Opposition to Private Prison Nominee to head US Marshalls Service

Apparently in response to media coverage of the opposition campaign to
Hylton the House Judiciary committee has moved up Hylton's hearing to next
Weds to try to head off any kind of opposition. A number of public interest
organizations have expressed opposition to Hylton's nomination based on her
prior service to Geo Group and the conflicts of interest involved. Please
take a minute to call the senators below and express your opposition to her
nomination. And of course please forward this to others who may be
interested as well.

TIME SENSITIVE! Call to Action on opposing the Hylton nomination!

On November 9, 2010, a coalition of organizations -- including the Alliance
for Justice, Human Rights Defense Center, Private Corrections Working Group,
Grassroots Leadership, National Lawyers Guild, International CURE, Detention
Watch Network and Justice Policy Institute -- announced their opposition to
Stacia A. Hylton, who has been nominated to head the U.S. Marshals Service.

The Marshals Service handles security for federal courthouses and also
oversees the detention of federal prisoners awaiting trial or immigration
proceedings.

The opposition campaign against Hylton's nomination focuses on conflicts of
interest based on her acceptance of $112,500 in consulting fees from GEO
Group, the nation's second-largest private prison company, which has
contracts with the U.S. Marshals to house federal detainees.

A month before she retired from her position as the Federal Detention
Trustee in February 2010, Hylton formed a consulting company in Virginia.
Following her retirement, her company (of which she is the sole owner)
quickly accepted consulting work with GEO in regard to detention services,
and was paid $112,500. Hylton is now nominated to direct the U.S. Marshals
Service, which has contracts with GEO Group to house federal prisoners.

In short, she accepted a substantial sum from the same private prison
industry that she was overseeing as the Federal Detention Trustee and will
be overseeing again if her nomination is confirmed - the same industry that
profits handsomely from incarceration and has a financial incentive to keep
more people in prison. We believe this is a blatant conflict of interest.

For more information, including other connections between Hylton and private
prison companies, please read the November 9 press release, here:

https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/350_displayNews.aspx

PLEASE ACT NOW! Hylton's nomination is scheduled for a hearing on November
17 (next week).

Contact the following members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to express
opposition to the Hylton nomination, especially the first two offices
listed, which are for the Committee's leadership. If any of the Committee
members represent your state, make sure to mention that when you call! You
can mention her conflict of interest due to accepting consulting fees from
GEO Group, or cite other information included in our press release. Please
be polite and respectful when you call, and ask to speak with the Senator's
judiciary staff. Thank you!

Chairman
Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
202-224-7703
202-224-9516 fax

Ranking
Member Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
152 Dirksen Senate Office Building
202-224-5225
202-224-9102 fax

Senator
Herb
Kohl (D-WI)
330 Hart Senate Office Building
202-224-3406
202-228-2294 fax

Senator
Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
104 Hart Senate Office Building
202-224-5251
202-224-6331 fax

Senator
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
331 Hart Senate Office Building
202-224-3841
202-228-2258 fax

Senator
Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
135 Hart Senate Office Building
202-224-3744
202-224-9102 fax

Senator
Russ Feingold (D-WI)
506 Hart Senate Office Building
(202) 224-5323
(202) 224-2725 fax

Senator
Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
730 Hart Senate Office Building
202-224-4521
202-224-2207 fax

Senator
Arlen Specter
(R-PA)
711 Hart Senate Office Building
202-224-4254
202-228-1229 fax

Senator
Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
290 Russell Senate Office Building
202-224-5972
202-224-3808 fax

Senator
Charles Schumer (D-NY)
313 Hart Senate Office Building
202-224-6542
202-228-3027 fax

Senator
John Cornyn (R-TX)
517 Hart Senate Office Building
202-224-2934
202-228-2281 fax

Senator
Dick
Durbin (D-IL)
332 Dirksen Senate Office Building
202-224-7028
202-228-0781 fax

Senator
Tom Coburn (R-OK)
172 Russell Senate Office Building
202-224-5754
202-224-6008 fax

Senator
Ben Cardin (D-MD)
509 Hart Senate Office Building
202-224-4524
202-224-1651 fax

Senator
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
502 Hart Senate Office Building
202-228-6293
202-228-6459 fax

Senator
Amy
Klobuchar (D-MN)
302 Hart Senate Office Building
202-228-6317
202-228-2186 fax

Senator
Ted Kaufman (D-DE)
383 Russell Senate Office Building
202-224-5042
202-228-3075 fax

Senator
Al Franken (D-MN)
320 Hart Senate Office Building
202-224-5641
202-224-0044 fax


Paul Wright, Editor
Prison Legal News
P.O. Box 2420
West Brattleboro, VT 05303
Phone: 802 257-1342
Fax: 866 735-7136
pwright@prisonlegalnews.org
www.prisonlegalnews.org

Effective March 5, 2010 our Seattle office is closed. All mail and calls
should go to the above address.