[Vision2020] Idaho Shame: Private Contractors, ICC, and CCA

[Ted Moffett]

"The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its
prisons."

Fyodor Dostoevsky
----------------------------
I recently saw the film "Felon" with Val Kilmer, about a man who otherwise
is depicted as decent, hardworking, with a family, who is sentenced to
prison for accidentally killing a man he pursued who had invaded his house.
 In prison he is forced to fight and conspire with violent gangs to
survive.  The prison guards were complicit in this system of violence.

The recent Lewiston Tribune newspaper article about the ACLU lawsuit
discussed in this thread contained the phrase "gladiator school" to describe
the conditions in the Idaho prison, with gang organized violence, and
complicity of the prison guards.  When I read this article the film "Felon"
seemed all too real... I guess the film is based on a true story... "based
on events that took place in the 1990s at the notorious California State
Prison, Corcoran<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Prison,_Corcoran>
[2] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felon_(film)#cite_note-1>."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felon_(film)
-------------
http://www.lmtribune.com/index.php?page=northwest&edition=2010-03-12/
 Suit targets Idaho prison
violence<http://www.lmtribune.com/story/northwest/505650/>By
Rebecca Boone of the Associated
Press<http://www.lmtribune.com/story/northwest/505650/>

BOISE - The American Civil Liberties Union sued state prison officials and a
private company Thursday, claiming violence is so rampant at the Idaho
Correctional Center that it's known as "gladiator school" among inmates. The
ACLU filed the lawsuit against Nashville, Tenn.-based Corrections
Corporation of America in U.S. District Court in ...
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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett

On 3/13/10, Saundra Lund <v2020 at ssl.fastmail.fm> wrote:
>
> Visionaries:
>
> Based on previous comments, I'm well-aware that some here don't give a rip
> about society's obligation to those we incarcerate.  So, those folks may as
> well delete this post right now.
>
> For the rest of us, many/most are probably aware of widespread abuses by
> PCS's (private security contractors) hired by the government (i.e.,
> Blackwater-cum-Xe; CACI, Titan, etc.).
>
> However, how many of were aware of gross abuses happening right here in
> Idaho?
>
> Thursday, the ACLU "filed a class action federal lawsuit charging that
> officials at the Idaho Correctional Center (ICC) promote and facilitate a
> culture of rampant violence that has led to carnage and suffering among
> prisoners at the state-owned facility operated by the for-profit company
> Corrections Corporation of America (CCA)."
>
> For those interested in learning what we-the-people of the State of Idaho
> are calling "justice" right here at home, you can read more here:
>
> http://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights/aclu-lawsuit-charges-idaho-prison-offic
> ials-promote-rampant-violence
> OR
> http://tinyurl.com/ACLU-ICC-CCA
>
> And, if you have the stomach for it and want to understand . . . *really*
> understand the role of for-profit CCA in this shame, please read the
> complaint itself:
> http://www.aclu.org/files/assets/2010-3-11-Riggs-SecondAmendedComplaint.pdf
>
>
>
> Saundra Lund
> Moscow, ID
>
> The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
> nothing.
> ~ Edmund Burke
>
> ***** Original material contained herein is Copyright 2010 through life
> plus
> 70 years, Saundra Lund.  Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce
> outside
> the Vision 2020 forum without the express written permission of the
> author.*****
>
>
>
>
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