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XAVIER UNIVERSITY "NOT WITH OUR MONEY" CAMPAIGN
"The poor and minorities are disproportionately among both the victims as well as those in prison."
-Bishop Sullivan
What Stinks?
What's wrong with private prisons?
Private prisons place profit before the rehabilitation and well being of
prisoners. As Doc Crantz, founder of the Corrections Corporation of
America (CCA) said, "In running this company we just focus on
shareholder value and the rest of it just works out fine." This drive
for profits and lack of public accountability mean as many cutbacks as
possible in educational programs, training and salary for correctional
officers, medical care, food, and living conditions.
So what's that mean?
Private prisons do not provide the services and supervision required to
run a functional prison. Correctional officers in private prisons
receive six times less training than state or federal correctional
officers. Officers are assaulted 50% more in private prisons than in
public prisons and there are 66% more inmate-on-inmate assaults.
Prisoners in for-profit prisons often return to jail after being
released.
Is that it?
Private prisons must fill as many beds as possible to make a profit, so
they eagerly mix minimum-, medium-, and maximum-security prisoners,
endangering both correctional officers and prisoners. Public prisons
separate prisoners who pose a threat when together. Since more beds
filled means more money made, private prisons benefit from keeping
people in jail longer. Tom Beasley, CCA Founder, advises, "just sell it
(prison beds) like you were selling cars or hamburgers." Treating people
like hamburgers results in murders and assaults and a lower quality
facility.
How does Xavier University contribute to private prisons?
Xavier University's food service provider is Sodexho-Marriott Services
(SMS), 100% of which will soon be owned by Paris-based Sodexho Alliance
(SA). SA has large investments in CCA, and it owns and operates private
prisons in the UK and Australia. It is YOUR money spent on food here on
campus that goes to a corporation that profits by mistreating and
endangering prisoners and correctional officers.
"Building prisons to deal with crime is like building graveyards to deal
with a fatal disease."
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Sodexho Giving You Gas?
Sodexho-Marriott doesn't own any private prisons, does it?
The parent company of Sodexho-Marriott (SMS) is Sodexho Alliance (SA).
In their company magazine, SA refers to SMS' new clients as their own.
SA will soon own all of SMS. A SMS executive is listed on the board of
SA executives. SA has large investments in Corrections Corporation of
America (CCA), the largest private prison company in the world. SMS'
profits go to private prisons.
Doesn't Sodexho Alliance have only a minor holding in CCA?
SA's investments are large enough that it has a strong controlling
interest in the company. SA is the second largest institutional investor
in CCA. Jean-Pierre Cuny, a top SA executive, is on CCA's board of
directors. Tom Beasley, founder of CCA, is on SA's board. SA is the only
company that has a contractual agreement giving it the right to place
executives on CCA's board. Last year SA saved CCA and her sister
company, the Prison Realty Trust, by making a deal in which SA gained
ownership of UK Detention Services and the Corrections Corporation of
Australia. They have talked divestment but have acted to expand their
holdings in the private prison industry.
Anything else?
SMS also donates over $15,000 a year to the American Legislative
Exchange Council, an organization for prison privatization and
expansion, mandatory minimum sentencing, and other policies that ensure
that more people stay in jail for longer periods of time, adding to the
profits of corporations like Sodexho Alliance.
52% of SA's revenue comes from SMS. College campuses provide $1.2
billion in revenue for SMS. It is our money funding this industry. It
is our protest that will end this industry. Student protests have
already forced Doc Crantz, a founder of CCA, off of SMS' board, and cost
SMS contracts at four college campuses. Further pressures on the
company will force SA to fully end its ties with the private prison
industry.
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