Andrea Germanos – In ‘Tacit Admission’ of Cruelty, DHS Says It Too May End For-Profit Prisons

On the heels of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) “important and groundbreakingdecision” to phase out the use of private prisons, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has just signaled that it may follow in those footsteps—a move that would heed human rights advocates’ call for the agency to end “prison profiteers in our inhumane immigration system.” In a statement …

Nika Knight – Revealed: Private Federal Prisons More Abusive and Violent

Private federal prisons are more abusive, violent, and dangerous than their government-run counterparts, according to a frightening report published this week by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General. “Federal officials should be reconsidering their alliance on private prisons and developing plans to begin cancelling these contracts, rather than continuing this experiment.” —Carl Takei, ACLUThe report [pdf], which examined …

Zaid Jilani – Private Prison Company Is Getting Rich Locking Up Kids

An explosive new report from the Daily Beast’s Betsy Woodruff looks [3] at how the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), one of America’s two large private prison corporations, has seen its profits explode, thanks to a little-noticed move by the Obama administration. Woodruff notes that before last summer, there was virtually no “family detention,” referring to the detention of migrant families crossing …

Lee Fang – Private Prison Lobbyists Are Raising Cash for Hillary Clinton

As immigration and incarceration issues become central to the 2016 presidential campaign, lobbyists for two major prison companies are serving as top fundraisers for Hillary Clinton. Corrections Corporation of America and the Geo Group could both see their fortunes turning if there are fewer people to lock up in the future. Last week, Clinton and other candidates revealed a number of lobbyists who …

Did Hell Just Freeze Over? Obama to Free Scores of Non-Violent Drug Offenders from Prison – Matt Agorist

The timeless words of Joe Rogan seem to be taking their toll on the consciences of American politicians. To kidnap and lock people in a cage for a personal choice and action that harms no one, is an evil act. Some politicians are figuring this out — or at least pandering to public demand. Either way, the result is the …

‘Profiting From Misery’: Private Prison Corporations Driving Harsh Immigration Policies – Sarah Lazare

Private prison companies are spending millions of dollars to lobby the U.S. government for harsher immigration laws that, in turn, spike corporate profits by driving up incarceration levels, a new report from the national social justice organization Grassroots Leadership reveals. Entitled Payoff: How Congress Ensures Private Prison Profit with an Immigrant Detention Quota, the report’s release on Wednesday coincided with a renewed …