PRIVATE PRISONS - Invisible investors seek big bucks in mass incarceration

http://truth-out.org/news/item/29809-follow-the-money-invisible-investors-seek-big-bucks-in-mass-incarceration#

Whether it be health care, food services or telecommunications, private equity firms rake in those big bucks by cutting corners on services, slashing jobs and wages, and taking advantage of pro-incarceration policy measures, from realignment to the war on drugs. Such an approach drives up asset value for investors, but does so at the cost of expanding mass incarceration and driving down the quality of life for those behind bars and their loved ones.

The class action lawsuit by Murphy and others threatens to put a significant dent in profits. It was filed by San Francisco attorney Michael Bien. After an independent review produced a scathing report on the Santa Cruz jail, county officials still refused to act. Bien, along with the public defender and ACLU, subsequently filed the lawsuit. About a year ago, settlement talks broke down. The plaintiffs then sought class action status, which was recently certified by a federal judge. The suit doesn't petition for a cash payout, but "injunctive relief" - an order to fix the problem.
The stakes are high for CFMG as a win for Murphy and his fellow plaintiffs would affect care in the 27 counties where they currently have contracts across California. As Michael Bien told Truthout, "If we challenge the way they do tuberculosis screening, suicide prevention, detox, saying they do it wrong, it's the same way they do it throughout the state. It raises serious implications for them."
That a large investment firm like HIG was providing financial backing for CFMG was troubling to Bien. "HIG is in it for the big bucks," he said, "they're thinking we're going to make a killing. The way they make money is less drugs, less doctors, less hospital visits."