Persistent sisters still at CCA's heels

Religious groups want the company to spill all the beans on political donations

Email | Print By Geert De Lombaerde

A federation of religious groups is for the third time asking shareholders of Corrections Corp. of America to force the company to disclose all of its political contributions.

In CCA’s proxy statement filed this morning, the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mercy Investment Program, Dominican Sisters of Hope and Catholic Health East call on the Nashville-based company to publish a semi-annual report spelling out its guidelines for political and trade group contributions as well as which executives are involved in allocating the cash.

The organizations, which own a combined 6,500 shares of the company, filed an identical proposal last year, winning about 27 percent of votes cast. The Sisters of Charity, Mercy Investment and another religious order first proposed the semi-annual update in 2007, when the proposal garnered almost 24 percent of votes.

“Relying on publicly available data does not provide a complete picture of the company’s political expenditures,” the groups wrote in their proposal. “Absent a system of accountability, corporate executives are free to use company assets for political objectives that are not shared by and may be inimical to the interests of a company and its shareholders.”

Not surprisingly, CCA’s board is asking shareholders to again vote down the deal, saying that “participating in the political process is an important means to enhance stockholder value and promote good corporate citizenship.” The company also says existing regulations already provide for enough disclosure and that the proposed plan would add unnecessary costs.

Early in the afternoon, shares of CCA (Ticker: CXW) were off 0.3 percent to $14.41. Year to date, they’re down about 12 percent.