Protesters say Wyatt puts profits over civil rights / Photo
3:51 PM Tue, Apr 28, 2009 | Permalink
Email
 |
 |
Projo 7 to 7 News BlogTaking the news pulse of Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts, by Providence Journal and projo.com staff, from 7 to 7, every business day |
|
Get the 7 to 7 on your mobile at www.projo.com. Twitter: projo | RSS | Email alerts
« 21 victims in alleged stolen-computer scheme |
Main
| Jamestown police want Sundlun's driving examined »
Providence Journal photo / Kathy Borchers Holding signs and listening to the speakers are from left: Kathy Lessuck, Christina Nieves and Delores Cifuenta, part of a group protesting at the for-profit jail.
CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. -- A group of about 50 activists gathered outside the Wyatt Detention Facility Tuesday to protest the for-profit jail's zeal for seeking federal-immigration detainees, saying it was a sacrifice of human rights for corporate profit. As at least four inmates in the prison looked out the windows of their cells inside and people outside stood along the street with signs that read "Don't fill it, up shut it down" and "Prisons are not economic development" looked on, a series of speakers condemned U.S. immigration policy and recent remarks by Daniel F. Cooney, the chairman of the Central Falls Detention Facility Corporation Board. Last week Cooney said the board hoped to convince the federal government to return federal immigration detainees to the jail, so that is could start receiving the nearly $100 per prisoner per day it used to get before the federal government pulled its detainees from the jail. "Frankly, I'm looking at it like I'm running a Motel 6," Cooney said. "I don't care if it's Guantanamo Bay. We want to fill the beds." Wyatt has a capacity of 740 and needs a minimum of 600 detainees to cover its budget. The federal government pays the jail just over $100 daily for each detainee. Lawyer Roberto Gonzalez ripped the private jail system that he said Wyatt symbolized. He said Cooney's remarks showed that federal immigration policy does not seek justice, but has created a system where people who can least afford legal representation are incarcerated and held in custody by jailers who profit the longer the prisoner is held. "This is not part of our justice system," Gonzalez said. "These are simply warehouses where people disappear." Open Table of Christ Methodist Church in Providence Pastor Duane Clinker told the group that the prison's walls didn't just deny those inside their freedom, they help disguise the wrongness of the system. "You can't see the destruction of our rights because of all the razor wire," he said. The federal government pulled its immigration detainees from the jail earlier this year in response to the in-custody death of 33 year-old Hui Liu "Jason" Ng last summer. Ng was a Chinese national who from a fractured spine and liver cancer that went undiagnosed until the final days of his life. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a wrongful death suit on behalf of Ng's wife and two young sons, and it charges that Ng's pleas for help were ignored by jail staff and that corrections officers and nursing staff subjected him to what amounted to torture. Seven staff members were disciplined - three of them were fired -- in connection with Ng's death. 
CommentsLeave a commentPlease be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish. |
Tags 
New comments
New photos
New posts
Projo blogs
Archives
"This is not part of our justice system," Gonzalez said. This is VERY funny, they are helping ILLEGALS and cry about not part of our justice system?? ILLEGALS are NOT part of our justice system! They are here ILLEGALLY or don't these nuts get it. Put Gonzalez in jail with the rest of the ILLEGALS.
Report Abuse
Bravo to those who stood up for civil and human rights this afternoon. As if the wrongful death of Mr. Ng wasn't bad enough - Cooney's comments add insult to injury and demonstrate a clear lack of sensitivity for the families and communities of RI.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. The fact that a correctional facility in our own state is operating in this manner undermines the rights of all Rhode Islanders. We deserve better!
The Wyatt has proved to be an ugly mark on our state and if it is unable to survive financially it should be shut down!
Report Abuse
Let me start off my saying that (almost) no one in jail should be abused. But like it or not, jails are big business. They employ a lot of people, contribute to the economy, and generate revenue for the municipalities. Ng shouldn't have died, but remember the prison guards are used to working day after day with the trash of society. They're given no respect and have to fear for their life and safety every day. Cut them some slack. You're lucky you have Wyatt. If you opened "Robert's Prison" I'd have the violent inmates in 4x8 cells nearly 24x7. If they had to be moved, they'd be in wrist and ankle cuffs. Any disrespect toward a guard or other official (or any fights) would come with severe penalties such as complete isolation for up to a month, reduced food portions, and no lights. You'd see how quickly these guys would straighten up. Wyatt is a country club.
Report Abuse
the Wyatt Detention Facility should be call the "butcher of Central Falls". The prison system is nothing more than an industry base on profits. If the State of Rhode Island really wants to end prostitution, they can start with the so called justices system.
Report Abuse
Wyatt a country club?! Obviously you've never spoken to anyone who's spent time there or even bothered to read the detailed report that ICE itself put out regarding the circumstances around Ng's death. The behavior on the part of staff and management at that facility was beyond repugnant. These prison guards deal with immigration and federal detainees - people who have yet to be convicted of any crime and, in the case of the immigration detainees, who aren't likely to be facing criminal charges. The "crime" that put them in Wyatt is their presence in this country combined with the chance of birth that made them an "alien." Need I explain how fundamentally wrong that is? They are not the "trash of society" and for anyone to try to brush off the abuses that took place and continue to take place in thousands of facilities across the US because guards are overworked, etc. is absurd. What part of HUMAN RIGHTS don't YOU understand?!
Report Abuse