REDEYE 2/8/17

Obama sets up deportations of Haitians for Trump
NYT, 1/12 — …”It’s important for the Haitian voice to be heard….Not just for the incoming government , where we have so many reasons to be worried , but for the current government because of the actions they’ve taken on Haitian immigrants” [said the director of Haitian women for Haitian Refugees]….
…In September, the Obama administration detained Haitians at the United States-Mexican border…and ordered deportations. Some pregnant women and mothers with children were given temporary…reprieve…but their husbands were deported.
After Hurricane Matthew struck in early October, the administration…resumed deportations in November.
Chicago kkkops: rampant torture and killings
NYT, 1/14 — A blistering report…described…the Chicago Police Department…[as] saying excessive force was rampant, rarely challenged and chiefly aimed at African-Americans and Latinos….
…The investigation laid out in chilling detail unchecked aggressions: an officer pointing a gun at teenagers on bicycles…; officers using a taser on an unarmed, naked 65-year-old woman with mental illness….
…After officers used excessive force, their actions were practically condoned by supervisors, who rarely question their behavior….
Officers used force such as punching…to restrain…suspects but videos showed officers’ use of force was unnecessary….
…”Officers engaged in…unnecessary foot pursuits…and too often ended with officers unreasonably shooting someone — including unarmed individuals”….shooting at vehicles without justification….
Several activists said the findings were unsurprising….but expressed little confidence… [Change] would take place….
…“The system is corrupt,” said Dorothy Holmes, whose son was killed by a Chicago police officer in 2014….We want these officers charged as criminals….”
…A chilling video…showed a white police officer shooting a young black man, Laquan McDonald, 16 times. For months, the city fought to keep the…camera footage from being made public….
…Two years ago…black men…said they had been tortured and abused in the 1970s and 1980s at the hands of a “Midnight Crew” of officers overseen by a notorious police commander….A task force…concluded that racism had contributed to a long pattern of institutional failures by the police….
Just weeks after the…investigation, an officer shot and killed…a teenager said to be wielding a bat, and an elderly neighbor it by  stray bullet….Last summer, another officer fatally shot an unarmed teenager in the back as he was running away.
Myanmar: new ruler, same old capitalism
GW, 1/13 — For decades, the punishment for speaking out against Myanmar’s rulers was…a very long stretch behind bars. The new democratic government led by Aung San Suu Kyl, which took power last April, insisted that era was over….
Myo Yan Naung Thein…has been on trial for criminal defamation, accused of insulting the commander-in-chief of the armed forces….detained without bail since early November….
He is one of dozens of people arrested on similar charges under the rule of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy. Many expected the party…to bring an end to prosecutions brought under broad and repressive laws. Instead, they have skyrocketed.
Eight billionaires’ wealth = 3.6 billion people’s
GW, 1/20 — The world’s eight richest billionaires control the same wealth between them as the poorest half of the globe’s population….Oxfam said it was “beyond grotesque” that a handful of rich men are worth $426 billion, equivalent to the wealth of 3.6 billion people.
Private prison corporations lock away the profits
GW, 6/24/16 — Getting locked up is unlikely to be good for your health but it’s terrific business for the booming private industry supplying…jails and prisons….
…Companies…market everything from jumpsuits and meal trays to masks to stop prisoners from spitting, straitjackets and other full-body restraints….
Donald Trump…has called for increased outsourcing of prisons. “I do think…private prisons…work a lot better.”
The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world…2.2 million [70 percent of inmates are black and Latino]. State prisons and county jails are adding healthcare to…services that are outsourced to for-profit companies….The industry is worth more than $3 billion a year….
…About 200 inmates died under the care of California Forensic Medical Group…between 2004 and 2014….The company is facing a class-action lawsuit in Monterrey county over medical and mental healthcare failures….
Lawsuits haven’t stopped…Corizon Health, the largest private prison healthcare provider in the U.S. from steadily increasing earnings. Corizon’s revenue has grown…to $1.55 billion in 2015….
The companies making the most money from prisons in America are Geo Group and Corrections Corporation of America which, combined, run more than 170 prisons and [immigrant] detention centers. CCA made revenues of $1.79 billion in 2015.