CHARLESTON, WV – West Virginia’s largest church group has asked
U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd and the rest of the state’s congressional delegation
to oppose funding a private prison for undocumented immigrants in
Pendleton County near the Virginia border.
The Council of Churches is
one of several groups discussing immigration reform ahead of expected
congressional action on the issue. The Council has asked federal
lawmakers’ help in the effort, arguing private prison operations have
been rife with abuse. GSI Professional Corrections is seeking county
commission approval to build the detention center near Sugar Grove to
house 1,000 nonviolent immigrant detainees awaiting possible deportation.
Rev. Dennis Sparks, the Council’s executive director, complains private
prisons operate outside the mainstream legal
“more than 14 million pounds of beef infected with rat feces
processed by inmates were not recalled, in order to avoid drawing
attention to how many products are made by prison labor.”
Workforce development meeting at Wiregrass Tech —G. Norman Bennett @ VLCIA 19 July 2011
Regular Meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),
Norman Bennett, Tom Call, Roy Copeland chairman, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett,
Andrea Schruijer Executive Director, J. Stephen Gupton attorney, Allan Ricketts Project Manager,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 19 July 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
I already posted another view of this,
by George Rhynes.
But that one was at the end of a video of me talking, and I think
what Norman Bennett had to say is important and deserves its own post.
In case you thought they had gone away,
here’s a video of biomass protesters at the most recent
Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA) meeting.
I suggested they put up some permanent signs.
Protesters @ VLCIA 19 July 2011
Regular Meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),
Norman Bennett, Tom Call, Roy Copeland chairman, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett,
Andrea Schruijer Executive Director, J. Stephen Gupton attorney, Allan Ricketts Project Manager,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 19 July 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
People keep mentioning the okra gift, and George Rhynes was kind enough
to video it for
his blog, K.V.C.I.,
so here it is.
I suggested to VLCIA as I earlier did
to the Lowndes County Commission
that they hang up a clock so people can see how much more
time they have to speak.
You can see Crawford Powell lurking in the doorway. Joyce Evans was also
in the hallway at this VLCIA meeting.
That’s 2 out of 3 voting Lowndes County
Commissioners.
Maybe VLCIA will get organized enough to find chairs for them next time.
Finally, I gave new executive director Andrew Schruijer a present.
Crawford Powell suggested it was potatoes.
Nope, this time it’s okra!
Picked it myself that morning.
Methodists lobby private prison companies CCA and GEO
as shareholders about human rights issues.
Seems like this doesn’t help with the 2008 United Methodist Church
Resolution 3281, Welcoming the Migrant to the US, which advocated the
“elimination of privately-operated detention centers,”
but at least they’re doing something.
I expect what they’ll accomplish by such lobbying is to demonstrate
that private prison companies have no intention of addressing
human rights issues, because that would cut into their profits.
In 2011, members of the United Methodist Interagency Task Force on
Immigration approached the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits
(General Board) with concerns about two private prison companies in
the General Board’s investment portfolio: Corrections Corporation of
America (CCA) and The GEO Group, Inc. The United Methodist Interagency
Task Force on Immigration was created following the General Conference
of 2004. Membership includes representatives from the General Board of
Global Ministries (GBGM), the General Commission on Religion and Race,
the General Board of Church and Society (GBCS), Methodists Associated to
Represent the Cause of Hispanic Americans (MARCHA) and two bishops. In
addition, GBCS has shared its concern that CCA and The GEO Group have
been accused of human rights abuses of young people, immigrants and
people of color.
CCA and The GEO Group are the two largest private prison companies in the
U.S., operating and/or owning, respectively, 111 and 118 correctional,
detention and/or residential treatment facilities. In 2010, CCA earned
nearly $1.7 billion; The GEO Group, $1.3 billion.
Inmates are the largest single workforce in Georgia. THEY ARE
PAID NO WAGES. To anyone who is familiar with Doug Blackmon’s “Slavery by Another
Name,” this forced convict labor system should come as no
surprise. It is part of the
“New Jim Crow” mass incarceration system
that reincarnates the Old Jim Crow in the first half of the 20th century.
So some inmates decided to do something about it.
This action by the inmates was a STRIKE, not a riot or a protest. It
was an action by workers TO WITHHOLD THEIR LABOR by refusing to leave
their cells. The risks they have taken are enormous. Refusal to work
gets you a “Disciplinary Report,” which can affect parole and your
“privileges” in prison.
Is a private prison “good clean industry” as a local leader once told me?
According to the CRF [Constitutional Rights Foundation], over 25 percent
of black males and 16 percent of Hispanic males spend time in prison,
while only 4 percent of white males do so. Blacks make up only 12 percent
of the United States population.
“It’s forthcoming. I can’t tell you anything because quite frankly,
lawyers have their own schedules. I literally do not know specific
details because I’m not privy to that information as of this moment.”
Well, it’s good to know somebody’s in charge at the Authority.
The IA promised a future of more open communication.
And yet Tuesday, the board’s attorney refused to answer any questions
regarding the potential sale of the land to the company, citing a caveat
in the Open Records Act that protects information involved in a current
legal issue. The Times issued an Open Records request Tuesday to obtain
the information requested or copies of the litigation documents, assuming
that since the attorney cited this exemption, there is an active lawsuit
over the land sale.
Good point!
The VDT acknowledged its own mistake and moved to correct it:
Continue reading →
The Council of Churches is one of several groups discussing immigration reform ahead of expected congressional action on the issue. The Council has asked federal lawmakers’ help in the effort, arguing private prison operations have been rife with abuse. GSI Professional Corrections is seeking county commission approval to build the detention center near Sugar Grove to house 1,000 nonviolent immigrant detainees awaiting possible deportation.
