Page 11 - the NOISE August 2015

story by J. kendall perkinson
photo by daniel nanescu
other Arizona sheriffs voice their concerns about. Most of their criticism surrounds the economic realities of incarceration. This may prove to be the unifying issue that changes the future of the prison industrial complex in Arizona.
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By the time Jan Brewer was governor of the state, two of her top advisors had direct connections to CCA. Her deputy chief of staff was a former lobbyist for the corporation, while Chuck Coughlin, who led her re-election campaign and served as a policy advisor, was president of a public affairs group that also lobbied for the industry giant.
By 2011, the Arizona Department of Corrections had conducted seven annual studies comparing the costs of public and private prisons. each time, the results showed that public medium security prisons were less expensive to taxpayers. Private minimum security prisons sometimes had a slight cost advantage, but this ignored the health care costs of inmates, which had been shifted onto taxpayers in final contracts with the companies.
The following year, Ms. Brewer and the Republican-controlled legislature eliminated the annual study altogether.
Caroline Isaacs of the Quaker activist group American Friends Service Committee says that it is not difficult to understand why private prisons tend to have problems. she claims putting in the lowest contract bid, paying seven-figure CeO salaries, and still needing to make a profit leads to cutting corners.
“The main places they do that is staff pay and training,” Ms. Isaacs said. “so you have a staff that is not paid very well, a high level of turnover, a lot of new staff, and when situations happen in the prison, they are really not equipped to handle them. At the time of the Kingman escape in 2010, 80% of the staff in that facility was new or newly promoted.” she says that a report following those escapes found that the company had not fixed a malfunctioning alarm in the building for two years, prompting staff to eventually start propping doors open with rocks.
Private prison companies like CCA, GeO and Management & Training Corp (of the Kingman escape/riot) would later give more than $10,000 directly to Governor Doug Ducey’s campaign fund, and more than $400,000 total in contributions to organizations like the Republican Governor’s Association that supported Mr. Ducey directly.
A few months later, Mr. Ducey’s state budget cut $99 million from state education while pledging the same amount in contracts to private prisons. The budget passed, but its economic priorities raised eyebrows all over the state, even among the conservative political base. Republican state senator Kelli Ward felt that the numbers showed values out of sync with the people of conservative District 5, noting, “My constituents would like to see us prioritize teachers and kids over criminals.”
Ms. Isaacs says that conservatives are right to be concerned about private prisons. “It’s not saving money, it’s not preserving the public safety, it is the best example of big government infringing on personal liberties, there’s massive expenditure of public funds with little to no accountability,” she said. “These are all conservative issues. But we do not want this to just be a question of public vs. private. The only way to save money on
corrections is to not lock up so many people.”
looking forward
Recently, coverage by the Daily Star, Daily Sun, local CBs affiliates and other Arizona media outlets have been unfavorably comparing Arizona’s unwavering tough-on-crime approach with the successes of alternative sentencing programs for non-violent offenders all over the nation. several critics have targeted Arizona’s “truth in sentencing” policy, which requires all inmates to serve at least 85% of their sentence without exception, and the state’s incarceration of people who need mental health and substance abuse support more than imprisonment.
But Arizona taxpayers are now contractually on the hook to pay these prisons for a 90% capacity for every private prison in the state, regardless of whether there are actually that many inmates. For every empty bed below 90% occupancy, Arizona citizens still pay CCA, GeO and Management & Training Corp about $24,000 per year.
with all of the media chatter surrounding riots, hunger strikes and shifting budget priorities, the Arizona Department of Corrections has put the latest contract for another 1,000 beds on hold as Governor Ducey awkwardly calls for an investigation into a company that was a major financial supporter, just before it received a windfall of public money.
newsbriefs
occupy oak flat
by J. kendall perkinson
new navaJo nation president opposes
Plans for the lavish 420-acre “escalade” tourist village and tram at Grand Canyon are still up in the air this month, as navajo nation President Russell Begaye stands firm in his post-election promise to fight the development. Mr. Begaye’s predecessor Ben Shelley worked hard to promote the project against the objections of environmental and tribal groups, and apparently attempted to secure backing from Mr. Begaye’s administration in a strange, last-ditch effort.
At Mr. Begaye’s inauguration, President shelley produced a document that, amidst symbolic language of progress, listed eight pet projects that Mr. Begaye’s administration would agree to continue support for. Among them was the Grand Canyon Escalade Project. Mr. Begaye signed the document during the ceremony without having time to vet the items individually, and was subsequently reported to have reversed his position on the development.
Save the Confluence, a group that has been fighting escalade since 2012 for its included surrender of navajo grazing permits and home sites, immediately contacted Mr. Begaye’s administration to question his policy shift. The administration quickly released a statement that made clear their unwavering opposition to escalade and the Grand Canyon tram:
“The agreement signed yesterday during the inauguration between President Russell Begaye and outgoing Ben shelly was historic and a symbolic gesture of Ahil na’ anish, a smooth transition and an agreement in principle as a new administration takes office. The listing of projects on the agreement are those of the shelly-Jim administration. [T]his administration has already stated it does not support the Grand Canyon escalade project and that position has not changed, as Mr. Begaye has stated, it is not in the best interest of the navajo nation and the navajo people.”
The navajo nation Council would have to approve the project, but fierce opposition in the past, coupled with a President who has vowed to fight the development, indicates that the project will be a tough sell.
hangs in the balance
| J. Kendall Perkinson has his ear to the ground.
news@thenoise.us
The welfare of native American children is a new battleground in federal courts, as the Phoenix- based Goldwater Institute has challenged core aspects of the Indian Child Welfare Act.
The law was established by Congress in 1978 to address the extremely high rate of removal of children from reservations in the case of abuse, mistreatment or neglect by their families. At the time, the practice was so widespread that 25%-35% of native children were being placed in non-native homes. with their future existence threatened, native American tribes were granted the right to find appropriate housing for these children amongst the tribe.
The libertarian Goldwater Institute is now alleging that this is racial discrimination, and quotes, “when an abused child is removed from his home and placed in foster care or made available for adoption, judges are required to make a decision about where he will live based on his best interest. except for native American children. Courts are bound by federal law to disregard a native American child’s best interest and place him in a home with other native Americans, even if it is not in his best interest. we want federal and state laws to be changed to give abused, neglected or abandoned native American children the same protections that are given to all other American children: the right to be placed in a safe home based on their best interests, not based on their race.”
Arizona’s Gila River Indian Community recently responded to the allegations in a statement that strongly denounces the legal challenge, calling the allegations that the tribe does not act in the best interest of abused children “untrue and offensive,” and states, “The exact opposite is true. Compared to other federal legislation, ICwA has been largely successful in its purposes, including reuniting Indian families. Under ICwA, tribal and state agencies work hand-in-hand in determining what is best for the children involved. That’s as it should be. There have been thousands of success stories because of the ICwA and the Community hopes there will be thousands more.”
The lawsuit will play out in the coming months, pitting against each other two groups who are both using language of justice to determine the future of native children across the country.
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A land swap in Tonto National Forest, engineered by senator John McCain and pushed by Representative Ann Kirkpatrick, may soon erupt into a full-scale occupation by San Carlos Apaches. After a decade of failed attempts, the area of Oak Flat was finally traded to the overseas Resolution Copper mining company in a secretive deal, slipped at the last minute into a 1,600-page defense authorization bill. This reversed a 60-year ban on mining in the area, first imposed by President eisenhower.
Apache leaders believe that Oak Flat will become just another loss of sacred ground in a long history of resource extraction and environmental damage by mining operations in Arizona. The land swap requires an environmental review, but inexplicably grants Resolution Copper the right to mine regardless of the findings of that review. Included in the deal was the historic area of Apache Leap, where Apache forces suffered a surprise attack by soldiers in the late 1800s. After most of their encampment was slaughtered, more than 80 Apaches jumped to their deaths from the steep cliffs to avoid capture.
More than 500 tribes have voiced objection to the deal, and Apache demonstrations were held in high-profile locations like Times square and the Us Capitol throughout June and July. Neil Young invited 50 Apache drummers, singers and dancers to open one of his shows in Camden to give voice to their cause. The real showdown may come on the land itself, as san Carlos Apaches promise to occupy the land and resist the Resolution Copper mine development.
grand canyon escalade proJect
native american children’s welfare
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