WHEREAS:
Recent fiscal problems at the state and local levels have led to the reduction of adult and juvenile correctional staffing, closing of adult and juvenile correctional facilities and increased interest in privatizing correctional facilities; and

WHEREAS:
Inmate population growth and/or cost-cutting efforts have led to increased workloads and more dangerous conditions for correctional staff.  Correctional staff guard the public against a much more dangerous inmate population, as a larger percentage of the inmate population is serving time for violent offenses; and

WHEREAS:
Prison overcrowding and staff cutbacks have been directly linked to inmate escapes, hostage situations, and assaults against prison staff and other inmates in publicly-operated correctional facilities; and

WHEREAS:
State and local budget problems have also led to increased privatization activity.  Profit-driven corporations, in pursuit of government funds, continue to pursue private contracts with federal and state governments to run their prison facilities. The use of private corporations to house, monitor and/or provide services for inmates has jeopardized the safety of those inside the facility as well as residents of neighboring communities; and

WHEREAS:
Private prison corporations do not protect public safety or lower costs for the public.  The Public Safety Act, which has been introduced in the Congress, would restore responsibility for public safety and security to federal, state and local governments.  The Act would prohibit federal private prisons and would deny certain funds to states and localities that operate private correctional facilities; and

WHEREAS:
The 2006 congressional and 2008 presidential elections present AFSCME and its correctional affiliates with an opportunity to develop a proactive agenda to fight dangerous working conditions and for-profit private prisons. State and local elections also present an opportunity to develop a strategy for protecting AFSCME-represented correctional employees against cuts and privatization.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That the AFSCME International and its correctional affiliates will work to develop and advance an effective agenda for addressing the reduction in correctional staffing, privatization of inmate services, and the closure of correctional facilities as a result of budget problems; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That the issues of safety, liability and accountability be held paramount in the operation of correctional facilities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME is fundamentally opposed to prison privatization. Punishment of U. S. citizens by incarceration, which requires federal, state and local governments to exercise their police powers over individuals, should not be delegated to a private party; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will continue to support the Public Safety Act, which ensures that core correctional services related to the operation of a correctional facility and the incarceration of inmates, are not provided by private contractors.
 
 
SUBMITTED BY: Ronald Alexander, President and Delegate
OCSEA/AFSCME Local 11
Ohio