January 11, 2018

Remarks by President Trump in a Meeting on Prison Reform

Roosevelt Room 1:55 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  And today we are going to be discussing the important topic of prison reform.  I want to thank Attorney General Sessions, Governor Bevin of Kentucky, Governor Brownback of Kansas, and other prison reform experts who are here.  We have the best in the country.

We’ll be discussing a number of opportunities to improve our prison system to better promote public safety and to help former prisoners reenter society as productive citizens.  Very important.  Very big topic.  It’s become a very big topic, especially, I think, over the last 12 months or so.  We’ve been focused on it very strongly.

Sounds great... Eh? Well look who he's put in charge of this:

Kushner meets with advocates on prison reform

And who da' ya' think is licking their lips and lurking in the weeds behind all this?

The Geo Group. Inc.

The GEO Group is committed to providing leading, evidence-based rehabilitation programs to individuals while in-custody and post-release into the community through the "GEO Continuum of Care." GEO's diversified services platform provides unique capabilities for the delivery of educational and vocational programs, cognitive behavioral and substance abuse treatment, and faith-based services across the entire corrections spectrum. The "GEO Continuum of Care" is enhanced in-prison offender rehabilitation programs including evidence-based treatment, integrated with post-release support services.

Let's go back to last year... 

October 25, 2017 | WaPo

Private-prison giant, resurgent in Trump era, gathers at president’s resort

DORAL, Fla. — In recent years, the private prison company GEO Group has held its annual leadership conference at venues near its Boca Raton headquarters. But this year, the company moved its gathering to a Miami-area golf resort owned by President Trump.

During last year’s election, a company subsidiary gave $225,000 to a pro-Trump super PAC. GEO gave an additional $250,000 to the president’s inaugural committee. It also hired as outside lobbyists a major Trump fundraiser and two former aides to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, one of the president’s most prominent campaign backers. GEO Group, meanwhile, has had newfound success in Trump’s Washington.

Now let us recall Dick's post from 8 years ago and what can transpire without tight oversight...

OUTSOURCING: CEDING GOVERNMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

By Richard Day on Sat, 02/14/2009 - 4:57pm |

I came across this at The Daily Beast yesterday: Hillary Transue, 17, of Wilkes-Barre, PA, knew something was wrong when she was sentenced to three months in juvenile detention for making fun of her assistant principal on MySpace in 2007...

In that one case over 3,000 kids had been farmed out by these two ex-Judges Ciavarella and Conahan who took more than $2 million in bribes from Robert Powell the builder and co-owner of the privately run PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care detention centers. 

Ciavarella is spending 28 years in the joint. He is now inmate # 15008-067 at the Federal Correctional Institution, Williamsburg at Salters, South Carolina. And Conahan is spending 17.5 years in prison and has paid over $900,000 in fines and restitution. He is now inmate #15009-067 Federal Correctional Institution, Coleman Low in Florida.

Robert Powell served an 18-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to failing to report a felony and being an accessory to tax conspiracy. He was incarcerated at the Federal Prison Camp, Pensacola, a low-security facility in Florida, and was released from a halfway house on April 16, 2013. Powell, an attorney and co-owner of the two juvenile facilities at the heart of the scandal, pleaded guilty on July 1, 2009, in connection with $770,000 in kickbacks he paid to Ciavarella and Conahan in exchange for facilitating the development of his juvenile detention centers

And Hillary Transue, who is now 25? What has she gone on to do? Assist other young teens and parents by continuing to appear as an unpaid spokeswoman at functions for the documentary Kids for Cash...

Charlie Balasavage at 25mins 35secs...

Life presents us with challenges,
That we must overcome.
And sometimes all the detours,
Can leave the senses numb.
Life is filled with stumbling blocks,
We pass along the way.
But it can become a stepping stone,
When love comes into play.
Wherever there's an obstacle,
That we must rise above,
That helps to overcome it,
With an attitude of love.
For anger never solves a thing.
And stress will brings us down.
The love unlocks the doorway,
Where hope and faith are found.

Life presents us with challenges,
That we must rise above.
And blessed is he who can maintain
An attitude of love.

And where is Charlie now?

~OGD~