WHO WE ARE
 
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PCWG, 1114 Brandt Drive, Tallahassee FL 32308

The mission of the Private Corrections Working Group (PCWG) is to provide information and assistance to citizens, policy makers, and journalists concerning the dangers and pitfalls of privatization of correctional institutions and services in order to reverse and stop this social injustice.

Judy Greene, Director, is an independent criminal justice policy analyst and a founder of Justice Strategies. Her areas of expertise include private prisons, sentencing, and corrections policy. Judy began her prison privatization research almost a decade ago as a Senior Research Fellow for the Institute on Criminal Justice at the University of Minnesota Law School. Prior to that post Judy was director of the State-Centered Program for the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. From 1985 to 1993 Judy was Director of Court Programs at the Vera Institute of Justice, and she is currently a senior research associate for the Justice Policy Institute, the Drug Policy Alliance and the Women’s Prison Association.

Buffie McFadyen, Director, is a member of the Colorado House of Representatives and is Speaker Pro Tem.  Buffie has been on the cutting edge fighting the for-profit private prison industry for a number of years.  She originally hails from Buffalo, N.Y, hence her nickname.

Erik Milman, Director, currently works as a Washington Representative for Corrections USA, which represents over 80,000 public Correctional Officers. In his capacity, with Corrections USA, He developed the legislative agenda for the organization. Under his leadership, Corrections USA has substantially expanded it’s presence in Washington, DC and in the Halls of Congress and Executive Branch. Mr. Milman worked with key Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, including Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee to develop legislation that would apply the Freedom of Information Act to private prison contractors. In addition, Mr. Milman is the principal of Milman Research and Consulting, a political consulting firm that has conducted opposition research in campaign throughout the country.

Bryon Price, Director, is an Associate Professor of Political Science in the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University (TSU) in Houston, Texas.  He also serves as the Interim Director of the Barbara Jordan Institute for Policy Research.

The PCWG staff consists of the following people:

Ken Kopczynski, Executive Director, since 1993, Ken has been a Legislative and Political Affairs Assistant for the Florida Police Benevolent Association (PBA), the largest collective bargaining agent for law enforcement, correctional and correctional probation officers in Florida. He lobbies on behalf of officers, conducts research and analysis, and provides campaign consulting. Mr. Kopczynski received his Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from the Florida State University with a minor in Political Communications in 1992. Ken represented the PBA and the Communications Workers of America on the Public Safety and Justice Campaign. He recently published a book Private Capitol Punishment about his experience exposing corruption in the for-profit private prison industry in Florida. The proceeds are donated to PCI.

Frank Smith, Field Organizer, Frank has been a social justice activist for almost four decades. He has been involved in criminal justice research, labor organizing, prison construction moratoriums, civil rights restoration, alternatives to incarceration and directed programs providing substance abuse treatment, prevention and education, and prisoner reentry services. His published efforts range from a feature journal article on the treatment and prevention of Hepatitis C in prisons in Counselor Magazine to contributing a chapter on Native Americans in for-profit prisons, in Capitalist Punishment, published in 2003. Frank sits on the Board of the South Central Kansas Peace and Social Justice Center, is Vice-President of the Alaska AFSCME Retiree Chapter and is a former two-term member of the Kansas Silver Haired legislature. He graduated from California State University at San Francisco with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and completed all but dissertation at the Saybrook Institute.