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31 Aug 2016

US Govt. to phase out use of private prisons over cost, prisoner health & safety concerns

On 18 Aug. 2016, the US Department of Justice announced it would begin to phase out the use of for-profit prisons for federal inmates, returning to full housing of prisoners in federally owned and operated facilities.  As justification, it cited drops in the overcrowding that had originally prompted the government to turn to private prisons; a recent government report critical of safety and security problems in private prisons; insufficient educational and job training programmes necessary to reduce recidivism; and lack of cost savings.  It also followed a major investigative series published by The Nation earlier in the year that "uncovered more than two dozen questionable deaths and widespread medical negligence" in privately run federal prisons.  The companies operating federal prisons are Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), Geo Group, and Management & Training Corp.

Advocates for human rights in prisons applauded the move and called for states to follow suit.  The majority of US prisoners are held in prisons run by individual states.  Several states indicated that they would continue to use private prisons including Ohio and Tennessee.  Prison reform advocates urged states to also stop using private prisons, including in Arizona, CaliforniaFloridaNew Mexico, and Texas.  California will continue to use private prisons to address overcrowding, but its officials have stated a "strong preference" to end private prison contracts.  Some states had previously started to reduce use of private prisons including ColoradoIdaho, DC, Kentucky, Mississippi and Texas.

The decision also does not affect the use of private detention centres by US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for undocumented immigrants, although DHS later announced that it would also review the use of private prison firms. These detention centres outnumber private prisons used by the federal government to house those convicted of crimes.