for-profit prisons – Engaging Peace

Looking for social justice in the most unlikely places

Posted on July 12, 2017 by kathiemm

In a world where you can be anything, be kind.
Eastern Bank, #joinusforgood, posted with permission.

by Kathie MM

Big banks (the ones that claim to be too big to fail) are a big—very, very big cause for concern. The charges directed at them:

They reap profits by exploiting (not educating, not rehabilitating, not treating) men and women languishing in for-profit prisons, victims of the slow wheels of injustice that grind people up because they’re poor, powerless, and/or black/Hispanic/immigrant.
They rob the poor to pay the rich by swiping millions from welfare recipients and by financing predatory payday lending.
they contribute to environmental destruction by investing billions in fossil fuels.

But today I want to throw a little salt on the flames by talking about different type of bank—a bank that tries to put its money and talents where its mouth is—supporting progressive agendas.

I am referring to Eastern Bank, the bank that handles the Engaging Peace account.

On average, since 1999, the bank has donated 10% of its net income to local charities, for a total of over 100 million.

This includes 7 million to nonprofits in 2016. Their 2017 Targeted Grant opportunity focuses on immigrants.

Quoting MA Congressman Joe Kennedy, they say, ““A great nation does not wall itself in. A confident nation does not close its door to the people that need her protection most. A tolerant nation does not target children who have only known her streets or retaliate against communities that protect their neighbors. And a nation built on the sweat and sacrifice of generations of immigrant families does not take that patriotism for granted.”

In keeping with their social justice orientation, Eastern Bank has regularly received awards for its success as one of the “Best Places to Work for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality” and has been recognized as a “Leader in Diversity” for its workforce diversity initiative.”

Eastern Bank, it seems, is amodel for what a bank can do when its leaders actually want to make the world a better place. What a revolutionary idea!

Profiting from Prisons: The Evil Corporation Connection Part 2

Posted on August 25, 2014August 24, 2014 by kathiemm

Demonstration at Red Cross building in Hebron, Palestine, on February 20, 2012, against Israel’s policy of “administrative detention” and demanding that international society recognize Palestinian prisoners as Prisoners of War. Available under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

This is Part 2 of a series by Dot Walsh.

My research on for-profit prisons brought me to a G4S site advertising security products and services in 125 countries. Intimately connected with the military, G4S actively recruits and hires veterans for their programs and has partnered with U.S. Army’s Partnership for Youth Success.

G4S is a major security provider to the Israeli government, operating security patrol units that secure oceanic facilities, transport routes, and buildings and equipment of the security and finance industries . Previously, they also manned checkpoints until there was such negative publicity and outrage that this service was ended.

G4S operates the entire security system for many of the prisons designated for Palestinian political prisoners, with one major prison incarcerating a population of 2,200. Some of these prisoners have not been charged yet and some are administrative detainees. Prominent people around the world who have spoken out against the brutality and torture conducted within these prisons include Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Noam Chomsky .

In 2012, G4S was cited as violating Article 76 of the Geneva Convention for transferring children from the occupied territories and subjecting them to abusive treatment . With the current violence in Israel-Palestine escalating, it would seem possible that the United States could play an important role in speaking out against the violation of human rights and the G4S monopoly–if there was enough awareness among the American people to speak out.

Dot Walsh is a lifelong peace activist and member of the Engaging Peace Board of Directors.

Prisons for profit: The Evil Corporation Connection, Part I, by Guest Author Dot Walsh

Posted on August 21, 2014August 20, 2014 by kathiemm

As I write about the ongoing and never ending connection between the prison industrial complex and the military industrial complex and the association with for-profit corporations, I find myself on edge and angry. To know the individual pieces is upsetting but to see the entire immoral circle is beyond that feeling.

I was at the U.U. General Assembly a week ago volunteering to help at a booth with the Lionheart Foundation when a gentleman from a southern state approached to talk about what was happening in the largest prison in his area. Run by a private corporation, the prison was involved in a scandal in which judges in the area were investing in the corporation–which no doubt helped to keep the prison filled to capacity.

This discussion prompted me to look a little deeper into what was happening in the for- profit prison system – a system in which individuals are physically confined or interned by a third party under contract to a government agency. Private prison companies typically enter into contractual agreements with governments that commit prisoners and then pay a per diem or monthly rate for each prisoner confined in the facility.

Presently, corporations involved in building for-profit prisons as private prisons are profiting in the billions. The two largest corporations in the United States are Correction Corporation of America (CCA) and Wackenhut (named after the former FBI agent who formed the for-profit corporation).

In 2002 the company was bought out and in 2010 the name was changed to G4S Secure Solutions. This probably helped to disguise Wackenhut, as it has a negative reputation in the United States and is known for creating contracts with corporate industries and using prison labor for as little as 17 cents per hour. Many items that are used by the military are made by prisoners in the for-profit prisons–a cozy connection indeed.

For more about for-profit prisons, you can view the PBS documentary at

^{http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/419/video.html}

Dot Walsh is a lifelong peace activist and member of the Engaging Peace Board of Directors.