June 20, 2012
by Bob Libal
Welcome to The Hump Day Hall of Shame: Every Wednesday we highlight the private prison industry’s influence on public policy through campaign contributions, lobbying, and the revolving door of public and private corrections.
For today's Humpday Hall of Shame we induct both New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and private prison corporation Community Education Centers (CEC). CEC was subject to a three-part expose in the New York Times this week on its half-way houses in New Jersey.
The reports detail a stunningly flawed half-way house system with little-to-no security, prisoners subject to sexual assaults, theft, and murder, and more than 5,000 prisoners who simply walked away from the facility.
Christie's ties to the troubled private prison company run deep. He was lobbyist for CEC between 2000 and 2001, and was even featured in a Community Education promo video saying “Places like this are to be celebrated. Because as you walk through here, as I’ve done many times, what you see right before your very eyes are miracles happening.”
Read the entire entire three-part series here, and contact Governor Christie and tell him what you think of NJ's private prison system.
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