Mother Jones: Rick Scott Is Getting a Boost From a Private Prison Company. Too Bad It Might Be Illegal.
Source: Mother Jones
The country’s biggest private prison company may have run afoul of campaign finance law with a donation to Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s campaign for US Senate, a campaign finance watchdog says.
GEO Group, which is based in Boca Raton, Florida, operates prisons and immigrant detention centers across the country. The company and its subsidiaries have received $560 million from federal contracts awarded by Immigration and Customs Enforcement since late 2016, according to OpenSecrets.org. During his tenure as governor, Scott has pushed for the expansion of private prisons in Florida: He campaigned on a pledge to drastically slash the state’s corrections budget, in part by transferring inmates to private lockups. And according to Federal Election Commission filings reported this week by the Tampa Bay Times, GEO Acquisition II, a subsidiary of GEO Group, donated $125,000 to a pro-Scott super-PAC in April after the governor announced his Senate bid.
Brendan Fischer, a lawyer at the Campaign Legal Center, says the subsidiary’s donation violated a federal law that prohibits government contractors from making political contributions. “This ban has been on the books for 75 years” to ensure that public policy isn’t “warped in favor of deep-pocketed contracting interests,” he says. GEO Group did not respond to requests for comment about the subsidiary’s donation.
,,,Since the 2016 election, GEO has profited immensely from Trump’s policies, and today it runs six facilities in Florida. It held its annual leadership conference last October in the state, at a golf resort near Miami that is owned by Trump.
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What’s sad is this type of reporting is only being done by small independent outlets. Mainstream media will not report on Der Fuhrer’s malfeasance because they are birds of the same feather. Look at the massive Medicare fraud that he was in the middle of before being elected Governor. He bought his way out of that with the millions he bilked from Medicare.
https://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2014/mar/03/florida-democratic-party/rick-scott-rick-scott-oversaw-largest-medicare-fra/
Even if the masses knew this was going on now, I doubt the illiterate electorate would vote for Bill and not this Nazi b@st@rd.
and so is trump , lawyer , past mayor of new york
Flcitizen,
Dont need to be a “resident” of a GEO run Prison. Just look at the headlines of the deaths in the prison system.
Also, look at the 1st Amendment Audits of the GEO Prison systems to find out the attitude and demeanor of said “security guards”—They are just bullies who try to impose their will on you, regardless of whether you are an inmate or not
A clear conflict of interest especially if law makers are profiting from theses companies ( which they are) how this isn’t a ethics violation is beyond me oh wait you gotta have ethics to begin with
It should be ILLEGAL for Anyone except D.O.C (Dept of Corrections) to operate a Prison, Or govern ANY part of a person’s “PUNISHMENT” that is given by a Judge !!!!.. These Companies are really just glorified “Security Companies” and should NOT be allowed to “Act as Law Enforcement” !!!!!. It’s Crooked, Immoral, And should be ILLEGAL !!!!.
Honestly private prisons are more efficient and safer and have more education then state prisons. I agree on the ethics part but has anyone commenting been to a geo run facility
Flcitizen – I notice this is your first post. Welcome to FAC!
I’m glad that you agree about the ethics part. They make money off of incarcerating people and have a direct financial incentive for incarceration and benefit from increases in crime. That’s horrible! They are HUGE contributors to politicians, who in turn, return the favor by passing more criminal laws and longer sentences. That’s Inhumane!
But these private prisons are notoriously full of human rights violations and employment violations. They cut corners on services, healthcare, staff training and security. Here are just some of the complaints: https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/parent/geo-group
We respect your opinion, but have to question the foundation of your belief. Unable to speak for the individual commenters, but over the years we’ve heard from hundreds of individuals who have complained about conditions at private prisons (not just the concept, but actual conditions). Their own employees have complained about conditions and filed whistle blower actions.
If you had a personal experience that was positive, great! It’s good to share all perspectives, but here are just a few articles from this year that present a different perspective: https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/five-reasons-boca-private-prison-company-geo-group-is-evil-9967258 or https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/20/us-poor-medical-care-deaths-immigrant-detention
I was at a geo run facility for 18 months in the fl prison system. When I got there I got new clothes. Not hand me down rags like fldoc. I attended 18 months and earned my landscape management degree. We had ac there which is crucial with florida hot summers. We where treated very well. I spent 7 years and by far it was the best institution I was ever at. Every private prison in FL is loaded with education programs. So all these complaints are they based on cause they make money or cause conditions are bad. Cause its every Florida prisoners dream to land at a private prison.
“every Florida prisoners dream to land at a private prison”?!? Flcitizen, I think you are selling it too hard to be convincing.
You’ve never posted to our site before, but seem very interested in defending GEO Group. As we said above, while we respect your opinion and right to express it, your motivation is very suspect. There is a comprehensive resource for information on GEO Group here: https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/GEO_Group, which cites a number of sources that arrive at a different conclusion than you do.
I guess it’s possible that your experience was completely different than 99% of others.
I have no words. All I can say to this is Hmmmmm.
Oh yes, I have first hand experience with a family member for 3 years who was not a trouble maker! Oh yes, it is absolutely propaganda which I have already stated, what is written on their site about education and re-entry programs. Think about it, the gangs rule, as I said, and was told as much by case manager, etc and they know how to instigate and cause non gang members to appear to be the instigators by trying to protect themselves. They can get more time for certain offenses and therefore, GEO makes more money on them. The more inmates they keep and get, the more money. They don’t need to worry about anybody’s well being, just that paycheck. Don’t ask me if I think this is a country club. My point is, private prisons are not more efficient and do not have more education than state prisons, Just more money than state run with no incentive to get inmates out.
it is sad, just sad.
but alas, nothing will change.
So, why can’t these contributors, including scott be prosecuted? Private prisons want to increase and keep their prisoners because they make money off of them. There is a lot of propaganda about how they ‘help’ prisoners to rehab and prepare for re-entry. All the while not staffed properly and not trained properly. It’s much easier for them to allow the gangs to control the population for them. And that, they do. For profit is lethal.
It seems money talks as I have said before I am willing to put a substantial amount of money to the ex post facto fight since I was convicted in 1993 trying to find a appellate attorney that is familiar and has the drive to take this case all the way to supreme court .I’m sure there are people that are under this law that would donate large sums of money if we could find a firm that is aggressive to take this all the way
This is a one shot deal it must be done right especially in florida since they will fight this all the way to supreme court As the recent court case from local judge. Shows I email [email protected] no response I’ there is 100s of millions of dollars to be lost if this laws I s thrown out .special interest groups they will contribute large amount of money to politicians to fight any change its all about the money has nothing to do with what’s right or wrong if the ex post facto laws are won it would open door for lawmakers to open there eyes to reform so laws .now is the time to act looking at cases in states the tide is turning as I said we have one shot at this must be done right