PRISONERS
OF PROFIT
tracts flowing. Slattery, his wife,
Diane, and other executives have
been prodigious political rainmakers in Florida, donating more than
$400,000 to state candidates and
committees over the last 15 years,
according to HuffPost’s review.
The recipient of the largest share
of those dollars was the Florida
Republican Party, which took in
more than $276,000 in that time.
HUFFINGTON
11.03.13
Among the company’s lobbyists
in Tallahassee is Jonathan Costello, who served as legislative affairs
director for Republican Florida
Gov. Rick Scott in 2011 and 2012.
Gary Rutledge, another YSI lobbyist, served on Scott’s inaugural
committee after his 2010 victory.
“We regularly hire companies
that have abysmal track records of
performance, but great track re-
Juvenile Judge Ron Alvarez was so horrified by the
descriptions of [The Pahokee Youth Development
Center] that he compared it to a “Third World country
that is controlled by ... some type of evil power.”
Former Florida Senate President
Mike Haridopolos, an avid supporter of prison privatization,
received more than $15,000 from
company executives during state
and federal races.
The company has given more in
Florida over the past 15 years than
the combined donations of Office
Depot and Darden Restaurants,
Inc., two of the state’s largest Fortune 500 corporations.
cords of political campaign contributions,” said Dan Gelber, a former
Florida senator and state representative who has been critical of the
state’s juvenile justice policies.
Williams, the YSI spokesman,
said the company is “committed to
supporting people who we believe
will be effective in a political position, regardless of whether they
would have an impact in our industry.” Lobbyists, he added, “can
be extremely helpful” in “clarifying
to legislators the realities of the
operations of juvenile facilities.”