MS: Feds say youths abused at private prison
Privatization threatens open government
Privatizing Fannie and Freddie: It’s not a matter of if, but when
Senate Judiciary Committee talks FOIA and the public’s right to know
MS: Feds say youths abused at private prison
The Justice Department says juveniles were subjected to sexual misconduct and other abuses at a privately run Mississippi prison, though the report comes three weeks after plans were revealed to move youth to another facility. The report dated Tuesday says sexual misconduct at Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in central Mississippi “was among the worst that we have seen in any facility anywhere in the nation.”..”The Department of Justice’s groundbreaking investigation into the GEO-Group operated Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility confirms what Mississippi’s communities have known for over a decade: the combination of a profit hungry private prison, and a bad law that allows too many teenagers to enter the adult justice system has created a public safety crisis in Mississippi,” said Sheila Bedi, deputy legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center. “This is a crisis that destroys young lives and has wasted over $100 million in taxpayer dollars. In the wake of this report, Mississippi lawmakers should examine the harm that private prisons inflict on our communities and take action to end the practice of trying children in the adult criminal justice system.” Hattiesburg American
Privatization threatens open government
…In some cases, conservative governors are even trying to weaken existing transparency requirements to make it easier to privatize. Florida Governor Rick Scott’s failed proposal to privatize prisons in 18 counties included a provision to eliminate the requirement for a cost-benefit analysis before moving ahead with the deal. Coincidentally, Florida-based GEO Corporation, one of the largest private prison companies, is a major contributor to GOP campaigns in the state. Under existing law private contractors in states throughout the country are evading oversight by exploiting loopholes in transparency protections. Most existing state laws don’t pierce the corporate veil and now policy makers, journalists and advocates no longer have access to basic financial, performance and workforce information that is essential to government accountability. Huffington Post
Privatizing Fannie and Freddie: It’s not a matter of if, but when
..The Ryan budget promises an end to “corporate welfare and taxpayer bailouts” of Fannie and Freddie, promising to privatize both housing giants. Ryan doesn’t go into much further detail about how that would be accomplished, how long it would take, or how a private secondary mortgage market—which is essentially non-existent right now—could successfully replace Fannie and Freddie. But he suggests, for example, that Fannie and Freddie should reduce their portfolios by capping the value of homes they could guarantee. Housing experts warn, however, that closing down Fannie and Freddie too quickly, without taking adequate steps to create a private alternative, would massively disrupt the housing market and the economy at large. Fannie and Freddie’s primary functions are to buy mortgages from primary lenders, then package them into securities that are then resold. They provide a crucial form of liquidity in the housing market, and other firms would need to step in before their government backing fully disappeared. Washington Post
Senate Judiciary Committee talks FOIA and the public’s right to know
Held during Sunshine Week, last Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, “The Freedom of Information Act: Safeguarding Critical Infrastructure Information and the Public’s Right to Know,” was timely indeed. A wide range of issues were discussed, from the multi-agency FOIA portal scheduled to launch October 1 to the cybersecurity legislation pending in both the Senate and the House. The broad scope of topics covered perhaps illustrated the need for more hearings about FOIA and open government issues. POGO