As you may know, the federal government, including the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, has recently taken steps to end its use of private prisons. It is critical that we take advantage of this moment to build momentum here in Arizona to follow suit. So AFSC-AZ […]
AFSC Arizona has released their newest publication, Community Cages: Profitizing Community Corrections and Alternatives to Detention, an in-depth analysis of the community corrections segment of the Treatment Industrial Complex. As states pursue sentencing reform efforts to reduce prison populations and the federal government continues to grapple with comprehensive […]
Tucson, AZ— Today, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a memo that acknowledges the need to “reduce our use of private prisons.” For nearly four decades, the criminal justice system has relied on the use of private, for-profit companies to run the federal government’s prisons and […]
What a year! There’s never a dull moment when you are working for criminal justice reform in Arizona. We’d like to share with you just the highlights of some of our achievements from 2015: We added THREE new incredible staff people We passed sentencing reform legislation for the […]
The shocking riots in the privately-operated Kingman prison and the cancellation of the contract for the facility has raised significant questions about the role of prison privatization in Arizona. The Dept. of Corrections found “a culture of disorganization, disengagement, and disregard of ADC policies and fundamental inmate management […]
KJZZ reported that five for-profit prison corporations have expressed interest in taking over the Kingman contract: CCA, GEO Group, Emerald Corrections, LaSalle, and Community Education Centers (CEC). In our last post, we gave you the dirt on CCA and GEO Group. Now we will introduce you to the […]
Our enthusiasm for the Governor’s claims about adding more transparency and accountability to the prison contracting process in Arizona is beginning to wane. While we were pleased to hear that he was requiring that the assignment of a new contract for the Kingman prison be subject to a more open search […]