CCJ 5446
Correctional Management
Final Exam
Spring 2022
INSTRUCTIONS: This exam will consist of either three or four items. The options (four questions or two questions + one Power Point Presentation) that you select will determine the number of questions that you are required to submit. The questions that you can select come from two sources. Source 1: “You’re the Correctional Administrator” scenarios that can be found at the end of each chapter of your text. Question Source 2: Questions that I have created for this exam provided below. For this exam, you will be allowed to select questions from various sources. The Power Point options (which are provided below) are worth 50 points; whereas, all of the questions are worth 25 points each. If you elect to complete a Power Point option, you must submit two additional questions. Note: You are only allowed to complete one Power Point assignment. If you submit two Power Points, I will only grade one. Again, the 25-point questions can be chosen from your textbook or from the options provided below. This exam is worth 100 points.
Select either one Power Point option and two question or four questions (“You’re the Correctional Administrator” scenarios at the end of any chapter from your text (Correctional Administration: Integrating Theory and Practice) or, from the questions provided below. You can select questions from both sources. Just remember that your exam must consist of the following: 1) four questions or 2) two questions plus a Power Point option. ***Note: If you decide to select questions from “You’re the Correctional Administrator,” do not select question 1 from chapter 1. This question was used for your first discussion board; therefore, you cannot select this question.
Directions for Questions: Each question is worth 25 points; therefore, please be as thorough as possible and answer the questions completely. Each answer should consist of at least 3 double-spaced typed pages. Brief answers will certainly result in a low score. Please be sure to indicate the question that you are answering by indicating the chapter and question number. Also, you must type the question as well. (Please note that the typed question does not count towards your 3-page minimum typed response.) Although you are using your text for your primary source, you must use additional sources (e.g., academic journals, internet (do not use Wikipedia), newspaper articles, additional text, etc.). While you are allowed to use your text, please refrain from plagiarism. In other words, the sources that you use are tools of assistance and reference; therefore, please use your own words to answer the questions. Do not submit answers that are full of verbatim passages from the texts/sources that you use! Using this approach will result in a failing grade. Also, please cite your sources with APA in-text citations and end references. If it is not your original idea, you must give the author credit!
Directions for Power Point: This option will consist of you creating a power point presentation based upon the issues listed below. You must have at least 5 credible resources cited in your power point as in-text citations. All citations must be referenced in APA format within the reference slide. The reference slide will be your last slide(s) of your presentation. Your Power Point presentation must also include a title slide. Your Power Point must consist of at least ten slides. This does not include your title slide or reference citation slide. The Power Point will be submitted separately from the exam questions. The exam questions will be submitted to Canvas. The Power Point will be emailed to me.
Although this is a take-home exam, you are not allowed to seek help from anyone! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail (Felecia.dix@famu.edu).
Due Date and Submission:
Your exam is due on Thursday, April 28th by 5:45 pm. All exam questions will be submitted to Canvas. If you are completing a Power Point option, the Power Point should not be submitted to the Canvas final exam link. Power Points will be emailed to me. Please use the final exam link that has been provided for your submission. Your exam questions will be submitted to Turnitin. You will have three attempts to lower your similarity index report score. Please note that by typing the exam question, it will raise your score. If the typed questions from the text or the questions that I have provided are highlighted in the report, do not worry about trying to change it. Only modify highlighted passages that you have written. Remember, I can see the report. You will not be penalized for highlighted typed “You are the Administrator” scenarios or exam questions that I have provided. You will be penalized if your responses to the questions indicate plagiarism. I will not accept any late exam submissions. I will not accept any e-mailed exam questions. You are only to email me your Power Point. Again, submit your questions to Canvas. If you choose to complete the Power Point option, please make sure that it is email me by 5:45 pm on April 28th. Exams can be submitted before April 28th.
Power Point Options:
Option 1
The pandemic occurrence of the various strands of COVID has reached into all segments of society, including our prisons and jails. You have been recently promoted as a health care specialist for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Director Kathleen Allison has informed you that she is preparing for a meeting with Governor Gavin Newsom regarding how to continue to keep inmates and staff safe from the various strands of COVID. Director Allison informs you as the health care specialist, you will be attending this meeting as well. You have been instructed to do the following for the meeting:
Create a Power Point presentation that addresses the following:
1) Provide an overview of the various strands of COVID (You are allowed to use your discretion as to
what information you need to include for your presentation.)
2) Provide two years of data on the COVID infection rate of prisoners and staff in:
California prisons
California jails (i.e., Los Angeles and Sacramento Counties)
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Two other states as a point of comparison
Overall national rate
Two foreign countries
3) Report on any disruptions or protests that have occurred in America or any foreign country
from inmates, staff or citizens from within the community that have transpired as a result of the
perceived mishandling of COVID by either prison of jail administrators.
4) What is the current COVID safety protocol for the CDCR? Should this COVID safety
protocol plan be modified? If so, why?
5) Provide information on what strategies other local, state and federal correctional departments have
recommended as solutions to reduce the spread of COVID in their facilities. In your
presentation, make sure that you included early release protocols. **Do not address
vaccines in this section. Vaccine strategies will be addressed later in the presentation.
6) What is the current vaccine strategy for all CDCR correctional staff and inmates housed in state
facilities? If you find that this strategy is not adequate, what recommendations would you suggest?
Research data on any two of the following states: Florida, Texas, New York, Michigan, Georgia
and Illinois. How does the CDCR vaccine strategy compare to the two states that you selected?
Option 2
You have recently been hired as a mental health specialist for the Florida Department of Corrections. In order to effectively address suicide in its institutions, Secretary Ricky Dixon has asked that you provide a training workshop on the prevention of inmate suicide to all of the Deputy Wardens. Within your Power Point Presentation, he has requested that you address the following: 1) Suicide comparisons between federal prisons, state prisons, private prisons and jails; 2) Gender comparison of suicide rates; and 3) Racial/Ethnic comparison. In addition to these comparisons, he would also like for you to address the following: 1) Issues pertaining to legal actions regarding – “Failure to Identity”, “Failure to Monitor” and Failure to Respond and 2) Suicide prevention strategies within a correctional institution.
Question Options:
Please select questions (i.e., “You are the Correctional Administrator” scenarios) at the end of any chapter from your text (Correctional Administration: Integrating Theory and Practice) or, from the questions provided below. You can select questions from both sources. Just remember that your exam must consist of the following: 1) four questions or 2) two questions plus a Power Point option.
1. [Please note that if you are completing the COVID Power Point option for this exam, you cannot complete the COVID question below (i.e., question 1). If you complete the COVID Power Point and the COVID question below, you will not receive credit for the COVID question, thus the highest score that you will receive on this exam is 75 points.]
The pandemic occurrence of the various strands of COVID has reached into all segments of society, including our prisons and jails. You have been recently promoted as a health care specialist for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Director Kathleen Allison has informed you that she is preparing for a meeting with Governor Gavin Newsom regarding how to continue to keep inmates and staff safe from COVID. Director Allison informs you as the health care specialist, you will be attending this meeting as well. You have been instructed to do the following for the meeting:
Create a report that addresses the following:
1) Provide an overview of COVID (You are allowed to use your discretion as to what
information you need to include for your presentation.)
2) Provide data on the COVID infection rate of prisoners and staff in:
California prisons
California jails (i.e., Los Angeles and Sacramento Counties)
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Two other states as a point of comparison
Overall national rate
Two foreign countries
3) Report on any disruptions or protests that have occurred in America or any foreign country
from inmates, staff or citizens from within the community that have transpired as a result of
the perceived mishandling of COVID by either prison of jail administrators.
4) What is the current COVID safety protocol for the CDCR? Should this COVID
safety protocol plan be modified? If so, why?
5) Provide information on what strategies other local, state and federal correctional
departments have recommended as solutions to reduce the spread of COVID in their
facilities. In your report, make sure that you included early release protocols. **Do
not address vaccines in this section. Vaccine strategies will be addressed later in the
presentation.
6) What is the current vaccine strategy for all CDCR correctional staff and inmates housed in
state facilities? If you find that this strategy is not adequate, what recommendations would
you suggest?
7) Research data on any two of the following states: Florida, Texas, New York, Michigan,
Georgia and Illinois. How does the CDCR vaccine strategy compare to the two states that
you selected?
2. You have been recently appointed as the Deputy Secretary for the Florida Department of Corrections. Secretary Dixon is rather disturbed about three news reports that recently aired on the local news channel. You are instructed to watch the videos that he has recorded. [To access the videos, please go to the Canvas Course and search for the Module entitled Final Exam Videos. In the module, you will find several videos, for this exam option, watch these three videos: 1) “Corrections officers earn thousands selling contraband in Florida prisons”; 2) “Florida prisoners ‘inches away’ from emergency release”; and 3) “Florida inmates organize ‘sit-down’ protest against prison conditions.”] After you watch the video, you are instructed to write a complete report that summarizes the events that have been reported. You cannot allow your summary to be dependent only on what you have viewed on the videos, you must research other sources for accurate reporting of the issues presented. Once you have summarized incidents from each video, Secretary Dixon has instructed you to write an action plan as well as solutions to address the issues presented. Your report is due on Thursday, April 28th by 5:45pm.
3. You are the director of legal department at a local state prison. A death row inmate, who happens to be a Hindu, is scheduled be executed. He would like to have a spiritual advisor present with him during his execution. The prison does not have any Buddhist as part of its religious staff. Unsure of what to do, you decided to review case law to see if you can find a legal remedy for his request. In your search, you discover that over the past two years, the United States Supreme Court has addressed this very issue (i.e., spiritual advisors during executions); however, the outcomes have been quite different. What were these two cases? What were the facts, issues and rulings of each case? Discuss the dissenting judges’ view. After reviewing these cases, do you make a recommendation to honor the inmate’s request? State your reason for your denial or approval.
4. You are a member of the senior staff of the Alabama Department of Corrections. Governor Kay Ivey is rather upset about the gruesome details outlined in a 56-page report on the Alabama prison system that was issued by the United States Justice Department. You have been tasked with the following. 1) Although you have read various articles like the one provided below, you know that you need to read that actual report. Obtain a copy of the actual Department of Justice report. 2) After you have read the report, provide the following: a brief summary and possible solutions for improvements. 3) After reading the actual report, in your opinion should anyone within the Alabama Department of Corrections be held responsible (Be specific)?
Alabama’s Gruesome Prisons: Report Finds Rape and Murder at All Hours
The segregation unit at Alabama’s St. Clair Correctional Facility houses inmates in solitary confinement. Many have come to see the unit as a haven from the prison’s general population. Credit William Widmer for The New York Times
By Katie Benner and Shaila Dewan
April 3, 2019
One prisoner had been dead for so long that when he was discovered lying face down, his face was flattened. Another was tied up and tortured for two days while no one noticed. Bloody inmates screamed for help from cells whose doors did not lock.
Those were some of the gruesome details in a 56-page report on the Alabama prison system that was issued by the Justice Department on Wednesday. The report, one of the first major civil rights investigations by the department to be released under President Trump, uncovered shocking conditions in the state’s massively overcrowded and understaffed facilities.
Prisoners in the Alabama system endured some of the highest rates of homicide and rape in the country, the Justice Department found, and officials showed a “flagrant disregard” for their right to be free from excessive and cruel punishment. The investigation began in the waning days of the Obama administration and continued for more than two years after Mr. Trump took office.
The department notified the prison system that it could sue in 49 days “if State officials have not satisfactorily addressed our concerns.”
[The New York Times received more than 2,000 photos taken inside an Alabama prison. This is what they showed.]
Alabama is not alone in having troubled, violent prisons. But the state has one of the country’s highest incarceration rates and its correctional system is notoriously antiquated, dangerous and short-staffed. The major prisons are at 182 percent of their capacity, the report found, contraband is rampant and prisoners sleep in dorms they are not assigned to in order to escape violence.
“The violations are severe, systemic, and exacerbated by serious deficiencies in staffing and supervision,” the report said, noting that some facilities had fewer than 20 percent of their allotted positions filled. It also cited the use of solitary confinement as a protective measure for vulnerable inmates, and “a high level of violence that is too common, cruel, of an unusual nature, and pervasive.”
State officials said the report addressed issues that Alabama was already aware of and working to fix.
“For more than two years, the D.O.J. pursued an investigation of issues that have been the subject of ongoing litigation and the target of significant reforms by the state,” a statement from the office of Gov. Kay Ivey said. “Over the coming months, my Administration will be working closely with D.O.J. to ensure that our mutual concerns are addressed and that we remain steadfast in our commitment to public safety, making certain that this Alabama problem has an Alabama solution.”
But the report called the state “deliberately indifferent” to the risks prisoners face, and said, “It has failed to correct known systemic deficiencies that contribute to the violence.” Legislative efforts to reduce overcrowding through measures such as reducing sentences were not made retroactive and have had “minimal effect,” the report said.
Alabama’s prisons have for years been the subject of civil rights litigation by the Equal Justice Initiative and the Southern Poverty Law Center, nonprofit legal advocacy groups based in Montgomery. Maria Morris, the lead lawyer for the center’s lawsuit, also disputed the assertion that the problems were being fixed.
“They’re not fixing them,” Ms. Morris said. “They’re giving a lot of lip service to the need to fix them, but the lip service always comes back to we just need a billion dollars to build new prisons and, as the Department of Justice found, that’s not going to solve the problem.”
Alabama inmates continue to die in high numbers. There have been 15 suicides in the past 15 months, and the homicide rate vastly exceeds the national average for prisons.
The Justice Department report focused on the failure to prevent prisoner-on-prisoner violence because of what it said was inadequate training, failure to properly classify and supervise inmates, and failure to stem the flow of contraband including weapons and drugs, among other problems.
The department is still investigating excessive force and sexual abuse by prison staff members, an investigation that former federal prosecutors say could lead to criminal indictments.
Violence in Alabama’s Prisons
Here is some of the violent and illegal activity reported during a single week in September 2017.
Friday:
Three stabbings, including one that resulted in death.
Saturday:
One beating and one discovery of a drug cache.
Sunday:
Two beatings, one stabbing, one sexual assault and one beating with a sock full of metal locks.
Tuesday:
One discovery of a drug cache and one case of arson, when a prisoner’s bed was set on fire while he slept.
Wednesday:
One sexual assault.
Thursday:
One beating, one sexual assault and one overdose that resulted in death.
View all New York Times newsletters.
[Our reporter went inside St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville, Ala. He found it was “virtually ungoverned” and the inmates were armed.]
______________________________________________________________
5. You are an assistant to William Lothrop, Jr., the Southeast Regional Director for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He walks into your office and hands you the article below. You are requested to provide him with a report that either substantiate or deny the issues/concerns that have been raised. Your report is not to be based upon your personal opinions but factual documentation that you can locate regarding the issues that have been presented in the article. Also, as a conclusion within your report, you have been requested to address the approach that union representative, Joe Rojas, is considering to present the union’s concerns. Your report is due on Thursday, April 28th by 5:45pm.
6. It has been estimated that approximately 70% of incarcerated women are mothers. It has been documented that a substantial number of women are pregnant upon admission to prison. You are the warden of a female institution where you have been instructed by the Secretary of the Department of Corrections to research programs that allow women to keep infants and small children in the institution with them. In your report, you are to 1) discuss programs in the United States that utilize these programs, 2) discuss the benefits and problems that exist with these types of programs, and 3) make a recommendation for or against the establishment of the program for your institution. Your report is due on Thursday, April 28th by 5:45 pm.
7. You have recently been promoted as an Assistant Deputy General for the Florida Department of Corrections Office of Inspector General (OIG). Deputy Inspector General Ken Sumpter has asked that you prepare a report that addresses inmate mortality within the Florida Department of Corrections. Within your report, you are to include the number of deaths that have occurred in Florida prisons over the past five years. You are also to include at least one recent occurrence of a Florida inmate death that resulted in an inspection by OIG. You must include the circumstances of the case and any actions that were taken by OIG. At the end of your report, you must provide policy recommendations regarding the possible prevention of inmate mortalities. Your report must be submitted no later than 5:45 pm on Thursday, April 28th.
8. You are an analyst for the legal division with the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Your immediate supervisor hands you the article provided below. She has requested that you complete the follow: 1) Provide information regarding the policy of other department of corrections from other states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons that have had to address similar issues regarding lethal injections; 2) Provide legal rulings both for and against the use of lethal injections; 3) If Midazolam can no longer be used, state the reasons why and what other options are available? and 4) Research and determine if public opinion surveys indicated if citizens would be in favor of using electrocution instead of lethal injection to carry out death warrants. Your report is due on Thursday, April 28th by 5:45 pm.
9. You have been recently promoted as the Deputy Secretary for the Florida Department of Corrections. Secretary Ricky Dixon walks into your office and hands you the following article:
Florida private prison vendors could face new scrutiny
By MARY ELLEN KLAS
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau April 20, 2015
2015-04-20T23:20:28Z
By MARY ELLEN KLAS Bradenton_Herald
TALLAHASSEE — Looming in the background in the legislative debate over prison reform is a question that could come into new focus: How productive was the move to privatize prisons and inmate health care and how much farther should it go?
Florida legislative leaders last week tentatively agreed to the creation of a joint legislative oversight board with the power to investigate and monitor the performance of Florida’s troubled Department of Corrections. It’s goal is to secure the safety of inmates in the face of mounting reports of suspicious inmate deaths, excessive use of force and allegations of cover-ups at the agency that houses more than 101,000 prisoners, said sponsors of the measure, Sen. Greg Evers, R-Baker, and Rep. Carlos Trujillo, R-Miami.
But the legislative panel could also open the door to an evaluation of the recent shift in priorities that has led the state to open seven private prisons, contract out services for 21 inmate work camps, and shift mental healthcare and substance abuse treatment and inmate health care to private vendors.
“We are responsible for supervising every single person who is incarcerated in the State of Florida,’’ said Trujillo, sponsor of the House bill. “Our intention isn’t to privatize more facilities,” said Trujillo. “It is to look at inmate safety and some of the organizational problems that have led to the lack of inmate safety.”
The call to action was prompted by a series of reports in the Miami Herald and other news organizations that showed suspicious inmate deaths were covered up or never reviewed, inmate grievances and complaints of harmful medical care were dismissed or ignored, and internal controls were inconsistent.
Audits conducted by the state’s Correctional Medical Authority also found problems with inadequate medical care, nursing and staffing shortages, and hundreds of pending lawsuits claiming inadequate medical care.
Last year, 346 inmates died in Florida prisons — 176 of them listed with no immediate cause of death. It was the highest number on record, even though the number of inmates in Florida prisons has declined.
“There are a lot of issues with the quality of care and the lack of quality of care and we need to address that,’’ Trujillo said. “Once we make headway on inmate safety we can focus on other issues.”
Under the gun are two private companies that took over healthcare for the state’s 101,000 inmates in 2013. Wexford Health Services is being paid $48 million a year until Dec. 20, 2017 to provide health services to about 15,000 inmates at nine prisons in South Florida and Corizon Health, which provides healthcare to 74,000 inmates in North and Central Florida, receives $229 million per year until June 30, 2018. Both companies are required to provide medical care to inmates for 7 percent less than it cost the state in 2010 but both have already sought and received increases in the terms of their original agreement.
After visiting prisons in the Panhandle and hearing reports of inadequate medical care and nursing shortages, Evers ordered Department of Corrections Secretary Julie Jones to renegotiate the contracts with the private prison providers to demand higher standards of care and hold them accountable for deaths and injuries.
In a report entitled the “First Year Scope of Work,” published by the department on March 31, Jones indicated that she is in the process of renegotiating the health insurance contracts but won’t have new contracts in place until January 2016.
“We need to have policies in place that hold our vendors accountable,’’ she wrote.
Evers now believes that if there is a reduction in the number of “unnatural” deaths at state-run prisons, while the numbers don’t change at privately run facilities, “this could actually reduce the number of privates” or at least require changes in existing private contracts.
The move to privatize medical care in Florida prisons was not done in open committee hearings but quietly inserted into budget language during the governor’s first term. The effort was challenged in court but ultimately was upheld and the contracts were allowed. Jones has subsequently criticized the contracts as too lenient for the vendors.
Rep. Katie Edwards, D-Plantation, said she blames Florida’s weak contracts with the healthcare companies on the access their high-profile lobbyists have had to the governor and key lawmakers. Bill Rubin, the lobbyist at the time for Wexford, worked for Scott when he was head of the hospital giant HCA, and Brian Ballard, lobbyist for Corizon, was head of Scott’s political finance committee.
“If we get hauled back into federal court because of inmate violations based on healthcare, I place the blame squarely on Corizon and Wexford,’’ said Edwards who counted 1,092 malpractice lawsuits that have been settled across the country against Wexford and another 600 for Corizon. “We are giving these individuals — lobbyists — access and they have never once come and testified to defend themselves.’’
Attempts to reach Rubin and Ballard to discuss the issue were unsuccessful.
In 2011 and 2012, Scott and legislative leaders also tried twice to privatize 27 prisons and work camps in 18 South Florida counties. They were stymied by a lawsuit and a vote against the plan in the state Senate, but several legislators remain committed to more prison privatization.
In 2013, the state closed or consolidated 19 prisons and work camps while it completed new work camps and opened privately run Blackwater River Correctional Facility in Santa Rosa County and Graceville Correctional in Jackson County. The state has also authorized 21 work-release centers operated by private providers to serve minimum-security inmates who are being trained to be released back into the community.
A provision of the proposed prison reform by Evers and Trujillo could open the door to more private prison contracts by allowing the state to transfer as many as one third of the inmates in the state prison system to county jails.
Under the current system, anyone sentenced for more than a year and a month serves in the Florida Department of Corrections. Under the bill, judges could sentence people to the county jail for up to 24 months under a pilot program. The counties could then contract with private providers to offer those services.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gaultieri said the Florida Sheriff’s Association supports the idea as an attempt to give counties with available jail beds more options while allowing prisoners to stay closer to home. But he hopes it does not become an opportunity to expand prison privatization.
“The trend in Florida is actually to go in the opposite direction,’’ he said, noting that Hernando County used to contract with private prison vendor Corrections Corporation of America, but backed out.
“The experience with county jails does not work,’’ he said. “There are certain things that are a government function and the care and custody of inmates is something the government should do, the sheriff should do. It’s not a profit-motivated activity and when you inject profit into that, you have problems.”
He said the Hernando jail “wasn’t kept up” and the company “cut corners.”
Evers said he hopes that with more monitoring, and better oversight from the legislative panel, private vendors will face the same scrutiny as the state-run prisons and legislators can make better-informed decisions.
“If the numbers don’t match up, there may be less demand to shift to the privates,’’ he said.
Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2015/04/20/5755531_florida-private-prison-vendors.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy
After handing you the article, Secretary Inch gives you the following directives: 1) Read the article;
2) Identify the issues presented in the article; 3) Prioritize/rank the issues (i.e., utilize a ranking system
where #1 represents the greatest issue of immediate concern and the last issue identified represents the
least issue of immediate concern); and 4) Provide a rationale for your rankings. Your report is due on
Thursday, April 28th by 5:45 pm.
10. You have been admitted into the criminal justice doctoral program at Sam Houston State University. In your Seminar in American Corrections course, the class discussed the following incident:
Illegal Alien Prison Riot Leaves Texas Facility in Ruins
Photo courtesy of Joe Alamillo
by Ildefonso Ortiz22 Feb 2015626
MCALLEN, Texas — Illegal aliens rioting in a private prison near the Texas border have left the prison in uninhabitable conditions, forcing federal authorities to move inmates to other facilities.
The riot broke out earlier this week when 2,000 prisoners at the MTC private prison in Raymondville refused to go have breakfast and subsequently refused their work detail. As Breitbart Texas previously reported, the inmates then broke out into the outside areas of the prison and began ripping up tents and setting fires around the facilities.
The rioting resulted in two guards and three inmates being injured. Federal officials confirmed to Breitbart Texas that their injuries were not serious. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons also confirmed that the injuries to guards and inmates were not significant.
Several state, local, and federal agencies were dispatched to the location to help set up perimeter security while they worked to bring the riot to a peaceful resolution, according to a prepared statement from the FBI to Breitbart Texas. The FBI took over command of the situation since the prison is under federal contract with the government to house federal detainees.
In the aftermath of the riot, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) was notified by MTC that the prison is in an uninhabitable condition due to the damage caused by the inmates, a prepared statement from the BOP revealed. MTC also asked for their help in moving the inmates to other facilities.
For most of the coming week, MTC and the BOP will be moving all of the 2,800 inmates out of the damaged facility, the BOP statement revealed.
Since last year, a shift in immigration routes led to hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens coming through South Texas, rapidly creating a problem for federal authorities and courts, who have had to focus primarily on illegal entry cases that have overwhelmed their detention facilities. However, as Breitbart Texas previously reported, rather than being a quest for the American Dream, Mexican drug cartels have turned it into a nightmare.
Inmates to Be Transferred After Riot at Texas Prison
By KENNETH ROSENFEB. 21, 2015
A federal prison in South Texas over the next week will transfer up to 2,800 inmates to other institutions in the area, after a riot on Friday rendered the facility uninhabitable, an official said.
Inmates at the Willacy County Correctional Center, who took control of the prison using pipes as weapons, were compliant on Saturday evening as negotiations with the authorities continued.
Ed Ross, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said in a phone call that about 2,800 low-security offenders and illegal immigrants will be transferred to other facilities.
“Staff are continuing to communicate with the inmate population in an effort to regain complete control of the facility, which is now uninhabitable due to damage caused by the inmate population,” the bureau said in a statement.
The Valley Morning Star newspaper reported fires were set inside three of the prison’s 10 housing units. It was not immediately clear what caused the riot.
Administrators on Saturday met with inmates, who broke out of their housing units and entered the recreation yard, Issa Arnita, a spokesman for Management and Training Corporation, the operator of the prison, said in a statement.
Inmates did not breach the two surrounding security fences, he said.
“Correctional officers used nonlethal force, tear gas, to attempt to control the unruly offenders,” Mr. Arnita said in the statement.
Staff members and contract employees at the prison did not suffer any injuries, The Associated Press reported.
Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel were at the correctional center Saturday and were to remain throughout the night.
“The inmates are cooperating, and it appears they are interested in resolving the matter as well,” Michelle Lee, a spokeswoman with the FBI in San Antonio, said in a statement.
The private prison, about 200 miles south of San Antonio, once operated as a “tent city,” or immigration detention facility for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In 2011, it removed all of its detainees after reports of abuse, and a month later it reopened as a Criminal Alien Requirement prison.
In a report last year by the American Civil Liberties Union, inmates at the prison said they faced “severely crowded and squalid living conditions.”
Photo
Law enforcement officials outside the Willacy County Correctional Center in Raymondville, Texas, on Friday. Credit David Pike/Valley Morning Star, via Associated Press
Manny Fernandez contributed reporting.
As a class assignment, you are required to complete the following: 1) Provide a summary of the incident at MTC (be sure to include the relationship between MTC and the Federal Bureau of Prison; 2) Discuss policy issues pertaining to the detention of illegal immigrants (make sure that in your discussion you include issues pertaining contracting these services with private prisons); 3) Discuss any major prison riots that have occurred in the United States or any other nation since the MTC incident. 4) Discuss research pertaining to the prevention of prison riots.
11. You have been recently hired as senior administrator in the legal department for the Florida Department of Corrections. On your first day on the job, the Bureau Chief of your department has informed you that the nurses have made several complaints regarding sexual harassment. Initially, you think that the allegations are against fellow co-workers until the Bureau Chief states that “This has happened before” and you read the copy of an article that was given to you that was printed in local newspaper a few years ago. A copy of the article is provided below.
The State – In Brief
CHIPLEY — Thirty women, mostly nurses, are accusing Florida’s prison system of allowing sexual harassment by male inmates.
A lawsuit was filed Tuesday on behalf of past and present health-care employees at Washington Correctional Institution in this Panhandle town, along with the Martin, Zephyrhills, Sumter and Glades correctional institutions.
It alleges that inmates faked medical emergencies to lure nurses to their cells and then exposed themselves, masturbated and made derogatory comments.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Jo Ellyn Rackleff said she was unable to comment because prison officials had yet to see the suit. The agency has been investigating since February.
Prison officials told the nurses such behavior was to be expected and nothing could be done to stop it, according to the complaint.
You are instructed to research the following: 1) Are there any foreseeable legal problems that the Department could face if this behavior is ignored? If so, explain. 2) Is the Department of Corrections obligated to protect the nurses from the verbal harassment of the inmates or should the Department of Corrections (DOC) take the stance that employees of the DOC understand that rude behavior which is often exhibited by inmates is just a normal occurrence within the prison environment; therefore, no action is required? 3) How do you prepare your staff (nurses and correctional officers) to deal with sexual harassment from inmates? 4) Can the DOC punish inmates for verbal harassment or is this type of behavior protected by the First Amendment. 5) Have the Courts made any rulings on these types of allegations? 6) Finally, give at least three recommendations, in you report, which could help alleviate this type of incident. Your report is due on April 28th by 5:45 pm.
12. “Who Makes Money From Private Prison?” and “Billions Behind Bars-Inside of America’s Prison Industry” have been posted on Canvas for your review. These videos are located in your Canvas Course Module labeled “Final Exam Videos.” Select either one of the videos and provide a critical analysis from the following perspectives: 1) Inmate; 2) Citizen; and 3) Correctional Administrative (The Correctional Administrative perspective can be from either a privately operated view, a federal operated view or a state operated view.). This assignment requires more than your personal opinion; it must be cited using credible sources.
1