facilities gives them little incentive to cut costs. What’s more, the proposal vetoed by Governor Brewer actually proposed to split any cost savings between the state and the private operator! Once they take over the entire state system, the corporation would have Arizona over a barrel if the company decided to raise its rates.
These are out of state, for-profit, publicly traded corporations that are concerned only with their bottom line, not what’s best for the people of Arizona.
3. Privatizing Arizona’s prisons means lower wages for prison staff, in the middle of a huge recession.
One of the ways private prison corporations cut costs is by cutting corners—primarily on staff pay and training. Public safety is one of the few remaining employment sectors in Arizona, and privatizing these jobs would be a huge economic blow to the thousands of men and women who work in these facilities.
That’s why the Arizona Correctional Peace Officers Association (the state’s prison guards union) rallied at the State Capitol Monday, July 13, to show their opposition to legislative efforts to privatize the state's prisons. Corrections officers were joined by AZCOPS leaders and union activists from CWA and AFL-CIO.
None of the corporations in the running for these contracts is based in the state of Arizona, so all the dollars spent on administrative costs would flow out of the state into the pockets of out-of-state corporate CEO’s.
4. Arizona legislators, including several members of the Republican leadership that brokered this deal, are in the pocket of the private prison industry.
All the major private prison corporations have numerous, highly paid lobbyists working day and night to influence our elected officials.
These lobbyists and other private prison interests gave $77,267 to Arizona candidates during the 2002 and 2004 election cycles. Republicans received nearly 90% of industry contributions.
Is it any wonder that some of the biggest beneficiaries of these contributions are now the ones leading the charge to privatize Arizona’s prisons?:
| RECIPIENT | 2002 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|
| Sen. Russell Pearce (R-18) | $880 | $2,400 |
| Sen. Robert Burns (R-9) | $1,735 | $736 |
| Sen. Robert Waring (R-7) | $650 | $1,595 |
| Sen. Thayer Verschoor (R-22) | $0 | $1,130 |
| Rep. Andy Biggs (R-22) | $0 | $675 |
| Sen. Jack Harper (R-4) | $0 | $625 |
Keep in mind, Arizona’s contribution limits are among the lowest in the country, at $270 per legislative candidate per election in 2002 and $280 in 2004. Unfortunately, no comparable statistics were available for the 2006 or 2008 elections.
Source: The Institute on Money in State Politics, “Policy Lock-Down: Prison Interests Court Political Players.” (pdf format) April, 2006.
What YOU can do…
Contact the following policy makers tell them to SAY NO TO PRISONS FOR PROFIT!
Governor Jan Brewer
**Please THANK her for vetoing the earlier version of this bill, SB1028 and ask her to hold firm in her commitment to ensuring that Arizona fulfills its responsibility to manage its own prisons.
602.542.4331 or 800.253.0883 ph,
602.542.1381 fax.
Make a comment online.
ADC Interim Director Charles Ryan
602.542.5497 ph
cryan@azcorrections.gov
Arizona Speaker of the House Kirk Adams
602.926.5495 ph, 602.417.3019 fax
kadams@azleg.gov
Arizona Senate President Robert Burns
602.926.5993 ph, 602.417.3225 fax
rburns@azleg.gov
May 12th Day of Action at the AZ Legislature
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Join us in Phoenix on Tuesday, May 12th for meetings with legislators to discuss immigration issues and a press conference at noon. RSVP to meet with legislators. A bus will be driving from Tucson to Phoenix. Read more |
3rd Annual Justicepalooza
April 26th at the Hut
A night of great music for a great cause: The American Friends Service Committee-Arizona. The AFSC organizes for criminal justice reform and immigrant rights in AZ.
This year, we’re moving the event out of Matt’s backyard and into the bigtime! More bands! More people! More fun!
Sunday, April 26th
5:30pm-12 midnight
$8 suggested donation
The Hut, 305 N. 4th Ave
(across from
Value Village—look for the Tiki Head!)
- Space Over Desert
- The Tangelos
- Courtney Robbins
- Leila Lopez
- Michael P.
- The Infernal Racket
Come enjoy a night of great local music with a clean conscience! For more information, contact AFSC: 520.623.9141 or email: cisaacs@afsc.org
Labor Rights Abuses Linked to
Arizona’s
Employer Sanctions Law
New report details multiple negative impacts on workers, families
Newspaper headlines have been filled with reports of a mass exodus of immigrants from Arizona in the wake of the Legal Arizona Workers Act, the state’s controversial employer sanctions law. Schools are missing students while banks report high numbers of closed accounts. Supporters of the law hail this as a victory, a deserved punishment for lawbreakers.
But the reality is much more complicated. A community survey of 400 immigrant workers conducted by the American Service Committee’s (AFSC) Voces de Inmigrantes en Arizona (VIA) program reveals the multiple negative impacts of the law:
- Download the report (PDF)
Breaking News
At a statewide networking forum on May 19, 2007, the American Friends Service Committee, Arizona Program kicked off the StopMax Arizona Campaign: a statewide effort to end the use of long-term solitary confinement.
In an era of exploding prison populations and growing public concern over extreme penal practices, Arizona communities are coming together to demand an effective state justice system that keeps communities safe, spends public funds wisely, and is accountable to Arizonans.
"We have a system that relies on the failed strategy of long-term solitary confinement," said Caroline Isaacs, Director of the Arizona American Friends Service Committee, "this is a clear human rights issue, but in addition, it is also a practice that fails to accomplish the security goals it claims to address. It fails to protect prison staff and inmates, it threatens public safety, and it does so at an outrageous social and economic cost."
AFSC-AZ has released a groundbreaking report on the use of long term solitary confinement in Arizona facilities. The report, Buried Alive (PDF, 361 KB), is the first attempt to catalogue the use and impacts of this correctional practice in Arizona.
"This is an issue that has widespread costs for everyone in our state," said Matthew Lowen, "the more people learn about it, the more support we're gathering to make real change."
The StopMax Arizona Campaign brings together a diverse group of concerned Arizonans to address the problems in long term solitary confinement in the state and to promote sensible, humane, and cost effective alternatives. Find out how you can get involved in the StopMax Arizona Campaign.
Arizona Area Office Programs
The Arizona Area Program, located in AFSC's Pacific Southwest Region, works for peace and justice through various committees and coalitions.
Immigration/Border
Program
AFSC’s immigrant-rights work
seeks to strengthen the voices of immigrant-led
organizations in setting the national agenda
for immigration policy. The Immigration and
Border Program combines local and national
organizing, education, and outreach campaigns
to achieve a strategic impact on key
immigration and refugee issues including
legalization, human and civil rights abuses,
worker’s rights, and other issues.
Criminal
Justice Program
The Criminal Justice
program’s work is centered in advocacy
promoting public education and social change.
The goal of our Criminal Justice Program is to
reduce the number of incarcerated people in
Arizona. Some of our advocacy work is on behalf
of individual prisoners or family members, but
we strive to concentrate our efforts on larger,
policy-level issues that affect large numbers
of people. We serve as a resource for
prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their family
members to find information and resources to
address their questions and needs, and a place
to get involved in brining their voice to the
seats of power in Arizona.
Current projects include:
- Sentencing Reform Campaign to change Arizona’s overly harsh sentencing laws
- Stopping prison expansion, particularly the proliferation of private prisons
- Prisoner Re-Entry
- Shutting down “Supermax” or Control Unit Prisons
Coalitions
Arizona Advocacy Network (AzAN)
Coalicion
Derechos Humanos
Advocates for just law
enforcement and the protection of human rights
on the border. Derechos Humanos meets every
Thursday from 5:30-7pm at the Sam Lena Public
Library, 1607 S 6th Ave, Tucson. For
more information, call Jose Matus at (520)
770-1373.