Page 10 - the NOISE August 2015

riots, escapes & hunger strikes:
the recidivism of arizona’s private prisons
as Arizonans prepared a celebration of freedom for the Independence Day weekend, Department of Justice investigation.
a group of men who had already lost their freedom were staging an insurrection. On July 2, the inmates of a private prison in Kingman overpowered guards and seized control of living quarters. The full scale riot immediately spread through two of the prison’s five housing units. Prisoners apparently maintained control for two days until the state’s Department of
Corrections finally sent in a tactical response team.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to confirm the circumstances that incited the revolt. what
we do know for sure is how this incident is affecting the political conversation about Arizona prisons, particularly those operated by for-profit corporations. As an official investigation gets underway, the state’s priorities surrounding incarceration are again being called into question. Meanwhile, an entrenched $3.3 billion industry continues damage control.
private prison’s troubled (recent) history
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) is the oldest and largest private prison company in the nation. Based in Tennessee, it operates 61 facilities throughout the nation, 6 in Arizona. Less than a month before the Kingman riot, almost 200 immigrant prisoners in CCA’s eloy, AZ detention center went on a hunger strike over living conditions after an inmate died in his isolation cell. Their top demands were an “independent investigation into recent deaths” and adequate medical and mental health care.
Prison officials said the deceased inmate had been placed in isolation for suicide watch after showing signs of “delusional thoughts and behaviors.” An autopsy report obtained by The Noise alleges that Jose Deniz-sahagun was found unresponsive with a toothbrush handle and an orange knee-high sock in his throat. A 4 inch by 4 inch area at the top of his skull had been crushed.
not long after Mr. Deniz-sahagun’s death, an anonymous prisoner inside Eloy Detention Center wrote a letter to an Arizona immigrant advocacy group called Puente. It detailed claims of various abuses at the facility, including this paragraph, translated from its original spanish, which was apparently a reference to the death of Jose Deniz-sahagun:
“I am detained at eloy in Tank 300 and have witnessed these abuses against detainees by ICe. On one occasion, I witnessed how they beat a man who had his hands up and begged for his right to see his lawyer. That request was denied by CCA guard and in response the immigrant was met with aggression and excessive use of force leaving him dead at the hands of the CCA guards.”
Mr. Deniz-sahagun’s family claims he never suffered from depression or suicidal tendencies, and state representative Raul Grijalva has petitioned the state Attorney General for a
The same CCA facility has also repeatedly been the site of sexual abuse allegations. In 2009 Tanya Guzman-Martinez, a Mexican national who identified as transgender, was being held at eloy Detention Center pending trial. she had applied for asylum and protection under Convention Against Torture because of past persecution and fear of future persecution in Mexico for her gender identity. A CCA detention officer employed at eloy, Justin Manford, was convicted of unlawful sexual contact after forcing Ms. Guzman-Martinez to watch him masturbate into a styrofoam cup, then drink his semen upon threats of solitary confinement and deportation.
This was a particularly outrageous instance in a litany of reported abuse by Mr. Manford and other guards at the facility. Ms. Guzman-Martinez sued CCA and the federal Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICe) for failing to protect her as required by law. The detention officer was sentenced to two days, time served, and a judge granted CCA’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit in 2012.
strange bedfellows
The debate over private prisons in Arizona has led to some unusual political alliances. social justice movements concerned with the treatment of prisoners question whether the state can effectively oversee the ever-increasing percentage of inmates housed in private prisons, which is currently approaching 20%.
Others are more concerned about the safety of the public. In 2010, three inmates escaped from the same Kingman facility recently torn apart by rioting. within a week, two of them had murdered a couple camping in new Mexico. Ten individual bills proposing better oversight of private prisons in the state were put forward during the next legislative session, but none received a hearing.
The most unexpected critic of privately run prisons might also be the most recognizable face in Arizona law enforcement: Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio. Praised by some, hated by others, but always winning elections, his open denouncement of incarceration for profit may be proof that changes are on the horizon.
Mr. Arpaio is no stranger to criticism over the treatment of prisoners. After starting the nation’s first female chain gang, he banned smoking, coffee, pornographic magazines, movies, and unrestricted television in all his jails. During a brutal 2003 Phoenix heat wave, he had inmates living in an outdoor encampment where tents reached interior temperatures of over
130degrees. Hehasearnedthemonikerof“America’stoughestsheriff”andtheadmirationof many who advocate a tough-on-crime approach to law enforcement.
suffice to say that it is not the well being of inmates at private facilities that Mr. Arpaio and
10 • august 2015 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us