Corrections Corp. of America sues Youngstown, claims prisoner tax is unconstitutional

YOUNGSTOWN — Corrections Corp. of America, which operates the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center on Hubbard Road, has sued the city, saying the city’s recently enacted $1 per-prisoner per-day tax on private prisons violates the U.S. and Ohio constitutions and the city charter.

Adeputy city law director, however, said the prisoner accommodation tax ordinance city council passed last year is valid.

The Nashville-based CCA filed the lawsuit Friday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, where the case is assigned to Judge R. Scott Krichbaum. No court hearing has been scheduled.

The new tax, which took effect Dec. 1, “discriminates against interstate commerce” in violation of the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution, the lawsuit said.

Because all inmates at NOCC are prisoners or detainees of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons or the U.S. Marshal’s Service, and CCA is acting as “an instrumentality of the federal government,” the fee also violates the intergovernmental tax immunity doctrine in the supremacy clause of the Constitution, the suit says.

For the complete story, see Tuesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com