Between The Lines - Donald Cohen, Privatizing Prisons: A bad deal for inmates and society (Week Ending March 27, 2015)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

You can also listen to full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which are generally available some time the day following broadcast.

Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.

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Privatizing Prisons: A Bad Deal for Inmates and Society

Posted March 18, 2015

Interview with Donald Cohen, executive director of In the Public Interest, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

In the past few years, many states have undertaken efforts to reform their criminal justice policies and practices, either from a justice perspective or out of concern that the swelling ranks of the incarcerated are breaking budgets. Policy changes across the nation have included early prisoner release before a sentence has been completed and alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offenders, which provide treatment for drug addiction and/or mental health issues. Just under half of inmates serving time in state prisons are there for non-violent offenses such as drug possession or forgery.

Now, a new study from public policy experts at Dartmouth and the University of Minnesota finds that the higher the concentration of private, for-profit prisons in a state, the less likely that state's legislature is to pass criminal justice reform laws. Two corporations – the GEO Group and the Corrections Corporation of America – operate the majority of 200 private prisons in 28 states and the District of Columbia. Texas has 62 private prisons, while most other states operate just one. Almost seven percent of federal inmates are incarcerated in private prisons, while for state inmates, it's almost 14 percent.

Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Donald Cohen, executive director of In the Public Interest, a national research and policy center that focuses on the privatization of public services. The center has issued its own reports on the privatization of U.S. prisons, which are paid for with U.S. tax dollars. Here, he discusses some of the negative impacts of the privatization trend and alternatives that can make the criminal justice system more humane and cost effective.

DONALD COHEN: We don't actually think private prisons have a role in American criminal justice, because the profit incentive is counter to what we need to do to release the overwhelming number of people in prison to be able to do in prison what we need to do in terms of getting people out with jobs skills and good lives so they don't come back. One of the main things we think we need to do to reduce the number of people in prison in America is to reduce and remove the power of private prison companies. And we have seen all around the country where private prison companies lobby for things that help keep heads and beds, because it's in their interest. Private prison companies make money by having people in prison. And if you look at their corporate reports – of CCA, the Corrections Corporation of America, or the GEO Group, these are the two major prison companies – they include a section that they call risk factors, things that could be a risk to their bottom line, and one of those things is changes in sentencing law. Bottom line, reduce crime is a bad thing – will hurt the private prison companies materially, it will hurt their bottom line. That's all well and good, but it's not our concern. That's not how we should be running a criminal justice system.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Donald Cohen, what have you found in your organization's own research into private prisons?

DONALD COHEN: Well, one of the things we highlighted in terms of private prison companies is we did research a couple years back and we're updating it now, where we analyzed most of the private prison contracts between states and the companies, and what we found is that two-thirds of them had bed guarantees of 80, 90, and 100 percent. That was the range. In other words, the contract stipulated, Keep the beds filled to that amount or pay us anyway. We find that is a real incentive to keep the beds filled, which is really pretty powerful. The last contractual obligation we would want, or any obligation we would want with a private interest whose job it is to generate revenue, have that kind of influence over the direction and outcome of our criminal justice system and the amount of people in prison. It's just awful.

BETWEEN THE LINES: And isn't the main argument they use is that private prisons are more efficient than publicly run prisons?

DONALD COHEN: It sounds good, but think about what that means. You have correctional officers, you have prisons, you have food, you have prisoners, and you have programs. I mean, that's what happens in a prison. So reducing cost means fewer correctional officers, leading to more dangerous prisons, and you reduce educational or other programs or health care, or they just cut corners like they make the food crappier. When they say cost savings or more efficient, they mean, "We're gonna spend less on things." So it's really important to look at what that actually means.

BETWEEN THE LINES: What about the prison guard unions? They seem to back their members no matter how outrageously they treat prisoners. Are they a brake on prison reform too?

DONALD COHEN: It has been in the past. Some unions are more powerful than others, depending on the state, so there's a few things to say. Three strikes in California, where I live, the correctional officers' union, CCPOA, was a major supporter of that back in the early '90s, I guess it was. But just this past fall, California passed what's referred to as Prop. 47, which significantly reduces the number of felonies – turns them back into misdemeanors – and the correctional officers' unions did not oppose it. I don't think they were engaged, particularly; and it passed quite overwhelmingly. So what you're seeing is a real change in correctional officers' unions for the following reasons: overcrowding is not good for either people in prison or people who work in prisons. Number 2 is that correctional officers know on a daily basis that our prison system is the country's mental health system, and that massive numbers of people in prison really shouldn't be in prison; they should be dealt with a sane community mental health setting. You know, the correction officers don't have the skills, they don't think they have the skills; they don't think they should be the one. So they're beginning to see there are other things that should be done in terms of that. So I think you're seeing a dramatic shift in that.

I should also say, they are really dangerous jobs. We've talked to lots of correctional officers as well, and done some research. One of the highest rates of PTSD of any occupation in the country. High rates of suicide; high rates of divorce. It's an awful job.

For more information on In the Public Interest, visit inthepublicinterest.org.