Reforming Private Prisons from the Inside

The Tennessean publishes article by Constantine Cannon whistleblower lawyers Anne Hartman and Sarah Poppy Alexander (November 2, 2016).   Click here to read the article.

The New Federal Rules on Private Prisons Will Not End Private Prisons — But There May Be Another Answer

By Anne Hayes Hartman and Sarah Poppy Alexander As we recently argued in The Tennessean, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) decision to end the use of private prisons for select federal facilities is a first step towards reforming the industry.  However, DOJ’s announcement will have only a limited impact.  Only 13 federal Bureau of Prisons facilities are affected, leaving the remaining privately run facilities, including other federal facilities for Immigration...

Trump Administration Okays Continued Use of Privately Run Prisons

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team The Trump administration announced this week it will allow the federal Bureau of Prisons to continue contracting out prison services to private companies. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo rescinding an Obama administration memo that had directed the federal government to phase out and ultimately stop relying on private prisons. Sessions’ order says the earlier memo “changed long-standing policy and practice, and impaired...

Constantine Cannon continues its commitment to ending abuses in private detention facilities

This week, Constantine Cannon is proud to continue its representation as pro bono counsel to Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom for Immigrants in supporting California’s efforts to end the use of private immigration detention facilities in the state.  Last spring, we filed a “friend of the court” brief for these same organizations in the district court in opposition to the Geo Group’s efforts to stop the...

Constantine Cannon Files Amicus Brief in Support of California’s Effort to Curb Private Prison Company Abuses

Constantine Cannon is proud to represent three leading immigrants rights organizations, Human Rights Watch, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, and Freedom For Immigrants in filing a “friend of the court,” or amicus brief, in two cases related to California’s right to ban private prison companies.  Last year, California enacted AB 32, which barred private prison companies from operating within the state.  The state determined that these companies failed to comply with...

Read the Essay Submitted by Inina Kachelmeier in the Second Annual Law School Scholarship Contest

The Constantine Cannon whistleblower team is pleased to share with you the Second Place Winner of the firm’s Second Annual Law School Whistleblower Essay Contest.  That award goes to Inina Kachelmeier, a first-year student at Northeastern University School of Law, Class of 2024. Inina received a Bachelor of Science in Biology, with minors in English and Economics, from the Robert D. Clark Honors College of the University of Oregon.  She has taught English in Korea and...

Can the False Claims Act Protect Immigration Detainees from Forced Labor?

By William Greenlaw A recent human rights case raises a novel question of False Claims Act applicability: when private immigration detention facilities defraud the government by forcing individuals into labor. The federal government has a vast regulatory and statutory scheme meant to stop federal contractors from using trafficked labor. But forced labor in detention facilities has historically been overlooked. After a recent Fifth Circuit decision, that may no longer be...

Continued Consolidation in Jail Healthcare Puts Everyone at Risk

Jails around the country are responsible for providing for the health and safety of approximately 612,000 people.  Many of these individuals suffer from debilitating conditions, including mental health crises, drug withdrawal, disabilities, and chronic health conditions.  As such, the consistent provision of health care is a critical part of the daily work of any jail. An increasing number of jails are deciding to privatize that health care by contracting out...

Immigration Detention Facilities Continue to Pose Fraud Risks

Last summer, we wrote about the fraud risks inherent in the massive increase in government spending for immigration detention. Almost one year later, a child’s tragic death again calls attention to failures at the immigration facilities that maintain ever increasing government contracts. On April 30, 2019, a sixteen-year-old boy died at a Southwest Key facility in Brownsville, TX, two weeks after arriving in the U.S. The cause of death remains...

Whistleblower News From The Inside -- November 3, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Kansas City for-profit college shuts down ahead of FCA trial – Heritage College, accused of falsifying student grade and attendance records to receive $32M in federal funding, shut down days after the Eighth Circuit ruled the trial can proceed. Kansas City Business Journal SEC advises Ontario Securities Commission to enact whistleblower retaliation provisions – SEC head Mary Jo White, at a Toronto conference this...