Today in Atlanta: Silent Vigil to mark Anniversary of Roberto Martinez Medina’s Death

March 11, 2010 Detention Watch Network

via Georgia Detention Watch:

Newly obtained records show lack of transparency in ICE’s investigation and inconsistency in ICE’s account pertaining to Roberto Martinez Medina’s death


Vigil marks second in the Dignity Not Detention Campaign


Atlanta, Georgia – A silent vigil at 3:00 p.m. March 11 in front of the ICE office in Atlanta at 180 Spring Street S.W. marks the 1-year anniversary of the death of Roberto Martinez Medina who was detained in ICE custody at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. Mr. Medina, aged 39, was diagnosed with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle which is usually caused by a viral infection and normally treatable, according to records of the St. Francis Hospital in Columbus. The records also noted that Mr. Medina had experienced symptoms three days before being rushed to the hospital on March 10, 2009, when his condition rapidly deteriorated.

“Roberto Martinez Medina and I would be the same age if he were still alive today,” reflected Anton Flores-Maisonet of Georgia Detention Watch on the passing of a 39-year-old immigrant from Mexico.

“One year has passed since the death of Roberto Martinez Medina and ICE has yet to set the record straight,” said Azadeh Shahshahani, the ACLU of Georgia National Security/Immigrants’ Rights Project Director. “The question still remains: Why did Roberto Martinez Medina die of a treatable heart infection?”

Newly Obtained Information Reveals ICE Investigation into Martinez’ Death not Transparent

New records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the American Civil Liberties Union from ICE related to the death of Roberto Martinez Medina highlight the lack of transparency in the ICE investigation. The investigation into Mr. Medina’s death was apparently referred to ICE’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties; however, the results of that investigation are unclear. An on-site review of Medina’s death by ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility was apparently scheduled for April 6, 2009; yet there is no indication that this review actually took place.


Perplexing Inconsistencies

Records show many inconsistencies in the accounts by ICE’s representative, the hospital records, and a report by the Division of Immigration Health Services about when Mr. Martinez started complaining of chest pain and other ailments. The most perplexing disconnect in these accounts is the acknowledgment by Assistant Field Office Director for ICE Detention and Removal Operations, Michael Webster, to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation last year that Mr. Medina had experienced chest pain for three days prior to his death, even though Webster reported that Medina “did not voice the complaint.” Newly-obtained records point to a report by the Division of Immigration Health Services stating that Mr. Martinez Medina ran a fever for three days before March 10, 2009. This is in contrast to the official ICE narrative obtained through the ACLU Freedom of Information Act request which states that Mr. Martinez Medina did not complain of chest pain or other ailments prior to March 10, 2009.

Records Reveal that Roberto Martinez Medina Complained of Health Problems Possibly Related to Lapses in Hygiene Standards

The newly-obtained documents also indicate that Medina made sick calls prior to March 10, 2009 for itchy eyes and foot fungus. These complaints are consistent with the information Georgia Detention Watch members obtained through interviews with detainees at the Stewart Detention Center where many complained of infections and rashes.

In April 2009, Georgia Detention Watch released a report on detention conditions at the Stewart Detention Center that pointed out the poor medical treatment given to detainees as well as hygiene standards. The report was based on interviews with sixteen detainees during a humanitarian visitation in December 2008. Using Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Performance-Based National Detention Standards to gauge conditions at Stewart, the report made specific recommendations in several areas, including medical care standards, food services standards, disciplinary system standards, personal hygiene standards, and staff training.

In spite of several requests by members of Georgia Detention Watch and partner organizations to meet with ICE to discuss the findings of the report, ICE has yet to respond.

Immigration Detention Centers in Georgia

Georgia has three immigration detention centers, including two which are run by the Corrections Corporations of America, the country’s largest private prison corporation. With a capacity of 1700+, the Stewart Detention Center based in rural southwest Georgia is the largest corporate-run immigration detention center in the country.

The recently opened North Georgia Detention Center also operated by CCA is located in Gainesville and has a capacity of 500.

Silent Vigil for Dignity Not Detention

The silent vigil sponsored by Georgia Detention Watch remembers the death of Roberto Martinez Medina, as well as the more than 100 other detainees who have perished in ICE custody since October 2003, and stresses the focus of another vigil held two weeks ago in Gainesville, Georgia where more than 50 people congregated to protest the recently opened North Georgia Detention Center and to join in the national launch the campaign: Dignity Not Detention: Preserving Human Rights and Restoring Justice.

Through taking part in the campaign, Georgia Detention Watch and partner organizations call for an end to contracts with the Corrections Corporation of America for the operation of the North Georgia Detention Center and the Stewart Detention Center due to CCA’s deadly track record and lack of adherence to ICE’s own standards. Georgia Detention Watch also calls on the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to:

Institute binding standards for treatment of immigrant detainees that correspond to international human rights norms.
Utilize community-based and humane alternatives to detention.
End detainee transfers away from loved ones and communities of support.
End local enforcement programs that are contributing to the growth of the immigration detention system.
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Georgia Detention Watch is a coalition of organizations and individuals that advocates alongside immigrants to end the inhumane and unjust detention and law enforcement policies and practices directed against immigrant communities in our state. Our coalition includes activists, community organizers, persons of faith, lawyers, and many more.

Member organizations of Georgia Detention Watch include: the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, American Immigration Lawyers Association Atlanta Chapter, Amnesty International-Southern Region, Amnesty International -Atlanta local group 75, Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment (ABLE), Coalición De Líderes Latinos (CLILA), Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR), Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition, Immigrant Justice Project- Southern Poverty Law Center, International Action Center, Open Door Community, Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta (RRISA), and others

Sheriff seeks to sever ties with CCA

Originally found here

Nugent says he can run jails more efficiently

Updated: Tuesday, 09 Mar 2010, 5:40 PM EST
Published : Tuesday, 09 Mar 2010, 3:35 PM EST

SPRING HILL - It may say "Hernando County Jail," but the county lock-up in Spring Hill is actually run by a private company, the Corrections Corporation of America.

Hernando County Sheriff Richard Nugent told county commissioners Tuesday it's time for CCA to go.

"We hear a lot of complaints about the jail, we transfer all those to the county and we never hear about them being resolved, because it's not a public institution," Nugent said.

He told commissioners if he assumes control of the jail it would be better for inmates and taxpayers. Nugent said while he supported the idea of a private company running the jail in years past, times have changed.

"In ten years, my budget has grown by 80 percent, CCA's budget has increased by 190 percent," he said.

The sheriff conceded, however, he can only estimate the actual cost savings. That's because CCA is a private company that is reluctant to make its business records public.

"If I was a private company, I would want to hold that close to the vest also, but when you're a public entity, those are all open for disclosure," Nugent said.

Ending the agreement that's been in place for 22 years may have consequences, CCA warned commissioners. Tommy Alsup, CCA's director of partnership relations said

"...we came in good faith in the fall, negotiated a contract. We felt like we want to live up to our obligations of the contract. We felt like the county should live up to the contract also," said Tommy Alsup, CCA's director of partnership relations.

Tony Grande, another CCA executive, told commissioners it would actually cost Bay County $3 million more to run its jail if it terminated their contract with the company. That was enough to make one commissioner nervous.

"We've got look at the fiscal realities," said commissioner Jeff Stabins. "I don't know what the final answer is but I would really hate to see this contract severed by either side today."

The contract was not terminated, but despite Stabins' concern, the county asked both the sheriff and CCA to submit proposals to continue running the jail by next month.

Will incarceration bubble burst if Corrections Corporation of America leaves Hernando jail?

This story can be found here.

By Dan DeWitt, Times Columnist
In Print: Friday, March 5, 2010

We all know that when the real estate bubble burst a few years ago, it cost us all. When the incarceration bubble bursts — as may be happening — it should save us money.

Because it's sure been expensive to blow it up.

In 1988, when Hernando County hired Corrections Corporation of America to run its jail, it paid the company $1.7 million to house 160 inmates; in recent years, the number of inmates, averaged over the course of a year, crested at 591 a day in 2007, and the annual cost of running the jail is now $11.4 million.

Sure, Hernando County's overall population has almost doubled in that time, and inflation did its usual dirty work. But the main reason for the increased costs here and across the country is that we are locking up a higher percentage of our residents.

"In the past decade, we've more than doubled our jail population, and consequently costs have gone up,'' said county purchasing director Jim Gantt.

What else has changed?

Well, 22 years ago, privatization seemed a new and promising approach to handling a growing inmate population at a reasonable cost.

Now, a lot of people think private jails and prisons waste taxpayer money, not save it. And I'm not just talking about union-funded activists. I'm talking about one of Hernando's most middle-of-the-road politicians, Sheriff Richard Nugent.

"The difference between us doing it and CCA doing it is, we don't have to carry the corporate load,'' said Nugent, who this week said he wants his department to reassume control of the jail.

"We don't have to support all the staff (at company headquarters) in Nashville. We don't have to show a profit margin for shareholders.''

CCA has a reputation for cutting costs to the bone, so I'm not sure Nugent really can save much money.

But we'd come out ahead even if he just keeps the costs level. The guards would be better paid and better qualified, judging from CCA's historic pay rates and turnover levels. And all the money spent on the jail would stay in the county.

Nugent has talked about a lot of potential savings. One big one is that, unlike CCA, he has a motivation to cut the jail population.

Big picture, the growth of CCA, from its founding in 1983 to a company that today supervises facilities with 80,000 beds, has coincided with the explosion of the nation's prison population.

The company isn't the main cause of this increase, of course. Twenty years ago, as crime rates climbed and prisons were filled to bursting, even violent criminals in Florida could get credit for three years of their sentence for every year they served. People had a right to be mad, and to demand longer sentences and to elect tougher judges.

But also consider this: CCA has contributed millions of dollars to the campaigns of politicians who backed longer sentences, said Ken Kopczynski, executive director of Private Corrections Working Group, who is one of those aforementioned union-funded activists.

And remember those laws that required prisoners to serve 85 percent of their sentences or, for many repeat offenders, a lifetime behind bars?

They were written by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Counsel at a time when CCA was helping steer its criminal justice policy, said Byron Price, author of Merchandising Prisons, a book about the private corrections industry.

This advocacy makes sense. The more people who are behind bars, the more CCA profits.

Locally, Nugent says, the company likes to stretch the booking of inmates out to at least six hours, even if money is available for bail. CCA also has no motivation to explore alternatives to jail time, such as ankle bracelets that could allow the Sheriff's Office to track the movement of people charged with nonviolent crimes.

There would seem to be plenty of candidates for such a program.

A county study showed that in April of last year, 48 percent of the inmates were in jail for probation violations. Another 30 percent were in for traffic offenses (not including driving under the influence) or for either possessing or selling marijuana.

Counties and states are looking to cut inmate populations to save money all over the country, said Steve Owen, a CCA spokesman, but that doesn't mean the idea of private corrections is a thing of the past. CCA is growing fast in some states, including California, where he expects CCA will supervise about 10,000 prison beds before the end of the year.

But the Private Corrections Working Group issued a statement in February stating that CCA had lost 7,594 beds in the previous 16 months, including the termination of its long-standing contract to run the Bay County jail in the Florida Panhandle.

If Hernando follows Bay's lead, it could leave Citrus as the only county in the state with a CCA-run jail.

You can almost hear the air going out of the bubble.

[Last modified: Mar 04, 2010 08:40 PM]