We're troubled by D.C. officials' seeming lack of concern that Corrections Corporation of America appears in line to receive the feds' blessing to build and run the proposed prison. CCA has come under severe criticism from Ohio officials and some members of Congress, as well as being a defendant in a pending federal class-action lawsuit, for its questionable health and safety practices in operating the Youngstown, Ohio, prison that currently houses about 1,500 D.C. inmates. Further, we question the propriety of D.C. Council Judiciary Committee Chairman Jack Evans, D-Ward 2, accepting several large contributions to his mayoral campaign from CCA officials and the company's local law firm. Evans' committee has oversight responsibility for D.C.'s corrections system. CCA is represented locally by former at-large councilman John Ray, an attorney with the D.C. firm of Manatt, Phelps and Phillips who served on the council with many of its current members.
Public servants have a duty to represent their constituents' views and address their concerns.
Again, in Round 2, we wonder how some D.C. officials can claim to competently represent their constituents when they don't seem to be listening to the taxpayers who elect them and pay their salaries.