RICHARDSON TRAGEDY

Dear Fellow Citizen,

I have been privileged to serve as the Chief Executive Officer of Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) since August 2000. CCA employs 600 people in Nashville, over 2,000 Tennesseans and more than 17,000 employees across this country in caring for the inmates entrusted to us by government agencies. I know our employees work hard to protect the public and the inmates entrusted to our care.

Providing safe and secure prisons is essential to the well-being of our citizens. CCA takes this responsibility seriously. Our ability to provide this service helps 20 states and the federal government to pursue policies that make law and order possible. In the context of securing and caring for more than 75,000 inmates every day, CCA and our government partners encounter many complex and sometimes tragic situations.

One of the toughest days for me in this job was July 5, 2004. That morning, a CCA correctional officer found inmate Estelle Richardson unresponsive in her cell at our Metro-Davidson County Detention facility shortly after Ms. Richardson had breakfast. She later died. The day before her death, Ms. Richardson was involved in a cell extraction. Immediate suspicion focused on that extraction. CCA personnel at the facility informed all appropriate law enforcement agencies, which launched investigations into this death even before I and other senior CCA officers learned of it. CCA cooperated fully with these investigations. CCA placed the four correctional officers involved in the cell extraction on administrative leave, and they were not allowed to work in the facility again.

Based largely on the initial belief that Ms. Richardson’s death was caused by a skull fracture occurring within 24 hours of her death, the four correctional officers were indicted for manslaughter. CCA and those four officers were also sued by the court-appointed guardian acting on behalf of Ms. Richardson’s children.

Following the indictments and filing of the lawsuit, additional scientific information came to light that proved beyond any doubt that Ms. Richardson did not suffer the head injury during the cell extraction the day before her death. Additionally, this evidence proved that the head injury by itself did not cause Ms. Richardson’s death. Based upon the scientific evidence, the court-appointed guardian for Ms. Richardson’s children voluntarily dismissed his lawsuit against the four correctional officers, because he no longer believed they were responsible. The Richardson family then settled its remaining claims made against CCA. Likewise, the District Attorney General followed the scientific evidence and dismissed the charges against the four correctional officers. At this website, you can find a complete discussion of the facts about the Richardson case and see the documents The Tennessean will not show you.

CCA worked diligently with appropriate officials to find out the truth. Unfortunately, The Tennessean is not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation. The reporters and editors are pursuing an agenda that attempts to make people believe the worst about CCA. I have made the facts learned from the investigations available to the editor of The Tennessean, Mark Silverman. He apparently does not believe me. The Tennessean has given prominent news coverage to former inmates with little knowledge of the facts and ignored or minimized my statements.

I do not know why Mr. Silverman and his staff would give sensational coverage to these empty claims. The editorial position of The Tennessean against private prisons should not be a factor in news coverage.

Our employees, our customers, our shareholders, our friends – even our opponents -- deserve to know the truth. The search for the truth used to be the bedrock foundation of journalism. The Gannett Newspaper Division, which owns The Tennessean, has published its own “Principles of Ethical Conduct for Newsrooms.” The very first principle is: “Seeking and reporting the truth in a truthful way.” I invite any person to read the contents of this website, read the coverage CCA has received on these matters, and decide for themselves how well The Tennessean puts that principle into practice.

CCA is accountable for its actions to many constituencies. To whom is The Tennessean accountable? Its readers, for sure. Its corporate parent, the Gannett Company, also.

I call on the top executives of the Gannett Company to review the facts and the reporting of The Tennessean. An ethics policy is only as good as it works in the middle of a controversy.

With this www.thecca360.com website, we intend to give CCA a voice. The readers and the Gannett Company should make The Tennessean accountable.

Sincerely,

John Ferguson, CCA Chairman and CEO