Post by Wackenhut on Sept 22, 2009 18:58:29 GMT -5
GEO Group has been the target of controversial attacks by advocacy and special interest groups, and has been allegedly involved in several questionable controversies which have received public exposure in media reports.
The GEO Group has been in the news for its alleged abuse of prisoners and inadequate care resulting in preventable deaths. Its operations in Texas have been sharply criticized for poor conditions and mistreatment of prisoners.
A full scale prisoner uprising occurred in 2007 at the Geo Group-operated New Castle Correctional Facility in Indiana. The Fort Wayne News-Sentinel reported that "Authorities were investigating whether the six-hour fracas that involved about 500 inmates started Tuesday afternoon because some of the newly arrived prisoners from Arizona were upset about their treatment at the medium-security men’s prison."
Since 2005, at least eight people have died at the Geo Group-operated George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania, the state's only privately run jail. Several of those deaths resulted in lawsuits by family members who say the facility did not provide adequate medical care or proper supervision for inmates.
On April 25, 2008, Kenneth Keith Kallenbach died from cystic fibrosis, an inherited chronic disease after being denied his medication. He had been housed at the jail since mid-March. Kallenbach's mother, Fay, said her son called her a week before his death, asking her to intervene and help him receive better treatment. He didn't think he would "make it" out of the jail alive. The prison had no comment on Kallenbach's death for reporters.
At the same facility last year, a woman who suffered from a thyroid condition died at the jail where she had been held for six weeks. Family members said she did not receive her medication during her incarceration. Harold I. Goodman, a lawyer currently suing the company that operates the jail on behalf of the woman's family, said "There is an awful lot of deliberate indifference to the medical needs" in the prison. GEO also did not comment on this case.
Other Incidents
In 2005, five inmates died within a five-month span, drawing scrutiny from Delaware County District Attorney Michael Green. Two men apparently committed suicide, one died after a fist fight, another died of a heroin overdose, and another man was found dead in his bed.
GEO Group has settled lawsuits with several families who sued on behalf of their relatives, although no criminal charges were filed. In 2006, GEO paid $100,000 to the family of Rosalyn Atkinson, 25, who died in 2002 because of a fatal overdose of a high-blood pressure drug administered by jail medical staff. Atkinson had been at the jail for only 18 days. GEO also agreed in 2005 to pay $125,000 to the family of John Focht, 43, who used his boot strings to hang himself in 2002.
Last fall, the Texas Youth Commission abruptly canceled its $8 million contract with GEO after investigators found unsanitary living conditions at its juvenile facility. Several of the teens said they were sexually assaulted by a guard who was a convicted sex offender, according to lawsuits.
GEO lost its contract at an adult facility in west Texas last year after an inspector reportedly characterized the prison as "the worst correctional facility I have ever visited." The inspection was sparked by an inmate's suicide. Texas legislators have called for a review of all of GEO's contracts with state and local agencies.
The GEO Group has been in the news for its alleged abuse of prisoners and inadequate care resulting in preventable deaths. Its operations in Texas have been sharply criticized for poor conditions and mistreatment of prisoners.
A full scale prisoner uprising occurred in 2007 at the Geo Group-operated New Castle Correctional Facility in Indiana. The Fort Wayne News-Sentinel reported that "Authorities were investigating whether the six-hour fracas that involved about 500 inmates started Tuesday afternoon because some of the newly arrived prisoners from Arizona were upset about their treatment at the medium-security men’s prison."
Since 2005, at least eight people have died at the Geo Group-operated George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania, the state's only privately run jail. Several of those deaths resulted in lawsuits by family members who say the facility did not provide adequate medical care or proper supervision for inmates.
On April 25, 2008, Kenneth Keith Kallenbach died from cystic fibrosis, an inherited chronic disease after being denied his medication. He had been housed at the jail since mid-March. Kallenbach's mother, Fay, said her son called her a week before his death, asking her to intervene and help him receive better treatment. He didn't think he would "make it" out of the jail alive. The prison had no comment on Kallenbach's death for reporters.
At the same facility last year, a woman who suffered from a thyroid condition died at the jail where she had been held for six weeks. Family members said she did not receive her medication during her incarceration. Harold I. Goodman, a lawyer currently suing the company that operates the jail on behalf of the woman's family, said "There is an awful lot of deliberate indifference to the medical needs" in the prison. GEO also did not comment on this case.
Other Incidents
In 2005, five inmates died within a five-month span, drawing scrutiny from Delaware County District Attorney Michael Green. Two men apparently committed suicide, one died after a fist fight, another died of a heroin overdose, and another man was found dead in his bed.
GEO Group has settled lawsuits with several families who sued on behalf of their relatives, although no criminal charges were filed. In 2006, GEO paid $100,000 to the family of Rosalyn Atkinson, 25, who died in 2002 because of a fatal overdose of a high-blood pressure drug administered by jail medical staff. Atkinson had been at the jail for only 18 days. GEO also agreed in 2005 to pay $125,000 to the family of John Focht, 43, who used his boot strings to hang himself in 2002.
Last fall, the Texas Youth Commission abruptly canceled its $8 million contract with GEO after investigators found unsanitary living conditions at its juvenile facility. Several of the teens said they were sexually assaulted by a guard who was a convicted sex offender, according to lawsuits.
GEO lost its contract at an adult facility in west Texas last year after an inspector reportedly characterized the prison as "the worst correctional facility I have ever visited." The inspection was sparked by an inmate's suicide. Texas legislators have called for a review of all of GEO's contracts with state and local agencies.