US Government Closing Federal Private Prisons

When the news was released earlier this week that the US government would be taking back and closing federal private prisons run by private companies there were differing opinions as to whether this was a good idea or not.  Most say it’s been a long time coming based on research and reports stating that the private prisons had more incidents and were not as safe and secure as public federal prison.  Others stated that some of the research based on comparing private and public prisons wasn’t completely accurate because of differing demographics and/or logistics.  Whether you agree or not, federal prison privatization is being phased out.

One of the reasons for this decision by the Deputy Attorney General is that the inmate federal populated has decreased by approximately 12% since 2013 and the addition of contracted beds is not needed.  Keep in mind that only the federal prisons issues have been addressed by this decision.  For those who have loved ones in State or prisons housing pending or to-be deported immigrants, the decision has not been made to de-privatize.

Decide for yourself if you think the government should be closing federal private prisons.  The articles below provide good information on the topic.  Time will tell if this is a good decision and if the non-federal prisons will follow.

These articles are in no specific order:

The Sacramento Bee:  Breaking Up With Private Prisons Can Be Hard To Do, By Foon Rheee

http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/foon-rhee/article96692692.html

The Washington Post:  Justice Department Says It Will End Use of Private Prisons, By Matt Zapotosky and Chico Harlan

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/08/18/justice-department-says-it-will-end-use-of-private-prisons/?utm_term=.a7a10fcd441e

BBC News Magazine:  How the US Will End Its 30-Year History With Private Prisons, By Jessica Lussenhop

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37133879

Bloomberg Businesweek:  The Justice Department Used Shaky Statistics to Drop Private Prisons,  By Paul Barrett

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-19/the-justice-department-used-shaky-statistics-to-drop-private-prisons

The New York Times:  U.S. to Phase Out Use of Private Prisons for Federal Inmates, By Charlie Savage

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/19/us/us-to-phase-out-use-of-private-prisons-for-federal-inmates.html?_r=0

The Nation:  The Justice Department Will End All Federal Private Prisons, Following a ‘Nation’ Investigation, By Seth Freed Wessler

https://www.thenation.com/article/justice-department-to-end-all-federal-private-prisons-following-nation-investigation/

The Intercept:  The Justice Department is Done With Private Prisons.  Will ICE Drop Them Too?, By Alice Speri

https://theintercept.com/2016/08/18/justice-department-done-with-private-prisons-will-ice-drop-them-too/