Governor Kasich came into office with his infamous "school bus" mentality -- either join me on the bus or get run over by it. Since Ohioans decisively defeated his anti-union legislation (SB5), the gov is no longer making references to the bus, but he and his Republican cronies in the legislature are continuing to push forward with the Koch Bros. inspired agenda of privatizing every thing in the state that is not nailed down.
In fact, right now the governor has on his desk a proposal from a corporation named the Corrections Corporation of America. They want to buy and operate the prisons in Ohio - if the state agrees to keep the prisons at least 90% full. The proposal would allow the Corrections Corporation of America to profit from increased incarcerations. The whole concept of a corrections system is bastardized once the state incentivizes incarceration. The State of Ohio would be promising to incarcerate a fixed number of its citizens at any one time. One would hope that the state's goal is to lower the number of inmates rather than be obligated to a private corporation to fulfill a quota.
The disaster of privatization came to light last year in Luzerne county Pennsylvania. Judge Mark Ciavarella was convicted of racketeering in connection with the "kids-for-cash" scheme. "A private prison developer was paying him while he sentenced thousands of juveniles to unwarranted jail time." (Anthony D. Romero,3/8/2012)
And then there is the whole issue of oversight. Who is going to have responsibility for prison conditions? Is the governor going to ask our judges to hand our citizens over to this private corporation and blindly trust that a for-profit prison will provide a decent and humane atmosphere? Let us not forget what drives a "for-profit" company, money and greed. Would the for-profit corporation fire the current prison employees? Would they hire non-union workers? Should private companies make money from incarceration? And what are they going to do differently to make a profit?
Democracy has run amuck when a country or a state incentivizes incarceration.
If you would like to share your concerns with the governor, his office's phone number is: 614-466-3555.
(For information on the Pennsylvania judge, cf. Christian Science Monitor, 8/11/2012)
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