Controversies surrounding the broadening role of Arizona’s private, for-profit prison industry have been circulating in the news for years.
But several months ago, at Vista Grande High School, a private prison corporation found itself taking on a new responsibility. The Corrections Corporation of America — the nation’s largest private prison corporation — was called in to assist with a drug sweep of the high school. While drug sweeps of schools aren’t unusual, inviting a for-profit, private prison corporation with no legal authority to conduct law enforcement actions, is.
What might be more concerning is the presence and the numbers that surround the industry, and in particular, CCA. CCA owns and operates six correctional facilities in Pinal County alone. Last year, the corporation reported $1.7 billion in gross revenue. ThinkProgress stated that three major private prison companies have spent nearly $43 million on campaign donations and lobbyists to push legislation at the state and federal level. That sort of number will likely only increase in coming years, in part because of rising immigrant detention due to the Supreme Court’s upholding of Arizona’s Immigration Law.
For a private corporation earning profits from housing illegal immigrants and drug offenders, having them take part in law enforcement becomes a question of legality. As PR Watch notes, “Arizona Administrative Code is very clear on this point: ‘a person who is not certified by the Board or whose certified status is inactive shall not function as a peace officer or be assigned the duties of a peace officer by an agency.’”
Chaninat & Leeds is a US-Thailand law firm located in Bangkok, Thailand and is staffed by licensed Thai attorneys and licensed US lawyers.
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