City Attorney says ‘corrective education’ scheme uses extortion and false imprisonment
SAN FRANCISCO (June 8, 2016)—City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed a motion for preliminary injunction yesterday to stop a private, profit-driven “corrective education” scheme from continuing its illegal practices and contracting with retailers. The motion follows the Nov. 24, 2015 lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court against Corrective Education Company for extorting suspected shoplifters into paying hundreds of dollars to participate in its six hour long behavioral modification program or face criminal prosecution. After making false and misleading statements to the accused shoplifters, many “choose” to participate in the program, which forces them to sign unlawful contracts confessing to crimes. If they are unable to pay, CEC threatens to hand the case over to police for prosecution.
“This is sort of pseudo criminal justice for nothing more than pure profit of private entities,” Herrera said.
Watch CBS This Morning coverage of the injunction here.