December 16, 2011

Careful… Guam may tip over ⁵

All, Politics - US • Tags: Adm Robert Willard, footage, Guam, Guam is going to tip over and capsize, House Armed Services Committee, island may tip over, overpopulation, Rep Hank Johnson, video, youtube

Yes, I am on the slow boat from China here…. I completely missed this back in March/April 2010. If you haven’t seen it, well, it will make you cry either from laughing so hard, or from the realization that someone like this is an elected official – or both. He ate too many paint chips as a child. Too bad I missed this… would have had fun with creating some meme’s of this footage….

In this video footage of a House Armed Services Committee hearing, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) is afraid that the U.S. Territory of Guam is going to “tip over and capsize” due to overpopulation. More…

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June 26, 2011

New stats out: Private prison populations up 120%. Lobbyists paying $6 million+ to state officials. ³

All, News: US, Politics - US, Private Prisons • Tags: CCA, Correction Corporation of America, federal officials, GEO Group, highest prison population in world, lobbyists, overpopulation, payoffs, private prisons, profit, state officials

New report in from Dailykos.com, “Private prison companies boost incarceration rates for profit”

A new report from the reformist Justice Policy Institute concludes that private prison companies have not only benefited from increased incarceration, they have also helped fuel it.

According to Gaming the System: How the Political Strategies of Private Prison Companies Promote Ineffective Incarceration Policies, private prisons have increased their “market share” of the overall prison population. While the number of inmates over the past decade has risen 16 percent, the number in private federal facilities has risen 120 percent and the number in state facilities has risen 33 percent. Meanwhile, the two largest private prison operators, Correction Corporations of America and GEO Group (formerly Wackenhut), raked in a combined $2.9 billion in revenue in 2010. More…

June 6, 2011

CCA’s involvement with SCOTUS ruling to release CA prisoners ³

All, Koch Bros and ALEC, News: US, Politics - US, Private Prisons • Tags: 3 strikes law, 8th amendment, Brown v Plata, california, CCA, Corrections Corporation of America, Koch Bros and ALEC, overpopulation, prisoners for profit, private prisons, profit, release CA prisoners, ruling, SCOTUS, Supreme Court

On May 23rd, 2011, SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the US) ruled in Brown v. Plata that California must reduce its prison population by over 30,000 prisoners. Why? Because their system was so severely overcrowded that the medical neglect prisoners were facing amounted to a violation of their 8th Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. That’s some mightily deficient medical care.

California has been facing a crisis in its prison system for decades, as the sentencing reforms that came as a result of the War on Drugs and other initiatives have steered an ever-increasing segment of the populace into prison. Arguably most impactful in this regard is California’s “Three Strikes” laws, which mandate a life sentence for anyone convicted of a third felony charge, whether that charge be for murder or larceny, rape or possession of a controlled substance. California’s prison population has grown dramatically under this legislation. More…