THREAD: Ok, this will be long, but I wanted to share some reflections on today's executive order by President Biden to not renew federal contracts w/ many private prisons. I want to reflect both on substance of the order, and impact on mass incarceration, and on the politics 1/10

First, yes, it is important that the Department of Justice will no longer contract w/ private prisons. This will potentially help thousands of people in that it will likely mean better living conditions for people in many facilities. That is important & should be recognized. 2/10

Also, this order went further than the Obama era order in that it applies to all DOJ contracts. So this includes Marshals Service, who incarcerate people pretrial. The feds are notorious for holding people pretrial who haven't been convicted of a crime but are awaiting trial 3/10

So those are pluses. But, while this move is appreciated, it's hard to be too excited by it. First, President Obama did most of this in 2016. I remember that day, celebrating the move. It was a big thing, for 2016. But here we are, 5 years later, with largely the same move. 4/10

Second, private prisons are NOT the reason for mass incarceration, so for those looking for action on that issue, this isnt it. About 8% of people incarcerated for criminal law violations are in private prisons. Government prisons are much bigger driver of mass incarceration 5/10

Third, this doesn't eliminate private prison contracts but simply says they won't be renewed. But some (or many?) of these contracts may not even be up for renewal during this administration. We can have the same scenario as with Obama when Trump ripped up that order. 6/10

Fourth, it's hard to celebrate this when immigrant communities are left out. Intersectionality is key. Ending private prisons for one part of federal government & not the other is wrong. We will not end mass incarceration until we take on all components of carceral system. 7/10

And then there's the politics of the issue. The Biden administration set the expectations too high for today. They are the ones who said they will issue DOJ orders on sentencing and prosecutorial discretion, and on military gear for local police. And that didn't happen. 8/10

Second, the order doesn't match the rhetoric of the campaign and the framing of the issue on this day of racial equity and fighting systemic racism. Combined with promises of moving quickly, it's understandable that folks would be disappointed with this being the big action. 9/10

Having said all the above, I do believe much more is to come & I do believe the administration when they say this is just a first step of many. I also believe it's our job to focus on what's before us and not assume more. So praise for this step but emphasize need for more. 10/10