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ACU Launches Campaign Against For-Profit Prisons

 

For-Profit Prisons Unsafe and Overpriced, Says Report

Charging that for-profit prisons threaten public and worker safety and rip off taxpayers, ACU has launched a nationwide campaign to urge legislators to keep prisons in public hands and to educate the public on the dangers of private prisons.

“We are taking the facts to our legislators and to the public,” says Sgt. Gary Lonzo, president of Wisconsin Council 24 and chair of the ACU Advisory Committee. “The facts are on our side.”

Members of the Advisory Committee addressed reporters at a May 6 Washington, D.C., press conference to kick off the nationwide campaign.

At the press conference, ACU released a report documenting for-profit prisons’ high incidence of violence, riots and inmate escapes. Called “Should Crime Pay?” the report also documents that, while for-profit prisons often promise huge savings for taxpayers, there is no evidence that these savings ever materialize.

The report was conducted by AFSCME’s Department of Research and Collective Bargaining Services and was released along with a companion video called “What CCA Doesn’t Want You to Know about Private Prisons.”

AFSCME Pres. Gerald W. McEntee told reporters, “For-profit prisons are making crime pay and taxpayers are paying the price.” Committee members who spoke at the press conference included New York Council 82 Pres. Rich Abrahamson, Local 600 (Minnesota Council 6) Chief Steward Curt Pinault, and Oregon Council 75 First Vice Pres. Tina Turner-Morfitt.

Similar press conferences took place on May 12 in numerous state capitals across the country.

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