Browsing: Private Prisons

The much-advertised bargain to taxpayers provided by private prisons is mostly eradicated by the longer terms served by their inmates, according to a Wisconsin economist. Her comparative study of prisons in Mississippi also found higher rates of recidivism among private incarcerees, further adding to public safety costs.

Fearing a Biden-Harris victory in November, the private prison industry’s campaign donations have increased 14 percent since 2016 while it also secures new contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As a result, the future of private prisons is all but secured.   

More than 120,000 inmates are housed in facilities operated by private corporations under contract with the federal and state governments. While that amounts to a relatively small fraction of the total U.S. incarcerated population, for-profit prisons “diminish equality” in the nation’s justice system and should be abolished, says a University of Baltimore Law Review paper.

At least 20 pension funds and plans have invested in Geo Group or CoreCivic, the two biggest private prison operators.  Some of the largest investments, by pension funds for public sector workers such as teachers and firefighters, come from states with “sanctuary” policies, such as New York, California and Oregon.