TN Supreme Court: Public Records Laws Apply to Corrections Corp. of America

[NashVegas]

Fantastic news from Tennessee. I'm sure it will be appealed to the feds somehow, but so far the good guys are batting .750.


Prisons run by Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America perform a government function and must follow public records laws, the Tennessee Court of Appeals has ruled.

The prison giant appealed the ruling issued last year by Davidson County Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman, who ruled that the corporation was the functional equivalent of government and that its administrators must turn over all records requested by prison reform advocate Alex Friedmann.

Friedmann, the associate editor of the monthly publication Prison Legal News, sued for access to several types of records, including CCA's government contracts, legal settlements and cases where CCA was sanctioned or fined.

"With all due respect to CCA, this court is at a loss as to how operating a prison could be considered anything less than a governmental function," Judge D. Michael Swiney wrote in the opinion. But the court also reversed Bonnyman's order that the company produce all the records, though, saying that the Private Prison Contracting Act limits the records the country's largest private prison corporation must make public.

http://tennessean.com/article/20090807/NEWS03/908070341/Tennessee+appeals+court+rules+that+public+records+laws+apply+to+CCA


On the other hand, also in Tennessee, a private business (Edvantia) that had contracts with Nashville schools just agreed to pay a $500k settlement over some book cooking. Seems great, but the downside is that the state only found out when an Edvantia exec blew the whistle.

http://tennessean.com/article/20090807/NEWS04/908070367/Schools+consultant+overcharged+Tennessee

[imdjh]

1. If you contract for a government function, your records should be treated the same

saying that the Private Prison Contracting Act limits the records the country's largest private prison corporation must make public.

Sounds like a crock to me.

[NashVegas]

2. Yeah, That Part's Bullshit

And I'm sure if enough people push for it to change, it stands a chance.

[TexasObserver]

3. Recommend. Another corrupt corporation that is a parasite off government.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

4. Rec'd.

Private prisons are pet peeve of mine.

[NashVegas]

5. It's a Relief To See

That even among Tennessean readers, some people get it.