Department of Justice

FBI Launches Investigation into a Private Prison So Violent it is Called “Gladiator School”

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In what is one of the most disturbing private prison stories you’ll ever hear, a facility in Idaho run by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) in under investigation by the FBI due to claims it was so violent inmates called it “Gladiator School.” So how does a prison transform into such a place? Apparently, CCA was so eager to cut costs that it chose to understaff the facility and hand over control to prison gangs.

I’ve covered private prisons on many occasions in the past, including this CCA facility in particular. I think private prisons are one of the worst ideas possible in a democratic society. I suggest you read some of my prior articles:

A Deep Look into the Shady World of the Private Prison Industry

Idaho Dumps Private Prison Company Due to “Violence, Understaffing and Over-billing”

America in 2013: Florida Football Stadium Named After a Private Prison Company

America in 2013: For-Profit Prisons Get Favorable Tax Breaks

Now from the AP:

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The FBI has launched an investigation of the Corrections Corporation of America over the company’s running of an Idaho prison with a reputation so violent that inmates dubbed it “Gladiator School.”

The Nashville, Tenn.-based CCA has operated Idaho’s largest prison for more than a decade, but last year, CCA officials acknowledged it had understaffed the Idaho Correctional Center by thousands of hours in violation of the state contract. CCA also said employees falsified reports to cover up the vacancies. The announcement came after an Associated Press investigation showed CCA sometimes listed guards as working 48 hours straight to meet minimum staffing requirements.

“The FBI is investigating CCA and looking at whether various federal fraud statutes were violated and possibly other federal statutes connected with the fraud,” Olson said. “They will be working in close consultation with our office. Beyond that I can’t comment.”

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Eric Holder Just “Doesn’t Know”…Video of the Day!

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If you are looking for a hilarious, short video to end the workweek with…look no further! Nothing sums up the state of disorder in the the union like watching Attorney General Eric Holder stumble when confronted on his incompetence and cronyism by the almost equally corrupt Congress.  Let’s cut the guy some slack though, he … Read more

Great News: Introducing the “Whistleblowers Defense League”

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The U.S. government has a particular disdain for activists with computer chops, folks often times referred to as “hacktivists.”  This was put on full display for the entire world earlier this year when an overzealous and vindictive federal prosecutor’s witch hunt against prodigy Aaron Swartz drove him to suicide.  This same contemptuousness has also resulted … Read more

Texas Fights Back Hard Against “Warrantless Cellphone Tracking”

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So there are two bills under consideration in the Texas state legislature that could represent a huge victory for champions of privacy against the national surveillance state.  As such, we need to spread the word to as many people as possible and provide support to the activists in Texas that are leading the charge.  Obama’s ridiculously authoritarian Department of Justice believes that regular citizens have no expectation of privacy if we carry a GPS device on our cellphones.  Free human beings beg to differ.  From Slate:

According to the Department of Justice, cellphone users can be tracked without a warrant because “no reasonable expectation of privacy” applies to location data. But lawmakers in Texas disagree—and are proposing strict new tracking regulations that could place the state at the forefront of nationwide efforts to rein in government surveillance.

Two identical bills filed at the end of last month in the state House and Senate propose a series of amendments to the Texas code of criminal procedure. The bills, submitted by Rep. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, and Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, would in all but exceptional cases require law enforcement agencies to get a search warrant to obtain cellphone location information—whether the phone is being tracked in real-time or retrospectively.

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Meet Mary Jo White: The Next SEC Chief and a Guaranteed Wall Street Patsy

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Obama’s nominee to head the SEC, Mary Jo White, is just another gatekeeper appointed to make sure no one ever goes after the Wall Street crime syndicate.  As I have written about many times in the past, Obama does not nominate anyone to a high position of power in government who will not behave like a good little lapdog for Wall Street.

Despite Obama’s propagandist statement about how “you don’t want to mess with Mary Jo,” her background implies she will function as a useful servant to the financial oligarchs.  Forget for a second about that fact at her recent firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP her clients included the usual suspects such as such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS), and UBS AG, but she is actually known as the prosecutor who popularized the “slap Wall Street on the wrist” approach.  From Bloomberg:

As Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor during the 1990s, Mary Jo White could have sought the corporate equivalent of the death penalty: indicting Prudential Securities Inc. for fraudulently marketing $8 billion in ruinous energy partnerships to small investors.

Instead, Prudential’s attorneys pressed White, who had earned notice as an aggressive litigator in terrorism and organized crime cases, to consider something less punitive. She ultimately accepted, agreeing to a $330 million fine and placing Prudential on probation, allowing it to avoid criminal charges.

White’s record on white-collar cases reveals a more practical streak. Her invention of corporate probation, or deferred prosecution, in the Prudential matter was later copied by scores of U.S. attorneys seeking punishment for a company without going to trial.

“Practical” means having no balls and laying down to Wall Street crimes.

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NEVER Talk to the FBI Without a Lawyer…Here is Why

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This is a great talk with the civil libertarian and defense attorney Harvey Silverglate.  He is the same person that was mentioned in my recent post: A Broken Justice System: “Most Americans Commit About Three Felonies a Day.”  This video is not just for those that fear they may one day be paid a visit … Read more

Another Day, Another Questionable Bank Settlement

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Good thing everyone is now distracted and divided on the whole gun debate so the banksters can once again get off with a slap on the wrist for financial crimes against humanity.  For those that have forgotten what LIBOR is, I wrote about it in my piece My Two Cents on LIBOR-GATE.  This is how the CFTC itself described LIBOR this summer:

The American public and our markets rely upon the integrity of benchmark interest rates like LIBOR and Euribor because they form the basis for hundreds of trillions of dollars of transactions and affect nearly every corner of the global economy,” said David Meister, the CFTC’s Director of Enforcement.

Now here is the punishment for rigging the most important interest rate in the world.  From the NY Times:

It has also charged two former UBS traders with crimes that include conspiracy, wire fraud and violation of antitrust laws. The subsidiary will pay a $100 million fine, and the traders, if extradited and convicted, could go to jail. But the deal leaves UBS itself relatively unscathed. In all, it will pay $1.5 billion to settle allegations of rate-rigging that span nearly a decade and implicate the bank and its bankers far beyond the wrongdoing of two rogue traders.

According to the investigation by the Financial Services Authority, the British regulator, 40 individuals at UBS, including 11 managers, were directly involved in rate-rigging that was carried out to boost trading profits, while at least two more managers and five senior managers were aware of the practice.

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“It’s Time to Look Forward…” Deconstructing the Latest Orwellian Meme

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As of late, I have noticed increased usage of the very dangerous and duplicitous meme “time to look forward.”  This is typically used as a rebuttal to someone questioning past crimes committed by the criminal elite and their henchmen.  The statement seems to work well on the sheeple, as in their minds this sounds reasonable.  … Read more

More Evidence Emerges on How Obama Protects Wall Street Criminals

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A brief and important article here by Eileen Foster in Rolling Stone.  Eileen was a Home Loans executive at Countrywide in 2007.  When she started to blow the whistle on gigantic fraud at the company she became a target.  She states that: Countrywide managers went after my job and reputation, intimidating witnesses and altering statements. … Read more

Even Washington D.C. Insiders Admit Eric Holder is a Bankster Puppet

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You know it’s bad when even Washington D.C. insiders (and Democrats to boot) cringe at the cruel joke that the Department of Injustice has become under Eric “Fast and Furious” Holder.  Look, we all know that in any government there is going to be some level of corruption, but when the country’s chief law enforcement … Read more