Justice Department says it's ending the use of private prisons

[DonViejo]

Source: The Washington Post

By Matt Zapotosky August 18 at 11:30 AM

The Justice Department plans to end its use of private prisons after officials concluded the facilities are both less safe and less effective at providing correctional services than those run by the government.

Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates announced the decision on Thursday in a memo that instructs officials to either decline to renew the contracts for private prison operators when they expire or “substantially reduce” the contracts’ scope. The goal, Yates wrote, is “reducing — and ultimately ending — our use of privately operated prisons.”

“They simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs, and resources; they do not save substantially on costs; and as noted in a recent report by the Department’s Office of Inspector General, they do not maintain the same level of safety and security,” Yates wrote.

The Justice Department’s Inspector General last week released a critical report concluding that privately operated facilities incurred more safety and security incidents than those run by the federal Bureau of Prisons. The private facilities, for example, had higher rates of assaults — both by inmates on other inmates and by inmates on staff — and saw eight times as many contraband cell phones confiscated each year on average, according to the report.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/08/18/justice-department-says-it-will-end-use-of-private-prisons/?utm_term=.ac1925892e7a&wpisrc=al_alert-national

[backscatter712]

1. GOOD! Private prisons are an abomination to democracy. n/t

[Cosmocat]

2. Sadly

A LOT of money was wasted and the lives of both those in custody and who took jobs with these operations were negatively impacted to learn what anyone with any sense would know.

Going to have to learn the same lessons with education ...

[LakeArenal]

41. How many schools could we have built

Even some in Mexico. What a concept.

[lewebley3]

35. Agreed: Good Decision: Business can not be trusted human lives

[Sunlei]

3. I don't think our Federal Gov. signed 20 year contracts with 'for profits like many State Govs did.

[Scarsdale]

6. Dick Cheney

He had $80 MILLION invested in private prisons. So appropriate for the cruel sob.

[Sunlei]

9. State "for profit" prisons. part of bush/cheney admin. plans to grab as much taxpayer $ as possible

Nothing like earning massive profits off all the "Free Government Money"

States are broke today because of this squandering of taxpayer money.

[Recursion]

7. The bulk of the "industry" is Federal, though

Most states like to keep their prisons private (they can profit directly from the inmates' labor, after all). So this is a pretty huge blow.

[Wounded Bear]

4. K & R ......

Long overdue. We never should have started privatizing prisons.

I always hated the idea of privatized prisons. Some things just do not lend themselves to the corporate for-profit model. Incarceration is one of them. Now, maybe we can tone down some of the bullshit 'mandatory sentencing' laws that tie judges hands and do nothing more than provide clientele for privatized prisons.

[burrowowl]

38. You are right!

My friends in Europe didn't believe me until I sent articles.

[eppur_se_muova]

5. "do not maintain the same level ..." Of course not, that would cut into profits !

The Gloriously Unrestrained Invisible Bloody Hand of the Free Market is all about providing the least value at the highest price, hence the largest profit margin. Money matters; people do not.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

14. Yep!

[Kber]

8. Great!

Now we need to lobby states to follow along.

[Cal33]

40. Oh, God! And I thought the ban applied to the whole country! I'd bet the

Republican states will hold on to private prisons the longest. Republicans
seem to be more sadistic than Democrats. Just look at their penchant for
the death penalty.

[Hekate]

10. Thank gods. They've been a running sore on our democracy and will be until the last one is razed.

[TalkingDog]

11. Well, this is embarassing.....

Inside the administration’s $1 billion deal to detain Central American asylum seekers

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/inside-the-administrations-1-billion-deal-to-detain-central-american-asylum-seekers/2016/08/14/e47f1960-5819-11e6-9aee-8075993d73a2_story.html

“For the most part, what I see is a very expensive incarceration scheme,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), the top Democrat on the House’s Immigration and Border Security subcommittee. “It’s costly to the taxpayers and achieves almost nothing, other than trauma to already traumatized individuals.”

[Baitball Blogger]

12. Well, there goes three months of writing on

Last edited Thu Aug 18, 2016, 01:50 PM - Edit history (1)

Orange is the new Black.

Really like the way they give dimension and background to new characters - at the same time they were providing social commentary about privately owned prisons.

[BlueMTexpat]

24. Great show ... and

Season 3 was especially good - except I cried at the season finale. Won't go into it here because of spoilers.

But

[Baitball Blogger]

33. Yeah, that was a great plot line.

Was the backstory that paralleled that episode a dream sequence? Or was it a retelling of the most memorable day in her life?

[BlueMTexpat]

49. I'm hoping that it was the latter ...

she certainly didn't deserve her ultimate fate. The most upsetting thing for me was that two "innocents" were caught up in that terrible moment of tragedy.

[BlueMTexpat]

50. I'm sorry, I actually meant

Season 4! Just realized now that I had stated the wrong Season.

[bonemachine]

28. don't worry

It'll take 5 years for them to actually follow through.

[Friend or Foe]

32. Better that the five years starts today

Rather than sometime after today.

[bonemachine]

37. True that.

I still have a little more parade pissing to do though:

Good and well for this 22,000 folks, but we'll still have 80,000+ in private state prisons

[Buckeye_Democrat]

13. Not to mention that private prisons provide incentive...

... for them to have MORE prisoners.

[AllyCat]

15. Good! Private prison is a pox on human rights

[lovemydog]

16. k & r

for good news

[Maeve]

17. Wonderful! And about time, too! eom

[qwlauren35]

18. Can this be Flipped?

Can the next administration reverse this decision?

[Ligyron]

21. Yes, but I doubt Hillary would do that.

[charliea]

19. And may their 'Industry' collapse!

Creating an opportunity to profit from the criminal justice system is a perversion. Confinement of citizens (and hopefully their rehabilitation) should never be subservient to a private profit motive, it's a public responsibility. To me that means government. Efficiency and cost-saving are good but the goals cannot be obscured by a profit motive..

[rocktivity]

20. Cue The Vonage theme!

The only thing private prisons do is make the privatizers rich -- a create the need to supply it with customers.


rocktivity

[SunSeeker]

22. K & R

[turbinetree]

23. Some good magazines on this subject

http://www.progressive.org/news/2016/01/188519/private-companies-are-making-killing-justice-system


http://prospect.org/article/bailing-out-private-jails


http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/06/cca-private-prisons-corrections-corporation-inmates-investigation-bauer

[Saviolo]

25. Looks like it's having an immediate effect:

Just saw this on Twitter:



From this Twitter feed:

https://twitter.com/shane_bauer/status/766313691235094529

[grahamhgreen]

43. Love it!

[Saviolo]

45. Genius:

And here you can see the 1 day, 5 day, 6 months, 1 year, etc... trend.

http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/CXW

What a brutal hit.

[grahamhgreen]

46. 5 year low! That 12% yield is a bit sickening. They've been putting people through a living hell

just to give investors a ridiculous yield.

[BlueMTexpat]

26. YESSSS!!!!

This is something that never should have been started.

[PatSeg]

27. That is great news!

The Obama administration is going to go out on a very high note.

[Faux pas]

29. Kickin' with gusto!

[FigTree]

30. And I sure hope

all private contractors, for health and mental health in particular, will also be terminated. The ones I know are absolutely horrible and largely contribute to a deleterious culture in a milieu that is extremely vulnerable to it.

[CanonRay]

31. Long overdue

the states should end this as well.

[PatSeg]

34. “Bottom line, I’d also say, you get what you pay for,” Yates said.

So true.

[retrowire]

36. this is yuge! nt

[Cal33]

39. Canada was the first country to abandon having private prisons. We are the second.

This is good news. It seems that in modern times, only English-speaking countries
still maintain private prisons. I have been looking for non-English-speaking
countries with private prisons, but haven't found one yet thus far. Does anyone
here at DU know of such a country?

It's up to Britain, Australia and New Zealand to do the same thing soon.

[grahamhgreen]

42. Major victory people! Keep up the good work!

[Peaceful Protester]

44. Society Must Focus on Rehabilitation

Last edited Thu Aug 18, 2016, 07:24 PM - Edit history (1)

Once a criminal, always a criminal?
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/once-a-criminal-always-a-criminal/

About 68 percent of 405,000 prisoners released in 30 states in 2005 were arrested for a new crime within three years of their release from prison, and 77 percent were arrested within five years, according to a report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).

The report also found that recidivism was highest among males, blacks and young adults. Within five years of release, 82 percent of property offenders were arrested for a new crime, compared to 77 percent of drug offenders, 74 percent of public order offenders and 71 percent of violent offenders, the report found.

Hope Is the Catalyst for Great Changes

People can change, and they can be rehabilitated. There are many who not only desire redemption, but who also deserve a second chance. Many simply do not have the skills nor understand the science of transformation. Show people a better way, teach them what they need to know, and they will strive to reach their greater potential. If you study people who have turned their lives around, you'll find a profoundly and deeply moving story of change, redemption, and the potential of the human spirit.

[Skittles]

47. it is disgusting they ever thought this would be a good idea

UGH

[malthaussen]

48. Now, if 50 states would just follow suit. n/t

[UCmeNdc]

51. Outstanding decision!

There is no good reason to make it profitable to collect people and throw them in jail.

[marble falls]

52. About 20 years late.