April 2017 – Helenawinds

Who Owns The New For-Profit Illegal Immigrant Detention Centers – You Do

Two of the nation’s largest for-profit prison companies are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Corecivic (formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America) and GEO Group are the world’s leading providers in for-profit incarceration. Corecivic owns the private prison in Shelby MT, Crossroads Correctional Facility.

Corecivic and GEO Group are in a fast and furious competition to build huge holding areas and prisons for illegal immigrants that are detained in the United States. These holding areas and prisons are commensurate with the private prison holdings that are built for American citizens. That is to say they dehumanize, degrade, abuse and provide substandard care for the humans placed in their facilities.

Many Montanans have strong opinions about immigration and illegal immigration in the United States. Many op-eds, speeches, rallies, and marches have been held in Montana supporting immigrants to the United States. Safe zones are created and people feel really good about the actions they take. People are mad about the treatment of immigrants. Let us see how mad you really are.

Vanguard Group Inc is the largest institutional investor in GEO Group. The largest owner of Corecivic is Vanguard Group Inc. The other significant holder is Blackrock Funds in both GEO Group and Corecivic

The State of Montana, through its investment portfolio, is invested in Vanguard Group Inc and Blackrock Funds. Every time you cash your Montana Employee Retirement check or your teachers retirement check you are cashing in on your investment of each detained and imprisoned immigrant and every prisoner confined in overcrowded prisons. For every SNAP recipient, welfare recipient and recipient of Medicaid in Montana, your benefit is based on the number of immigrants detained and imprisoned and for every prisoner forced into overcrowded prisons. How mad are you now?

If you are still mad about the conditions placed on immigrants and prisoners, contact your legislator and tell them to pull your investments in Vanguard and Blackrock and accept a lower benefit. If you are not willing to accept a lower benefit from the loss of the investment then you are complicit in the detainment and imprisonment of immigrants. How mad are you now?

You can march and rally and carry your little sign. The real test is are you willing to pull your investment in immigrant prisons and private prisons for American citizens and accept a lower benefit. Or do you demand the same benefit off the suffering of these humans. You own the investment, you decide. The prisons are yours, make the decision then take action or take the money and be complicit in the suffering you are rallying about.

Oregon Militiamen, Mormonism and Our Public Schools

A cautionary tale for parents and students of Montana Public Schools. Are your children being programmed to radical Mormon (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) theology? Are your children coming home with certain innocent key phrases that you don’t even pay attention to? Here are some key phrases you should be tuning into and why they are steeped in radical Mormon theology taught in your schools to your children.

1) The White Horse (refers to the White Horse Prophecy)
2) The Constitution is hanging by a thread.(Precursor for the White Horse)
Variations:1) Shredding the Constitution 2) Tramping on liberties
3) Betraying the Founders
3) Secret Combinations (Mormon euphemism for Satanic conspirators)
4) National Center for Constitutional Studies

Oregon Militiamen LaVoy Fincum, Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy have at least four things in common. They are devout members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons), they believe(d) in the White Horse Prophecy, they believe(d) the United States Government was comprised of secret combinations and they all conspicuously carried pocket copies of the Constitution printed by the National Center for Constitutional Studies. Ammon and Ryan’s father, Clive Bundy, was not at the Oregon occupation but he shared the same beliefs during the Nevada standoff with the government and his family.

The nation misunderstood the real meaning behind the standoff. The White Horse Prophecy, first attributed to the Mormon Prophet, Joseph Smith, reveals “the time would come when the Constitution and the country would be in danger of an overthrow and if the Constitution be saved at all, it will be by the elders of this Church.”

LaVoy Fincum, Clive Bundy, Ammon Bundy, and Ryan Bundy were attempting to bring forth the White Horse Prophecy and, being Elders of the Mormon Church, were going to save the Constitution from the secret combinations of the Government. Fincum made references to “The Title of Liberty” a story from the Book of Mormon in which the Nephites had to stand and fight for their liberty, religion and land. Another Mormon occupier, Dylan Anderson, used Captain Moroni (the last remaining Nephite who hid the golden plates for Joseph Smith to find and translate the Book of Mormon) as his alias when talking to reporters.

Before the occupation Ammon Bundy said the constitution was “hanging by a thread” an allusion to the White Horse Prophecy, wherein Mormons would have to come forth and save the Constitution. Glenn Beck and Senator Orin Hatch are often heard sending this coded message. Most Americans that have heard this think of it as just another overblown commentary and think nothing of it. To those familiar with the White Horse Prophecy, it is an unmistakable signal. It is the calling to Mormon Elders to come forth and save the Constitution.

W. Cleon Skousen wrote the pocket constitution (see the cover page at the top of this post.) This interpretation of the constitution is a fraudulent, pseudo-historical pamphlet. Skousen believed the Constitution was based on a Christian theocracy and the Federal Government had no authority. He drew his inspiration from the John Birch Society that was co-founded by the Koch brother’s father. Throughout the pamphlet, in the margins, is Mormon theocracy and in coded language calling forth the Mormon Elders to save this land and Constitution. The Center for Constitutional Studies was founded by Mormons and is headquartered in Idaho,

Florida distributed over 80,000 copies of this pseudo constitution to school age children before the Tampa Bay Times clued them into the notes and annotations by Skousen,

Sit down with your children. Ask them if they have heard any of the phrases mentioned. Check their school and homework and see if any of the phrases are included in the work. If your child comes home with a pocket constitution with the picture shown at the beginning of this post go immediately to your school board. Don’t let secret coded radical Mormon theology influence your children.

The nation got it wrong once, the standoffs were not about grazing rights, and federal overreach. They were coded messages to the Elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to fulfill the White Horse Prophecy. Don’t let that misunderstanding reach into the classroom.

“It’s Good Enough for Native Americans” Montana Prison – Two Rivers Detention Facility

In June 2004, Judy Martz, Republican Governor (remember her), met with James Parkey in Las Vegas. James Parkey is a suave salesman for the ever-growing private prison industry. Parkey describes himself as the savior for local communities hit hard by unemployment and poverty.

Parkey runs a company called Corplan Corrections. He was looking to sell Governor Martz a prison project for the State of Montana. Through state officials he ended up in Hardin. His method is to promise a full-service team to take on the entire project, a turn-key operation.

This team has a construction firm to build the facility, a prison operator to find prisoners, someone to run the facility, underwriters to sell bonds and a consultant to do an economic study. To officials in a county where poverty is double the national average, it sounded like a good deal.

Hardin's $27 million municipal bonds earned the underwriters, Herbert Sims of Connecticut and Municipal Capital Markets Group of Dallas $1.62 million. The prison's designer and builder, Hale-Mills Construction of Houston a maximum price of $19.88 million. Then there was lawyers, surveyors, consultants and Parkey himself. No one knows how much Parkey made.

Hardin didn't make out so well. The prison opened in mid 2007 and only had one contract in 2014 for a few months with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The Montana Department of Corrections refuses to house prisoners there, going so far as to have Attorney General Mike McGrath write some rambling opinion about the illegality of the facility. It seems that the detention center is not in compliance with design standards. The majority of Montana inmates are caucasian. The Montana Department of Corrections refuses to house these caucasian inmates at the detention center because of substandard design.

In 2014, The Bureau of Indian Affairs entered into a contract for a brief time with the Two Rivers Detention Center before pulling the Native American prisoners from the prison. Now the Bureau of Indian Affairs is entering into another contract with the facility to house Native American inmates from across the northern plains.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs was created as a part of the War Department...yes, the War Department. How far does one need to think before realizing that the agency was created to be aggressive and suppressive.

The War Department Bureau of Indian Affairs already has 11 federal prisons in Montana for Native Americans.

Montana

Blackfeet Adult Detention Center
Blackfeet Youth Detention Center
Crow Adult Detention Center
Flathead Adult Detention Center
Fort Peck Indian Juvenile Services Center
Fort Peck Police Department and Adult Detention Center
Fort Peck Transitional Living Unit
Northern Cheyenne Adult Detention Center
Northern Cheyenne Youth Detention Center
Rocky Boy Adult Detention Center
White Buffalo Youth Detention Center

The BIA now wants to add a 12th federal Native American prison in Montana at a prison that the State of Montana refuses to use for its' majority of caucasian inmates.

City Attorney Becky Convery housed a goat, hamsters, gerbils, cats and a field mouse named Mr. Jingles in the detention center.  Now we are going to make it another prison for Native Americans.

Please Montana can we stop this madness of locking everybody up.  We do not need a 12th federal prison in Montana.  Hardin was sold a bill of goods that did not work. We do not need to compound the bad decision by making another bad decision to lock up more Native Americans.

Governor Bullock & Dept of Corrections Duplicity in Montana Prison Overcrowding

In 1999 the State of Montana signed a contract with Corrections Corporation of America for operation and management services at Crossroads Correctional Center in Shelby MT. Crossroads Correctional Center is a for-profit correctional facility operated by a multi billion dollar corporation based in Tennessee. Formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America it is now known as CoreCivic.

Senate Bill 224 (2015) created a 15 member Commission on Sentencing to address the overcrowding in Montana Prisons. Montana Governor Bullock recently signed into effect a package of bills to address overcrowding in Montana Prisons. These actions sure look good to Montana tax payers and certainly help in future elections. The citizens of Montana owe accolades to Governor Bullock and his appointed Director of Montana Department of Corrections Mike Batista for their caring concern of the incarcerated and the effect of incarceration on the families of Montana. Right?!? You are so wrong!! Governor Bullock and Director Mike Batista have, in a very duplicitous manner, contributed to overcrowding in Montana Prisons.

In 1999, Governor Marc Racicot and DOC Director Rick Day signed a contract with Corrections Corporation of America. (The full contract and the excerpts are at the end of this post.) (excerpt 1) Section XXXXIX Section LI ” …agrees to house additional inmates transferred to the Facility in a number not to exceed the design specifications of the unit(s) Contractor proposes to use… “ To paraphrase, the Contractor cannot overcrowd the cells and prison.

In 2014, Governor Bullock and DOC Director Mike Batista amended Marc Racicot’s contract to read (excerpt 2) Amendment #13 Section II General Requirements (J) Notwithstanding, any other provision herein or in the Development Agreement, the Department authorizes the Contractor to add a third bunk in some cells for a total of 53 additional beds to house MDOC inmates.” To paraphrase, Bullock and Batista authorized the Contractor to overcrowd the cells and prison beyond design specifications.

Accolades Governor Bullock and Director Mike Batista. You just hid your duplicity in overcrowding the prison because no citizen is going to read a 212 page contract. That is until now.

In 2016, Governor Bullock and DOC Director Mike Batista amended Amendment #13 (excerpt 3) “Notwithstanding any other provision herein…the Department authorizes the contractor to continue housing MDOC inmates in the 53 bunks that were added pursuant to Amendment #13 through June 30, 2017.” To paraphrase, Governor Bullock and Director Mike Batista, while pretending to pass bills, create commissions and putting forth false precepts, are actually authorizing overcrowding the prison cells beyond design specifications through June of 2017.

Drum roll, applause, standing ovation. No one is going to read this contract so the duplicity of Governor Bullock and his appointed Director Mike Batista goes undiscovered and they can take their public bows to their good works. Please, extend your Montana values, we have caught on to what your values really are.

Excerpt 1 page 149
Expansion: Contractor, on sixty (60) days' notice, agrees to house additional inmates transferred to the Facility in a number not to exceed the design specifications of the unit(s) Contractor proposes to use in housing and managing the additional inmates.


Excerpt 2 page 9
Section II
General Requirements
  (J.)  Notwithstanding, any other provision herein or in the Development  
        Agreement, the Department authorizes the Contractor to add a third 
        bunk in some cells for a total of 53 additional beds to house MDOC
        inmates.

Excerpt 3 page 2
SECTION II
General Requirements
Subsection J shall be revised to read as follows:
J.  In Amendment #13, the Department authorized the Contractor to add a third bunk ("Third Bunks") in some cells for the purpose of housing a total of 53 additional MDOC inmates at the facility through June 30, 2015.  Notwithstanding any other provision herein or in the Development Agreement, the Department authorizes the contractor to continue housing MDOC inmates in the 53 bunks that were added to Amendment #13 through June 30, 2017.

Here is the entire contract if you want to read it.
CCAOperationandManagement

Montana Corruption – Profit in Private Corrections

Montana Department of Corrections contracts with private tax exempt corporations for correctional facilities. These private facilities are not accountable to Montana tax payers for exorbitant salaries paid to executive officers. See what your tax dollars are paying for.

Here are some facts about private corrections in Montana. All information is obtained from Form 990 Department of Treasury IRS as filed by each charitable organization.

Community Counseling and Corrections Inc (Butte Pre-Release) Executive Salaries based on 40 hour work week.
Mike Thatcher - $247,901.00
Perry Hawbaker - $121,917.00
Steve McArthur - $130,729.00
TOTAL $500,547.00

Boyd Andrew Community Services Executive Salaries based on 40 hour work week.
Amy Tenney - $124,431.00
Sue Carroll - $164,326.00
Michael Ruppert - $371,475.00
Boyd Andrew Management Service - $953,981.00
TOTAL $1,614,213.00

Missoula Correctional Services Executive Salaries based on 40 hour work week
Sue Wilkins $121,228.00
TOTAL $121,228.00

Alternatives Inc. Executive Salaries based on 40 hour work week except Donna Clinger who works 25 hours per week.
Nancy Good - $140,261.00
Jorge Diaz - $112,128.00
Fresia Skoczypec - $105,995.00
Donna Clinger - $67,592.00
TOTAL $425,976.00

Great Falls Pre-Release Services Executive Salaries based on 40 hour work week
Paul Corey - $81,210.00
TOTAL $81,210.00

COMBINED TOTAL FOR EXECUTIVE SALARIES FOR 5 PRIVATE CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES: $2,743,174.00. This total does not include staff salaries, just the executives.

These exorbitant salaries are paid by Montana tax payers. Private corrections is profiting from human suffering with exorbitant salaries paid to a few. There is nothing charitable or not for profit about these tax exempt corporations. We must stop this travesty of the lies of charitable good works. Stop private corrections in Montana and stop the lies concocted to keep these facilities operating for the good of a few.

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The Missing Three Quarter of a Million Dollars at Montana Probation and Parole

Montana Department of Corrections uses the services of private prisons, pre-release centers and treatment facilities. Apparently there is no accounting for monies spent on corrections between private facilities and the State Government. Let’s look at just one three quarter of a million dollar discrepancy. So where’s the money?

Kevin Olson, Administrator of Montana Probation and Parole, prepared a report for the 65th Montana Legislature, 2017. The report contains a spreadsheet for FY 2015 with information about CCCS Inc (Community Counseling & Corrections Services Inc), a non-profit private correctional facility in Butte MT. At the same time CCCS Inc (Butte) was preparing their non-profit form 990 for the Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service.

Page 32 of Kevin Olson’s report PRC STATISTICS – FY 2015 Residents at CCCS Inc (Butte) paid room and board in the amount of $787,268.00.

Page 9 of CCCS Inc Form 990 – FY 2015 Residents at CCCS Inc paid room and board in the amount of $1,507,711.00.

Kevin Olson’s report to the 65th Montana Legislature – FY 2015 2017 Rainbow Book Page 32- Paid by residents for Room and Board (Butte) 787,268.00. Put cursor on 2017 Rainbow Book to see report.

CCCS Inc Form 990 – FY 2015 2015-810413419-0c4a62ab-9 (1) Page 9- Paid by residents for Room and Board (Butte) 1,507,711.00. Put cursor on underlined numbers to see CCCS Inc Form 990.

Now I do not have a degree in accounting or an MBA but even I can see there is three quarter of a million dollars missing between what Kevin Olson is reporting and what CCCS Inc is reporting. So who has the money? Usually the one under-reporting has the money. Anyway that’s the way embezzlement usually works. I would find it preposterous to suggest that anyone in state government would be guilty of embezzlement but there sure seems to be a discrepancy somewhere. That’s a lot of money missing between a non-profit corporation and a state agency. Unfortunately these incarcerated people have no idea where their money goes. It just goes somewhere. Who has the money?