Corrections_Today_May_June_2019

ACA’s General Session

A Conversation with John King: Anchor of CNN’s Inside Politics E veryone was in high spirits as Executive Director Jim Gondles introduced all there was to come that Monday morning on Jan. 14 at the General Session, sponsored by Aramark and Falcon Correctional and Community Services, Inc. He said, “We were getting here a little bit earlier, and the buses were having people get off, people were bright eyed and cheery, and Dr. [Betty] Gondles said, ‘Our ACA members, corrections people are terrific, they follow the example very, very well.’” After the presentation of the flags and after the Mexican, Canadian and American national anthems, Dr. Lannette Linthicum swore in Gary Mohr into office as ACA president. It was a momentous occasion as both Gary Mohr and Dr. Linthicum gave their presidential overviews. The spirit of ACA was felt throughout the morning and everything flowed in smooth succession as CNN’s Chief National

Correspondent and Anchor of Inside Politics John King was introduced. From the beginning, King wanted his speech to be a two-way discussion with the members of ACA and himself as he would later open the floor to questions on the current state of government, the evolution of broadcast news and how his job has changed over the course of reporting on nine presi- dential elections and more. Before he began, King humorously prefaced that he had no idea that Presi- dent Donald Trump would be a few doors down from him until that morning. King began by offer- ing his utmost respect and personal understanding of ACA and the corrections industry, saying, “I have a great appreciation for what you do. I’m a son of a corrections officer.” He continued, “I ap- preciate what you do, I understand the stress of it, I understand the joy of it as well.” King described that he saw, firsthand, how his dad believed in

2019 Winter Conference

44 — May/June 2019 Corrections Today