Advertisement

Damning Investigation Of Private Prison Transportation Industry Could Lead To DOJ Probe

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) CREDIT: AP PHOTO/ALEX BRANDON
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) CREDIT: AP PHOTO/ALEX BRANDON

While police departments confront more public and government scrutiny than ever before for excessive use of force, lawmakers could soon turn their attention to a private industry that subjects prisoners to physical abuse. On Tuesday, nearly one week after the Marshall Project and New York Times reported gross misconduct within the private prison transportation industry, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to probe companies that take inmates on life-threatening rides.

In a letter addressed to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Booker requested an investigation of transportation companies that “abuse” and “neglect” prisoners by refusing them medical help and food, and leaving them in hot vehicles for days on end. He also urged the DOJ to examine all the times private corrections officers (COs) were prosecuted by federal officials for transportation-related violations.

“Congress gave the Justice Department tools to combat prisoner abuse and mistreatment. As you know, the Interstate Tranportation of Dangerous Criminals Act of 2000 (“Jeanna’s Act”) empowers the Justice Department to conduct oversight over extradition companies. It also established broad standards for training private COS and for treatment of prisoners,” Booker wrote. “But I am concerned that this federal law, and its implementing regulations, have been underutilized and under-enforced.”

Man Alleges Horrific Abuse On Private Prison VanJustice by CREDIT: AP Photo/Patrick Semansky Darren Richardson of Florida says he was urinated on and denied food…thinkprogress.orgAccording to the Marshall Project and New York Times, private COs don’t need medical training to transport prisoners, so many people with medical emergencies don’t have access to the care they need. In other cases, they’re denied life-saving medications or ignored by COs on the road. Detainees suffering from serious diseases or injuries are left to suffer in hot vans with bad ventilation for days. Many are forced to defecate on themselves and urinate in bottles, while others endure heat stroke. Multiple prisoners have died from neglect.

Advertisement

“People were screaming, complaining, passing out. I threw up,” Roberta Blake, a prisoner driven cross-country by the Prisoner Transportation Services of America, told the two news outlets.

But even with the number of deaths and complaints lodged against it, the private transportation industry operates with little to no oversight. Booker, who emerged in recent years as a champion of criminal justice reforms, hopes to change that.

“Due to the apparent lack of vigorous federal enforcement of the Jeanna Act, it is vital that Congress and the public understand what prosecutors for misconduct have occurred and what tools the Justice Department has at its disposal to hold such executives personally responsible,” Booker wrote. “If the tools at your disposal are inadequate, Congress may need to act.”