A DOJ memo released Thursday instructs officials to either not renew or “substantially reduce” contracts with private prison corporations as they expire.
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“They simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs and resources; they do not save substantially on costs”, Yates wrote, also citing a report that said private prisons were more risky than those in public hands.
Yates noted that about 195,000 inmates are housed in bureau or private facilities, down from a high in 2013 of 220,000.
The Washington Post reports that Scott Marquardt, President of Management and Training Corporation, stated that private and federally run prisons are incomparable due to differing inmate populations and claimed that the decision of the United States Department of Justice does not reflect the inspector’s report.
In the memo, Yates said that by May 2017, the bureau is expected to house just 14,200 inmates in private prisons – a small percentage of the approximate 195,000 federal inmates now in the US.
The Justice Department explained the plans to reduce the use of private prisons, which will affect thousands of inmates. Yates’ memo does not apply to any of those prisons. On Thursday, she tweeted: “Glad to see that the Justice Department is ending the use of private prisons”.
“This is a major victory for those of us who have fought for years to expose the innumerable abuses and indignities in our Criminal Alien Requirement prisons and we’re overjoyed the Department of Justice has finally listened, however belatedly”, Terri Burke, ACLU of Texas executive director, said in a statement.
Analysts also said the impact on the companies was limited as the DoJ’s decision pertained only to the BOP and not to other federal bodies, such as the U.S. Marshals and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and state and local jurisdictions.
Pueblo County Commissioner Liane “Buffie” McFadyen was perhaps the loudest opponent of private prisons when she served in the General Assembly from 2003 to 2011. Burns, of CCA, noted that the announcement affected only Bureau of Prisons correctional facilities, which he said make up 7 percent of the company’s business.
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), one of the largest private prison companies in the US, said in an e-mailed statement the report had “significant flaws” and that their facilities are equal to or better than the those run by DOJ.
Thirteen private prison contracts will not be renewed over the coming five years.
BOP now uses private prisons “primarily to confine low security, criminal alien, adult males”, according to the inspector general’s office. It reorganized into a real estate investment trust in 2013 and has prisons in 20 US states and the District of Columbia, according to its website.
Trading had to be halted for the two largest prison providers – the Corrections Corporation of America and GEO Group – but still managed to fall 51 percent and 43 percent, respectively. “As acknowledged in the announcement, the BOP (Bureau of Prisons) will continue, on a case-by-case basis, to determine whether to extend contracts at the end of their contract period”.
IN is home to two privately-owned prison facilities.
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The Sentencing Project group found that there were 94,365 prisoners held in private institutions in 2010.
