Is Idaho soft on crime? It appears so in the case of the Tennessee contractor that failed to adequately staff a prison, and tried to cover it up. After the Associated Press revealed the chronic understaffing and falsifying of time reports by Corrections Corporation of America, the state Department of Corrections called on the Idaho State Police to conduct an investigation. The department is taking back control of the state’s largest prison, south of Boise, which CCA has run for more than a decade. For an entire year, state officials said a criminal investigation was underway, but that turned out to be false. Gov. Butch Otter said he supported the decision to forgo a probe, but changed his tune after releasing CCA from civil liability in exchange for $1 million. On Feb. 18, he directed the ISP to investigate. It isn’t difficult to imagine the howls of protest if a run-of-the mill suspect were treated with such deference/Spokesman-Review Editorial Board. More here.

Question: Why is the state treating Corrections Corporation of America with kid gloves?