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FurrowedBrow said:

from wiki:
CCA and The GEO Group (private prison companies) are major contributors to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a Washington, D.C. based public policy organization that develops model legislation that advances tough-on-crime legislation and free-market principles such as privatization.

Under their Criminal Justice Task Force, ALEC has developed and helped to successfully implement in many states �tough on crime� initiatives including �Truth in Sentencing� and �Three Strikes� laws. Corporations provide most of the funding for ALEC�s operating budget and influence its political agenda through participation in policy task forces. ALEC�s corporate funders include CCA and The GEO Group. In 1999, CCA made the President�s List for contributions to ALEC�s States and National Policy Summit; Wackenhut also sponsored the conference. Past cochairs of the Criminal Justice Task Force have included Brad Wiggins, then Director of Business Development at CCA and now a Senior Director of Site Acquisition, and John Rees, a former CCA vice president.

By funding and participating in ALEC�s Criminal Justice Task Forces, critics argue, private prison companies directly influence legislation for tougher, longer sentences.[26] The legal system may also be manipulated more directly: in one case (Mid-Atlantic Youth Services Corp) a private prison company was found guilty of paying two judges $2.6m to send 2000 children to their prisons.

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By funding and participating in ALEC�s Criminal Justice Task Forces, critics argue, private prison companies directly influence legislation for tougher, longer sentences.[26] The legal system may also be manipulated more directly: in one case (Mid-Atlantic Youth Services Corp) a private prison company was found guilty of paying two judges $2.6m to send 2000 children to their prisons.

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