by David Safier
Here's the latest wrinkle in the story of the Kingman privately owned, medium security prison that was the scene of the recent escape of three prisoners.
The warden and chief of security at the Kingman prison where three prisoners escaped last month have resigned.
A spokesman for the private prison confirmed Saturday that Warden Lori Lieder and her chief of security, who he didn't name, resigned earlier this week.
Someone needs to interview these two and get their side of the story. Are they being used as scapegoats to deflect blame from the whole Republican-backed private prison scheme, or were they derelict in their duties?
Is the warden responsible when convicted killers are kept in a facility ringed by a wire fence and staffed by unarmed guards? Could she and her chief of security have prevented someone from driving up and throwing a wire cutter over the fence so three dangerous felons could cut through the inadequate fencing and walk out of the place?
Maybe the two of them deserve some blame, maybe not. But it's the privatization of a governmental responsibility that's the true culprit here.
Incompetence can come in many flavors, government incompetence, business incompetence, professional incompetence. With charter schools (so-called privatized education) it is up to the government and the parents to ensure that the services provided are worth the price that is paid.
Some government services are privately provided and by and large provided well. I am not aware of any highway in Arizona that government built although they have all been paid for by government with tax money. By and large they are built by a private company who is overseen by government inspectors.
Responsibility and incompetence are certainly the issues in this case.