Judge John Kane Order of February 27, 2017, on case brought against GEO for exploiting the people it has locked up and making illegal super profits from their labor:
"I have not found and GEO has not provided any authority requiring that, for TVPA claims, causation must be proven by direct and not circumstantial evidence. Were a jury deciding the individual merits of Representatives claims, it surely would be permitted to make such an inference. Thus, it should
be allowed on a classwide basis as well. See CGC Holding Co., LLC, 773 F.3d at 1092."
Kane notes that precisely because Plaintiffs have few resources and are not native English speakers, class certification is appropriate.
The order in its entirety is here.
For previous complaints, please go here.
If the suit is successful, the private prison industry will be shut down for civil immigration cases--if GEO, CCA, and the other immigration prison profiteers had to pay prevailing wages for work performed, the profits would vanish and so would their incentive to lobby, i.e., bribe, Congress for mandatory detention and other laws that sustain their industry and hurt U.S. residents who lack, or appear to lack, legal status.
Congratulations to the plaintiffs and the legal team behind this!!
Brandt Milstein (Milstein Law Office), Andrew Turner (Buescher, Kelman & Perera, P.C.), Alexander Hood (Towards Justice), Hans Meyer (Meyer Law Office, P.C.), and Andrew Free (Law Office of R. Andrew Free).
Background: Plaintiff attorneys read this article in the New York Times discussing research published as "One Dollar Per Day: The Slaving Wages of Immigration Jail, 1943 to Present," Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, which owes a lot to the FOIA litigation on my behalf by Andrew Free. The attorneys investigated GEO's Aurora facility, identified plaintiffs, and sued GEO. The Fair Labor Standards Act Minimum Wage claim was thrown out, but Plaintiffs will appeal; the TVPA (forced labor), and Unjust Enrichment (Colorado common law) claims are the ones for which Judge Kane certified the class.
Of course there is more legal work and research ahead. The Deportation Research Clinic is soliciting donations to support our research on this and other government misconduct, including ongoing FOIA litigation over prison contracts. At present the Clinic research is supported by student volunteer and paid research funded by a few thousand dollars/year from my discretionary account. All contributions welcome! To donate, please contact kelby AT protonmail.com. The Clinic is a nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
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