There was an article in our local Lexington Herald-Leader about a plan to cut 300 Federal prison jobs in Kentucky. The link to the article is here: www.kentucky.com/…
Here is the opening ‘wow’ paragraph:
“The federal Bureau of Prisons announced plans last week to eliminate more than 300 vacant employee positions at five prisons in Kentucky, sparking criticism from a Kentucky congressman and union officials who said the cuts put the lives of guards and prisoners in danger.”
Yeah, that is a HUGE deal. But there is more, nationally:
“The bureau plans to eliminate about 6,000 unfilled jobs nationally … The bureau, according to union officials, justified the cuts by saying it was acting in response to President Donald Trump’s proposed budget, which would eliminate about 6,000 bureau positions, and at the request of the federal Department of Justice.
So, what is the BIGGER story?
The order comes as a leaked memo shows the Bureau of Prisons ordered its facilities to submit some inmates for transfer to private prisons “to alleviate the overcrowding at Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) institutions and to maximize the effectiveness of the private contracts.” The memo was sent by Frank Lee, an assistant director of the bureau, and published by Government Executive in January.
There it is! They are cutting money to Federal prisons and siphoning it off to PRIVATE PRISON FIRMS! ‘Maximize the effectiveness of the private contracts’ my ass. Just wondering *who*, exactly, is gonna benefit the most.
This really should be a huge story. But then again, with Trump, it really doesn’t rank up there with all of his other criminal activity. Still, though readers here might be interested and perhaps this might make more national news in the process.