NEWS

Lawyers: Epps said prison companies 'spread' money

Jerry Mitchell
The Clarion-Ledger
Former Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps, right, leaves at the U.S. Courthouse in Jackson on Thursday Nov. 6 with his attorney, John Colette, following Epps arraignment on multiple charges, including bribery, money laundering and wire fraud.

During 2011 negotiations, then-Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said he couldn't get rid of Mississippi's private companies running prisons "because of all the money they spread around Jackson," attorneys told The Clarion-Ledger.

His remarks took place during the time when federal prosecutors say Epps was receiving more than $700,000 in bribes, including a beachfront condo.

On Nov. 7, Epps and former state lawmaker Cecil McCrory pleaded not guilty to corruption charges in a 49-count indictment.

Prosecutors have announced they are continuing to investigate "pervasive" and "systemic corruption" in the state.

The push for private companies to run prisons and jails goes back decades in Mississippi.

After being elected Hinds County sheriff, Malcolm McMillin remembered meeting at the Sun-n-Sand Motel with then-lawmakers McCrory and Phil Bryant, who were supporting legislation in the early 1990s for the state to take over running the jails and privatizing them.

Then-Gov. Kirk Fordice also supported the effort, McMillin said. "Some sheriffs wanted to be rid of the damn jails."

He was opposed to it.

The measure didn't pass, but private prisons did become a reality.

In 2002 or so, then-Corrections Commissioner Robert L. Johnson negotiated with Walnut Grove Correctional Facility, a private prison, for a per-inmate cost.

House Corrections Committee Chairman Bennett Malone of Carthage "was right up in the middle of the negotiations, which was highly improper, to increase the rate for Walnut Grove," he said.

Malone could not be reached for comment.

The facility was originally designed to hold inmates up to 18 years of age. Johnson wanted to keep that mission.

But Malone was instrumental in getting the law changed so inmates up to age 21 were moved there, tripling the prison population, Johnson said. "You can't throw a bunch of kids in there with hardened criminals."

As a result, corrections officials wound up with a "big mess," he said.

In 2010, the Southern Poverty Law Center and American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the GEO Group, which by then ran the Walnut Grove prison, and the state Department of Corrections, which oversaw all prisons.

"While the private prison operators increase profits, the young men imprisoned … live in unconstitutional and inhumane conditions and endure great risks to their safety," the lawsuit alleged.

The lawsuit described the prison as "dangerously understaffed," with a lack of training for officers dealing with young offenders: "Youth and staff face threats to their lives and safety on an almost daily basis."

In early 2011, Margaret Winter, associate director of the ACLU, and Sheila Bedi, then-deputy legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, had a meeting with Epps, which they say was also attended by Department of Corrections officials, attorneys and consultants.

They reportedly discussed the prison conditions, not only at Walnut Grove, but also at the GEO-run East Mississippi Correctional Facility, where the ACLU was conducting an investigation.

Because of reforms Epps had recently implemented at the State Penitentiary at Parchman in response to ACLU litigation, Winter and Bedi said they believed he might be amenable to reforms at the two privately run prisons.

Bedi said Epps gave her the impression he desired to hold the private prisons accountable, but his hands were tied. She said she thought, "This is a progressive reformer beating his head against the wall."

Winter said she asked Epps point blank, "Why don't you just get rid of the private contractors? We all know they're part of the problem, not part of the solution."

Bedi said Epps went on to say that it was impossible to get rid of the private contractors "because of all the money they throw around Jackson."

She said she thought Epps was talking about campaign contributions and looked into the matter.

Some contributions were made to lawmakers, she said, but not in the amounts she thought.

Reports filed with the secretary of state's office show GEO had no lobbyist in 2011. GEO officials did not respond Friday to a request for comment.

Winter took Epps' remarks to mean "the fix was in in state government because certain people benefitted from private prisons."

The remark stunned her, she said, but nobody there "raised an eyebrow."

Epps added not to repeat his remark and that he would deny having made it, which struck her as odd, she said. "Why was he saying something that was a big secret in a room full of people?"

In March 2011, U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves entered an order finding that the conditions at Walnut Grove "paint a picture of such horror as should be unrealized anywhere in the civilized world. Court intervention, as proposed by the parties, is undoubtedly necessary."

The judge faulted Epps and the Department of Corrections for "a lack of accountability and controls" over the private contractors and approved an agreement for reforms that included removing minors from Walnut Grove.

Johnson said he believes reliance on private prisons has gotten the state away from its primary mission of providing "security, custody and control" for those behind bars.

"Had the state moved to take over Walnut Grove, a lot fewer problems would have taken place," he said. "It was simply a profit driven operation, providing profit for the folks involved in the project."

Now Gov. Bryant thinks privately run prisons still are a good idea: "Private prisons can be effective if managed properly," he said in a statement. "Mississippi is one of almost twenty states to utilize this form of prison management."

Contact Jerry Mitchell at jmitchell@jackson.gannett.com or (601) 961-7064. Follow @jmitchellnews on Twitter.