The Obama administration said on Thursday that it would begin to phase out the use of private for-profit prisons to house federal inmates. The Bureau of Prisons had resorted to such prisons to ease overcrowding...but the number of federal inmates has been dropping... In announcing the policy shift, the Justice Department cited that decline, as well as a critical recent report by the department’s independent inspector general about safety and security problems in private prisons...  Sally Q. Yates, the deputy attorney general...said [private prisons] “do not save substantially on costs,” and they provide fewer rehabilitative services, like educational programs and job training, that are “essential to reducing recidivism and improving public safety.” ...

Advocates of prisoner rights applauded the policy shift...and called on state prison agencies to follow suit... The inspector general report...identified three corporations as running the private prisons used by the federal government: Corrections Corporation of America, GEO Group, and Management and Training Corporation. [includes comments by Management and Training Corporation, Corrections Corporation of America]