Prison Guards Sold Training Woodshop Goods Illegally
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Three prison guards are charged with illegally selling wood items manufactured in a Tennessee prison work training program. The guards worked as trainers in the building trades education program at the Nashville jail, privately run by Corrections Corporation of America.

The scam came to light after Prison Legal News produced undercover videos. The guards have been charged with abusing inmate labor. 

NBC Nashville broadcast the video, which shows the handmade wood items produced by the inmates for a business run by the guards, called Stand Firm Design. Associated press identified the guards and owners of Stand Firm Design as Roy Napper, a former guard; Rob Hill, a building trades instructor at the Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility; and Steven Binkley, a computer instructor who worked near the woodworking shop. Napper told AP the charges are untrue. 

Correction Corp. of America operates 60 facilities that can house 85,000 inmates, including the Nashville jail. Building trades and carpentry training programs are operated by CCA as a way to help inmates develop job skills for seeking employment after release.  A Wymonig facility, for example, the CCA Crossroads Correctional Center, recently built more than 30 birdhouses for a non-profit social servie agency in its area. The project was part of a Crossroads carpentry course offered to inmates through the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER).

NCCER students built the birdhouses from scrap lumber. The inmates were responsible for selecting the wood they wanted to use, sanding and cleaning it, and assembling the houses, which vary in size and style. The entire project took about 10 days to complete.  

At CCA's Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility, "the goal is to teach inmates how to find not just a job, but a long-term career," says CCA. Program managers work to put inmates in touch with area colleges and technical schools. The facility also works with the Tennessee Department of Workforce Development to put inmates nearing release in touch with employers interested in hiring them.  

 

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About the author
Bill Esler | ConfSenior Editor

Bill wrote for WoodworkingNetwork.com, FDMC and Closets & Organized Storage magazines. 

Bill's background includes more than 10 years in print manufacturing management, followed by more than 30 years in business reporting on industrial manufacturing in the forest products industries, including printing and packaging at American Printer (Features Editor) and Graphic Arts Monthly (Editor in Chief) magazines; and in secondary wood manufacturing for WoodworkingNetwork.com.

Bill was deeply involved with the launches of the Woodworking Network Leadership Forum, and the 40 Under 40 Awards programs. He currently reports on technology and business trends and develops conference programs.

In addition to his work as a journalist, Bill supports efforts to expand and improve educational opportunities in the manufacturing sectors, including 10 years on the Print & Graphics Scholarship Foundation; six years with the U.S. WoodLinks; and currently on the Woodwork Career Alliance Education Committee. He is also supports the Greater West Town Training Partnership Woodworking Program, which has trained more than 950 adults for industrial wood manufacturing careers. 

Bill volunteers for Foinse Research Station, a biological field station staddling the border of Ireland and Northern Ireland, one of more than 200 members of the Organization of Biological Field Stations.