Corrections Corporation of America Used in Drug Sweeps of Public School Students




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Thanks to Alex Friedmann, associate editor of Prison Legal News (, for his contribution to this article. CMD staffers Rebekah Wilce and Alex Oberley also contributed to this article. The article is also available at DBA Press, and a shorter version will appear in the December 2012 issue of Prison Legal News.


The situation ably described in this article is extremely worrisome, and not only for the reasons the author and quoted experts point out. For-profit prison guards are notoriously poorly trained. Their high rate of annual turnover make that almost inevitable. The corporations' million dollar executive make their money by deliberate short staffing and hiring those employees with the least ability and aptitude and willing to work for the least pay and benefits. They are poorly screened because the corporations have substantial difficulties even hiring enough employees to give even the appearance of adequate staffing. Their background checks are marginal because a sufficient check would represent a considerable expense in an employee who might just last a few weeks. CCA has hired employees in Pinal county, even an assistant warden, who have killed others for revenge, while in their prior CCA employ or while driving drunk. They get employees who are in terrible financial trouble, so are highly vulnerable to augmenting their poor wages by way of smuggling drugs, weapons, cell phones and escape tools. Any review of the corporation's or its competitors' history would make that quickly apparent. Toerbijns is absolutely correct. For-profit guards tend to over respond, resorting to unnecessary force, failing to maintain objectivity. They are poorly trained in police investigative methods. One police sergeant told me CCA employees in his town couldn't make cases on prisoners who had committed assaults, or had been caught with drugs, for instance, because they didn't know or follow the most basic rules and procedures such as "chain of evidence." CCA employees in Louisiana are so inept at keeping drugs and other more dangerous contraband out of its prisons that public prison corrections officers have been detailed to make the sweeps the corporate employees couldn't, and have hauled away masses of drugs, weapons and other contraband. There are a few important issues which haven't been discussed. The first is the fear-provoking introduction of high school students to the police state. I'm afraid I'm smelling a whiff of Nazi Germany where police might have come to a school to check on the ethnicity or religion of students. All those German citizen boys might have been ordered to drop their pants, for instance. They would be encouraged to become informants on their classmates by the thought police. The second is one of liability. What if one of the dogs, with perhaps questionable training, handled by an inept and/or untrained guard, bit a child? Who would be responsible? The school? The corporation? The third is the consequences of these raids. They essentially terrorized almost 1,800 students, marched them around the school like prisoners, interrupted the educative process, diminished the reputation of school administrators in their eyes and probably had a number of false alerts on kids who didn't have any drugs at all. What did the achieve? They found a grand total of three kids possessing a drug that has just been legalized this month in two more states. None possessed enough to be arrested in New York City by policy or Alaska by law. But because of the drug free school zones, CCA-promoted legislation (which applies in various states to substantial distances from the actual schools) the lives of these kids may be over. Their professional and academic careers may be finished. Did the boy with .5 gram of weed intend to get high on it? Did he have sufficient dexterity to roll the world's smallest "joint?" Let me translate how little that was. If he had 50 times that much and put it in an envelope and mailed it, it would only take one 45-cent stamp. If his 15 year old female counterpart had 250 times as much as it is alleged she "possessed," it would have taken just one stamp. In fact, that .1 gram might have weighed less than the stamp on the envelope. It could have been just a few flecks in the lint at the bottom of a pocket or the seam of a borrowed book bag, or on the sole of a shoe. Should the 17-year-old suffer any consequences for her actions? I think she should. It's a terrible idea to go around, especially at her age, like the Johnny Appleseed of hemp. She needs a wake up call, but does not need to get the possible draconian criminal penalties she faces. But the real question should be, I think, is, "Was it worth locking down this school for hours, watching their teachers being essentially deputized in the process and subjecting these kids to being frightened by both legitimate law and order and even worse, to these inept 'rent-a-cop' brown-shirted guards." I think the principal of the school should also suffer the consequences of his own rash and irresponsible actions. I'd like to know what the district superintendent allowed and thought about it. I hope that a majority of the parents of the seventeen-hundred-and-something students who were subjected to this display of prohibitionist fanaticism should express their opinion regarding their dehumanization to that effect, now, and at the next election for school board members, if necessary.

I found your response to be very impressive as you lay out the various issues. Thanks, that was very helpful!

It wasn't just the nazis who did this, read the book "Gulag Archipelago" by Alexander Soltzhenitsyn. The USSR under joseph stalin had a prison industrial complex like the world had never seen before or since. They were far worse than the nazis who were stupid enough to systematically murder 14 million people, including 6 million Jews and an equal percentage of Roma, and diverted badly needed resources to murder them. The USSR simply worked 55-65 million people to death and didn't waste resources on them.

actually that's not true. during the same period of time, USA imprisoned more people than the soviet union under stalin or the Nazis. america now has 30% of imprisoned population of the world more than Iran, Russia, South Africa, Germany, England, France, China, brazil, poland, italy and canada put together.

I just relocated to another state away from Arizona. There are too many illegal actions on the part of law enforcement in that state. As a former healthcare professional I found it highly suspect why the state of Arizona had the second highest rate of mentally ill patients in Arizona prisons run by CCR. The healthcare services in Arizona could evaluate and treat those non-violent patients on an outpatient basis for one one third the funds that are paid to Arizona prisons. Again the taxpayers are lining the golden pockets of for-profit prison corporations and everyone must ask why?

Since the CCA has no legit authority, and the various law enforcement departments erred in using CCA this way, a nice class action suit by several families of the students involved should "send a message" that dumbass parasitic authoritarians won't be tolerated.

With any luck there are at least several families with enough money to retain decent legal representation and get the ball rolling. Others would no doubt join in once a "bandwagon" was established. And perhaps the ACLU will take interest. Call me old-fashioned, but I thought schools were where our children went to be educated, but high-security day care centers where they are trained to live under the whim of armed people in uniform.

I was thinking the same thing myself. A few issues come to mind... so the principal decided to send out the engraved invite to the party to LE. Fine... he also admits he had no specific information to indicate there was a drug problem at the school. And only three arrests, two for insanely minuscule quantities, proves that. I would think a solid case can be made for an unlawful search. I doubt a warrant was obtained, on representation or oath, naming specifically the items to be found and where they were to be searched out. Fourth Ammendment would weigh in here. Second, the unlawful use of the prison guards and their dogs should also throw the whole case out. The search was not even conducted by LEO, byt for profit individuals with an obvious conflict of interest. Third, these microscopic amounts could easily, as pointed out in another comment, have fallen from an Officer's pocket or shoe, or even from the bag or clothing of another student before they were herded out of the classroom.. or even while they were leaving. The FACT that non-LEO personnel were utilised in the illegal search could easily be made a credibility issue in the courtroom. WHO found the contraband, where was it located, etc. If I lived in that area, with school aged kids or not, I'd be hot, and seeking a redress. Time these guys quit their thuggery, control freaking tyranny and let the kids continue with what little education they'll get at the gubmunt skewl. The background information on the privatised prison industry and their involvement in lobbying for sweetheart legislation bringing them even MORE business is more than chilling. WHAT are we coming to? Don't answer that....... its obvious.

I won't think a private prison system could operate unless the State allowed it too, licensed it and allowed it to be built. Therefore the State is the problem. And I suppose the State's tax money is paying for it too! I don't know just wondering.