San Quentin News

Written By Incarcerated - Advancing Social Justice

Private prison labor in question

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Washington D.C.

In Washington, D.C., a group of 18 Republican congressmen are trying to convince the Trump administration to shield private prisons from lawsuits alleging immigrant detainees are forced to work for a wage of $1 a day, The Washington Post reported.

At least five lawsuits have been filed against private prisons, including The GEO Group and CoreCivic, over issues including detainee compensation.   

The Daily Beast was first to report that a letter from the congressmen to top federal officials argued that the detainees are not technically employees of the private prisons and therefore should not be able to file lawsuits pursuing payment for their labor.

“Alien detainees should not be able to use immigration detention as a means of obtaining stable employment that will encourage them to pursue frivolous claims to remain in the country and in detention for as long as possible,” said the letter addressed to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, and acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Thomas Homan.

The letter also included the group’s expectation that the federal government would inevitably join the debate and urged the addressed officials to “take the position that these lawsuits lack legal merit and should be dismissed.”

The lawsuits alleged that the private prison companies use voluntary work programs as a loophole to violate multiple labor laws such as state minimum wage laws and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

Washington state sued GEO last year for violating its minimum wage standard of $11 an hour. Because GEO is a private company detaining people on civil charges, the state argued that the company should follow their wage requirements.

“about 5 percent of city streets produce half of a city’s crime…” according to George Mason University criminologist David Weisburd. “Homicides Are a Neighborhood Problem” THE NEW YORK TIMES 12-28-17

“This is detention, not a competitive work environment,” GEO attorney Joan Mell told a federal judge last November.

Inmates in Colorado and California also have lawsuits pending against The GEO Group. The suits describe immigrant detainees being forced to work janitorial and clerical jobs to pay for daily necessities like food and water for only a dollar per day.

Those who refused were punished by “disciplinary segregation or solitary confinement” or referred for criminal prosecution, one of the lawsuits alleged. The company has denied allegations that detainees are forced to work against their will.

GEO is asking that the case be dismissed, asserting that the federal rate for work performed by detainees overrides the Washington state minimum wage law.

The congressmen’s letter that was filed with the U.S. District Court asserted that paying the detainees more than $1 a day as required by federal law would “provide an unnecessary windfall to the detainees, and drain the federal government of limited taxpayer resources.”

They also asserted that immigrant advocates, including sanctuary cities, have filed “nuisance lawsuits” to raise costs of immigration detention and ultimately diminish the overall level of immigration enforcement, reported The Washington Post.

http://sanquentinnews.com/private-prison-corporations-seek-tough-laws-for-immigrants/

Class action lawsuit against GEO

LAPD Settlement's Soar

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Los Angeles County Twin Towers Correctional Facility

[Los Angles Police Department (LAPD) Los Angeles Times Cmdr. Michael Hyams Kash Delano Register Bruce Lisker LAPD Foothill Division]

The Los Angles Police Department (LAPD) doled out almost $81 million in the last fiscal year to settle lawsuits, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Two of the settlements amounted to approximately $24 million for men who were wrongly convicted of murder and spent more than 25 years behind bars.

“It is a few cases that create the most liability” Cmdr. Michael Hyams said. “It is not hundreds of cases.”

With 343 homicides in 2017, Baltimore “had the highest murder rate in its history, and by far the highest among the nation’s 30 largest cities,” according to The New York Times 1-17-18

Kash Delano Register received the largest payout of $16.7 million dollars, after spending more than 34 years in prison, alleging wrongful conviction of armed robbery and murder in 1979.

Bruce Lisker was paid $7.6 million to settle his claim after being released. A federal judge ruled that key evidence, provided by LAPD detectives and used by prosecutors, was false.

Lisker’s mother was killed in 1983, and a bloody shoe print was left at the scene. Lisker was convicted and spent more than 26 years in prison. In a hearing challenging Lisker’s conviction, an FBI expert testified that the print left by the shoe was not his.

“The LAPD was the defendant in Lisker’s lawsuit because the law gives immunity to prosecutors from civil law suits over how they handle cases,” the Times said.

Since taking the cases to trial could prove more costly, the LA city lawyers recommended the council approve both deals, the article noted.

In addition, $24 million dollars went to a boy left paralyzed after being shot by officers, and $5.7 million was awarded in a trial to a man who was shot when officers mistook his cell phone for a gun.

Nearly $10 million in payouts involved employment cases. LAPD Foothill Division detectives alleged they were passed over for positions and overtime because of racial discrimination. They received a $2.5 million settlement. A former motorcycle cop was awarded nearly $1 million after he alleged retaliation from the LAPD because he refused to participate in an illegal ticket quota system.

The City of Los Angles has borrowed $70 million dollars this year to avoid having to tap into the city’s emergency reserve funds.

Hyams said the city is trying to resolve cases more quickly, hoping to reduce the size of settlements.

Over the past five years the department has spent more than $215 million in litigation costs, including judgments and settlements.

Homeboy Industries and Boeing Offer Opportunity for Ex-Cons

New L.A. Police Unit To Combat Crime Surge

Luring more prison doctors with big raises

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The average pay for the employees in 2014 was approximately $240,000 a year

Doctors at a dozen understaffed California prisons could receive a 24 percent pay raise under a new proposed contract. Other doctors would get 9 percent hikes.

The raises could be paid over the next four years, pending approval by their union and the state legislature, according to an article in the Sacramento Bee.

“We’re hoping that the new agreement will help us fill our critical vacancies,” said Joyce Hayhoe, spokeswomen for the federal receivership. California prison health care has been under federal receivership since 2006.

The average pay for the employees in 2014 was approximately $240,000 a year. According to the 2017-18 California Budget proposal, the average cost per inmate for medical, mental and dental services will be $21,582 per year.

The contract with the union expired last July, and its members had taken the unusual step of authorizing a strike. The original offer was an 8 percent increase over four years with few other financial incentives.

“We were waiting for it to be an offer that we could recommend” said Suzanne Wilson, the union spokeswoman.

Wilson said the administration offered a better package including wage increases for specific jobs and substantial recruitment and retention packages.

The Union of American Physicians and Dentists represents approximately 1,500 workers.

California State Prison-Sacramento and Mule Creek State Prison are two of the facilities deemed understaffed that will be able to offer these new incentives.

Some prisons have vacancy rates that have climbed as high as 30 percent.  The more lucrative incentives are designed to retain doctors at these prisons, the article stated.

To prevent medical staff members from leaving state facilities that are near the prisons, the state is offering recruitment and retention incentives to doctors at 15 other state hospitals, centers for people with developmental disabilities, and veteran facilities.

https://sanquentinnews.com/optionb-org-support-group-overcoming-effects-incarceration/

Prison reform could free 30,000 inmates says CSJ

Protestors aim to block pilot video visitation program for inmates

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Five people were arrested for protesting jail video visitation in Durham, N.C.

The Inside-Outside Alliance members demonstrated at a county commission meeting, according to an article by Virginia Bridges for the community news website, newsobservers.com.

“We don’t have confidence we will be able to keep (Sheriff Mike Andrews) from making it video only,” said one of those arrested, Joe Stapleton, 27, youth pastor at Cornerstone Community Church.

The five were charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and inciting a riot, all misdemeanors, the March 18 story noted.

Pastor Stapleton, Rann Bar-On, a Duke University math professor, and some students were charged and released on a $1,500 unsecured bond.

Sheriff Andrews’s office reported plans to launch a pilot program, in which visitors would meet with the inmates via a video monitor in the jail’s lobby.

Sheriff Andrews plans to use a hybrid approach that will include both video and in-person visits, Brian Jones, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, wrote in an email. 

Tamara Gibbs, sheriff’s office spokeswoman, added in an email, there are two options for video-visiting, one the person can visit with his or her own computer or mobile device, the other the person goes to the facility and communicates with the inmate via a screen.

These forms of communication typically have user fees, according to the Prison Policy Initiative, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit.

The sheriff’s office has yet to decide if they will offer remote visits or charge for them. Bernadette Rabuy, senior policy analyst with the Prison Policy Initiative, said more county jails are moving toward video visitation, while prisons, state and federal, are offering both in-person and video options.

Inside-Outside Alliance members said they decided to interrupt the Durham County commissioners’ meeting by reading inmates’ letters because they don’t think Sheriff Andrews is accessible and this was their best way to raise awareness.

From 2015 to 2016 visitation at the jail dropped from 29,770 to 15,201. The detention staff hasn’t explored why this occurred, Gibbs said.

Some county leaders fear that the video visits could become the inmates’ only connection to the outside world.

The sheriff’s office has been creating infrastructure to facilitate video visiting. In 2015 and 2016 the jail moved to an online scheduling system, which can be accessed through a kiosk in the jail lobby.

Wendy Jacobs, Durham County chairwoman, said she and other commissioners don’t support ending in-person visits. In general, the county commissioners have no direct control over the sheriff’s office, which oversees the jail, beyond approving the flow of county money to the agency.

Sheriff Andrews told Jacobs he wasn’t ending in-person visits, but video presentation will be an option for the future, according to the article.

Inside-Outside Alliance has a website called Amplify Voices Inside, which publishes letters, statements and surveys from people in Durham County jail.

The group has protested jail conditions, health care access, the quality of food and is demanding a community inspection of the jail.

Former female inmate helps reunite families with Get On The Bus

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The fondest wish of many prisoners is to see their children. The Get On The Bus (GOTB) program has made that happen for thousands of California prisoners.

One of its leaders is former inmate Michelle Garcia, who is the new regional director for Ventura County, according to The Simi Valley Acorn.

“Once I left prison, I knew I wanted to do something to help in the community. What better way than to help other moms who are in prison?” Garcia said. 

She met a volunteer for GOTB, the nonprofit program that provides free bus transportation to prisons for children. That convinced her she had found a new direction for her life.

Garcia spent five years in Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla and said she understands the loneliness and despair inside a prison.

“They are hurting and feel isolated. I want to make sure that they know that their kids are not alone,” she added.

Last year Garcia worked for a program that sent buses to visit fathers at Salinas Valley State Prison and moms in Chowchilla for Mother’s Day.

This year two parishes are scheduled to send a bus load of children to San Quentin State Prison for Father’s Day.

“When you watch some of these reunions with the kids and the parents, it’s just amazing,” said Brian Clements, a deacon at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church. “It really makes it all worthwhile.”

GOTB was started in 1999 by Sister Suzanne Jabro of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. It is run by the Center for Restorative Justice Works, a North Hollywood nonprofit.

On the trips, children are given pillows and blankets, a kind of comfort bag for the journey. They are also given a stationery kit to encourage them to stay in contact with their parents. They also get to take a picture with their parent.

“It’s to encourage the children to keep in contact,” Garcia said. “Being previously incarcerated, I know how important those letters from home can be.”

Ireland takes a look at mothers in prison

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In Ireland there is a clear need for incarcerated mothers to maintain children and family relationships, according to a National University of Ireland report cited in a Probation Journal article.

“Being found guilty of a crime is not synonymous with being a bad parent.  Also noted, there is no good reason to equate offending behavior with bad parenting,” authors Sinead O’Malley and Carmel Devaney quoted in the report.

In 2014, 13,408 persons were sent to prison in Ireland. Of those 19 percent were female. The number of women sent to prison continues to rise. Ireland has the fourth highest incarceration rate in Europe and the second highest release rate.

“The very nature of imprisonment is containment and loss of liberty, but this does not strip people of their basic rights,” cited the report.

In 2014, the Irish government acknowledged the need for gender-specific responses to female offenders. This resulted in debates on how non-custodial sentences should be enforced.

Two of the 14 prisons in Ireland accommodate women. The Dóchas Centre is the only facility with a baby unit. Mothers and their babies live among the prison’s general population raising concerns because some of the other women were convicted of crimes against children, the report noted.

The report questioned whether mothers’ rights are being realized in practice. It explored the needs of incarcerated mothers in Ireland with regard to family relationships and the need for a supportive practitioner role within the prison system. According to the authors,, the report seeks to promote and enhance the relationship between incarcerated mothers and their children and their successful reunification after incarceration.

As outlined in the Irish constitution, the family is one of the most significant and protected institutions and is a key influence and provider of welfare.

“The loss of liberty is a sufficient punishment for those sentenced to prison for committing a crime,” the report stated.

GEO Group to open re-entry center in SF’s Tenderloin District

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The Geo Group, one of the largest prison companies in the United States, will open a third re-entry center in the Bay Area, reported SF Weekly.

The new San Francisco SoMa facility joins the Male Community Re-entry Program and will house up to 80 inmates who are close to the end of their sentences and will be released in the Bay Area.

They will be required to wear electronic ankle monitors at all times.

The Geo Group also runs two other re-entry facilities, the Taylor Street Center in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district and the Oakland Center in Oakland.

Both facilities were reported to have had abuse allegations of “sexual touching and voyeurism,” according to the SF Weekly.

“The vast majority of people in prison are going home, whether you like it or not”

Regardless of any claims against the Geo Group, it “won a five-year, nearly $13 million state contract to run the re-entry center,” SF Weekly reported. 

The facility will operate at least through June 2021. The state will pay the company $48 to $60 per inmate per day.

The contract requires the Geo Group to provide individual and group counseling, as well as substance abuse counseling. In addition, they are required to provide literacy, employment readiness, community survival skills, and housing assistance programs.

This new facility is part of a trend of private prisons diversifying into inmate re-entry service, even as scrutiny grows over of abuses in the private prisons sector, the article noted.

“The vast majority of people in prison are going home, whether you like it or not,” said Krissi Khokhobashvilli, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesperson. “These facilities help ease that transition.”

Oak Glen firecamp reopens to house long-term jail inmates

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Storied San Bernardino fire camp Oak Glen has signed a contract with the state to provide minimum-security beds for long-term jail inmates at the state’s 160-bed camp.

Bill Sessa, a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) spokesperson, said the plan is part of new legislation aimed at reducing the prison population, according to an article by Harvey Kahn of IECN. 

“People are not going to be let out of prison early, and we are not lowering our standards,” Sessa explained.

“No one with a pattern of violent behavior is accepted. You get one chance. If you are disruptive in any form, you are returned to an electronically fenced facility.” 

Gangs and other rivalries must set aside their differences in order to function as a team. 

Fire camp work is extremely taxing but pays better than most prison labor jobs at $2 per hour, plus an extra dollar per hour while fighting fires, according to the article.

“They get a day-for-day off their sentence,” Sessa said. “During the time on a fire line, they get two days off their sentence for each day worked.”

Established 90 years ago, the Oak Glen Conservation Camp was the first of its kind and is the largest of 43 in California. As early as 1928, honor crews built roads and worked on county parks projects, flood control and water main systems.   

Oak Glen firecamp

In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt used the camp for a Civilian Conservation Corps federal jobs program. In 1963 President Lyndon B. Johnson picked the site to be the location of a pilot training program during his tenure.

He also used the camp for high school dropouts, under his 1963 Anti-Poverty Act, with the Riverside County Schools designating the local funds.

President Richard Nixon reverted the camp to a penal institution; by 1972 it was under the control of the California Youth Authority. Through the 1980s the state financed millions of dollars to upgrade the camp, according to the article.

“Oak Glen Conservation Camp has never been a problem in the community,” CDCR said in an official statement.

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