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Dee Hubbard, President, a graduate of Eastern
Washington University with degrees in both Education and Political
Science. She has worked for the Washington State Legislature as an
intern to the House Minority Leader, the Alaska State Legislature and
the Alaska Department of Community and Regional Affairs as a Field
Training Officer and Local Government Specialist. Dee is involved with a
number of PTA groups throughout Alaska and is an appointed member of the
State Bond Reimbursement and Grant Review Committee. She was Co-Chair of
the OSI-sponsored National Legal Resource Center Committee in 2002. The
Committee's work resulted in the creation of the National Resource
Center on Prisons and Communities. Dee was a member of the NRCPC Board.
Alex Friedmann, Vice President,
served 10 years behind bars, including 6 years at a
private prison operated by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA).
While incarcerated he was a contributing writer for Prison Legal News
and Prison Life magazine, and self published the Private Corrections
Industry News Bulletin. Following his release in 1999, he served on the
steering committee of the Public Safety and Justice Campaign, was
elected co-chair of the Restorative Justice Coalition of Middle
Tennessee, worked as a volunteer mediator and was involved in other
criminal justice-related projects. Alex has had numerous articles
published on prison privatization issues including a chapter in
Capitalist Punishment, a book published by Human Rights Internet, and
has spoken at various conferences and forums about the private prison
industry. He assisted with several lawsuits filed against private prison
companies. Alex currently is an Associate Editor for Prison Legal News.
Stephen Raher,
Secretary/Treasurer, is an independent criminal
justice policy analyst based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. After
graduating from Colorado College in 1998, Stephen helped found the
Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition (CCJRC), which has mounted
opposition to all Colorado prison expansion plans (public and private)
since its inception. Stephen served as the CCJRC's senior policy analyst
until June 2004. He currently works as a reporter for KRCC-FM, the
National Public Radio affiliate for southern Colorado. Stephen holds a
master's degree in public administration from the University of Colorado
and has conducted numerous research projects on correctional
privatization, rural prison siting, public finance, and mental health
issues.
Deb Phillips, Director,
works in the electrical contracting business that she and her husband
founded in 1983. She’s reported for and published a small newspaper. Deb
is the West River Coordinator of the Parents Who Care Coalition, writing
for and publishing its newsletter. She has lobbied for positive changes
in juvenile corrections. Deb is the current president of the South
Dakota ACLU and a board member of SD Peace & Justice.
The PCI 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; the
proceeds are donated to PCI, Private Capitol Punishment about his
experience exposing corruption in the for-profit private prison industry
in Florida.
Frank Smith, Field Organizer,
Frank has been a social justice activist for almost four decades. He has
been involved in criminal justice research, marijuana decriminalization
initiatives, 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 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.
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