Corrections Corporation of America

Accountability

Private prison companies such as CCA should not be thought of as prison systems themselves, but as agents of public prison systems. In all cases, governments are ultimately responsible for the care and well-being of prisoners. Through regulatory and accountability measures, governments seek to evaluate the programs that private prisons operate.

The chief organization offering accreditation to correctional facilities is the American Correctional [Page 195]Association (ACA). The ACA assesses administrative and fiscal controls, staff training and development, safety and emergency procedures, sanitation, and rules and discipline. CCA seeks ACA accreditation for all of its facilities. Currently, about 85% of CCA facilities are ACA accredited.

In addition to seeking accreditation, CCA has built strong ties with the public sector corrections community and political officials. CCA has connected itself to the public sector corrections community by hiring several former high-ranking government officials, including J. Michael Quinlan, former director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Public-private connections between CCA and political officials have been noted by those monitoring campaign contributions. For example, during the 2000 election cycle, CCA made more than 600 campaign contributions worth roughly $500,000 to state-level candidates in 13 southern states.

Problems with CCA Facilities

Correctional facilities run by CCA have had their share of problems. Critics have accused CCA prisons of being understaffed with poorly trained guards, unsanitary, and unsafe. There have been multiple cases of these kinds of charges reported in the press. In addition, CCA came under heavy criticism after a report was filed in 2000 for the Wisconsin legislature that found unacceptable conditions such as insect and rodent infestations and evidence of guards smuggling drugs and weapons into CCA prisons that house inmates from Wisconsin.

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