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THREAD: Today, the Biden administration ordered the Department of Justice to phase out private prisons. Here’s what we know about what order does and doesn’t do and what some of the implications of order are. 1/ https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryancbrooks/biden-justice-department-private-prisons
The order appears to reinstate the Aug. 2016 memo which ordered the BOP to not renew contracts with private prisons.
But this language is broader, ordering the DOJ to phase out all private detention contracts, which could also include US Marshals pre-trial detention centers. 2/
But this language is broader, ordering the DOJ to phase out all private detention contracts, which could also include US Marshals pre-trial detention centers. 2/
Most BOP private prisons incarcerate immigrants in segregated, sub-standard lock-ups known as Criminal Alien Requirement (CAR) facilities.
The BOP has known about dire problems at these facilities for some time. See @SethFW's excellent expose. 3/ https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/federal-officials-ignored-years-of-internal-warnings-about-deaths-at-private-prisons/
The BOP has known about dire problems at these facilities for some time. See @SethFW's excellent expose. 3/ https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/federal-officials-ignored-years-of-internal-warnings-about-deaths-at-private-prisons/
These substandard conditions were confirmed by a DOJ OIG memo which led to Sally Yates' 2016 announcement that the DOJ would be phasing out private prisons. Trump immediately reversed this decision. 4/
The BOP’s population has also declined dramatically over the last year to around 150K. That’s down more than 20,000 from last year, and nearly 70K from the peak in 2011. There are currently 12 private federal prisons in the BOP.
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Now: what the order does not appear to do. It does not impact the ICE detention system, which is overwhelmingly privatized and deeply troubled. ICE’s detained population was 81% private earlier this year. 6/ https://www.statesman.com/story/opinion/columns/your-voice/2020/11/21/opinion-biden-presidency-spells-trouble-for-private-prison-corporations-mdash-and-thatrsquos-good-th/115021904/
The administration has a golden opportunity to implement a policy to phase out ICE contracts with private prison and local government contracts. ICE's negligence during COVID has proven deadly for people in detention and surrounding communities. 7/ https://theintercept.com/2020/12/09/ice-covid-detention-centers/
The impact of today’s order is big on the two largest private prison companies. In 2019, BOP and USMS contracts accounted for 23% of GEO Group’s revenue and 22% of CoreCivic’s revenue. 8/
Private prison companies are spooked. They went in big for Trump and the GOP and their influence on Dems is now limited (mostly to Laredo’s Henry Cuellar…). Their stocks are already down to decade lows and being hammered today. 9/ https://twitter.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1354125576202817536?s=20
