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Vol. 71/No. 24      June 18, 2007

 
Letters
 
Prison revolt
A riot erupted at the New Castle Correctional Facility in Indiana this April. This is a run-for-profit private prison owned by GEO of Florida, formerly known as Wackenhut. GEO earns millions to run 58 prisons, most of them in the United States.

Arizona gave GEO $6.1 million to house 1,260 of its convicts. Two hundred recent arrivals didn’t like the long bus ride in chains, the freezing cold for which no jackets were provided due to the impact properly clothing them might have on GEO profits, and that their families in Arizona could no longer visit them.

The new arrivals became “defiant” leaving the chow hall, hooked up with part of the 400 Arizona convicts already there, and the disturbance quickly spread. Guards used concussion grenades and tear gas to regain control. Seven prisoners and two guards were hospitalized.

Arizona prisoners are given no notice of these transfers. They are simply awakened in the middle of the night and herded onto buses.

Richard Geffken
A prisoner
Mayo, Florida  
 
 
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