for decades corporations have made cash
out of crime but in 2016 that could all
be about to change in the u.s.
Corrections Corporation of America and
geo group are the two largest private
prison companies with combined revenues
of 2.9 billion dollars last year welcome
to watchmojo.com is installment we’re
counting down ten crucial facts you
should know about the end of private
prisons in the United States the prison
inmate population expanded so rapidly
the government couldn’t keep up keep up
with it by itself but now it says that
has changed the inmate population is
shrinking number 10 what is a private
prison otherwise known as a for-profit
prison a private prison is run by a
non-government third party fundamentally
its purpose to house prisoners securely
is the same as a federal prison but its
income comes from governmental contracts
with rates usually based on the amount
of prisoners incarcerated at a
particular facility or the space
available regardless of whether every
cell is occupied private prisons are a
controversial topic in the US and around
the world as protesters believe that
corporate money shouldn’t be made from
the criminal justice system number nine
how prevalent are private prisons in the
United States as of August 2016 there
were 13 private prisons in operation in
the u.s. located across eight states
including five in Texas alone inmate
populations range from between 1,000 to
3,200 per facility with just over 22,000
people held in private prisons a little
over ten percent of the total number of
prisoners overall in the US which is
just short of 200,000 private prison
populations reached a high point in 2014
when for-profit sites held around 40,000
inmates
according to reports 25 percent of the
world’s prisoners were incarcerated in
the u.s. in 2015 despite the country
housing just 5 percent of the global
population this has led some analysts
to tie the spike in private prison use
with an imbalance in the prisoner to
population ratio number eight how
prevalent are private prisons around the
world the United Kingdom was the first
European country to introduce privately
run prisons in modern times when Wald’s
prison opened in 1992 as of 2016 there
are sixteen private prisons across
England Scotland and Wales all operated
by either cerco Sodexo or g4s canada has
only ever had two private prisons both
of which are now under government
control and there are seven private
sites in Australia with the first
opening in the 1990s there was an
attempt to introduce private prisons in
Israel in the mid-2000s but the first
facilities were deemed unconstitutional
in 2009 a panel found that privately run
complexes were in danger of depriving
prisoners of their basic human rights
number 7 what are criticisms of the
private prison system the notion that a
corporation making a profit off this
practice is more important to us than
public safety or the human rights of
prisoners is a rapist opponents of
for-profit prisons argue that money is
the main driver for private owners not
prison management the US has seen a
sharp rise in the amount of people
incarcerated since the turn of the
century a trend that many attribute to
so-called prison profiteers driven by
greed there are also concerns about the
welfare of inmates and staff at private
prisons with accusations ranging from
neglect to abuse according to a 2016
report issued by the Inspector General
of the Justice Department there are more
safety and security issues at private
prisons than at federal jails problems
include quote extensive property damage
bodily injury and the report also listed
details of a 2012 incident at Adams
County Correctional Center in
Mississippi a riot in which one
correctional officer was killed number
six
who runs private prisons the majority of
America’s private prisons are run by two
major corporations Corrections
Corporation of America and the GEO Group
the CCA is the country’s largest private
prison group with over 110 million
shares and a market cap of over 4
billion dollars as of July 2015
geo weighs in with around 75 million
shares with value of its shares
approximately worth two point seven five
billion dollars CCA is seen as the first
of the modern prison privatization firms
after it gained a contract for a
Tennessee facility in 1984 ever since
then it’s seen finances boom with
profits increasing by more than 500% in
the last 20 years
today it has over 65 correctional and
detention facilities under its
management according to reports CCA and
geo Show combined annual revenue of 3.3
billion dollars number five what has the
Department of Justice done to get rid of
private prisons in the US on August 18
2016 the US Department of Justice made
the first significant steps towards
shutting down private prisons and giving
control of the system back to the
government the reasons for potential
closure were listed as part of a
two-page memo from the DOJ Deputy
Attorney General the report explained
how the prison population had risen by
almost 800 percent between 1980 and 2013
and that the Federal Bureau of Prisons
had once needed privatized help to deal
with the numbers however the prison
population has since declined and though
quote private prisons served an
important role during a difficult period
they are now surplus to requirements the
memo also drew on the Inspector
General’s report stating that private
prisons do not offer quote the same
level of correctional services while it
also notes that they do not
substantially cut costs nor are they as
safe or secure as government facilities
number 4 what was the immediate
aftermath of the Department of Justice’s
memo as the DOJ memo revealed plans to
reduce and quote ultimately end private
prisons the industry immediately
suffered dramatic Falls on the stock
market geo group stock fell 39% to $19
and 50
one sense while CCA plummeted 35% to
seventeen dollars and fifty seven cents
both groups have since responded to
events in an effort to calm the market
Gio reminded shareholders that
significant change wasn’t imminent as
some contracts would not expire for
another five years CCA suggested that
the corporation was strong enough to
withstand the plans put forward by the
DOJ as the private prisons they effected
only accounted for 7% of the overall
business CCA
also took issue with the inspector
general’s report labeling it as flawed
number three what kind of resistance
could this effort face while the DOJ
plans are sure to be met unfavorably by
those involved with the privatization of
prisons the decision to phase them out
could yet cause issues for the Federal
Bureau for-profit prisons were first
introduced partly as a cost-cutting
measure and partly as a method to
prevent overcrowding with the aim to
reduce the pressure on the government
generated by rising numbers of prisoners
we’re a similar situation and rise to
occur again the u.s. might once more
require a privatized resource there’s
also the question of cost and whether
the eventual closure of America’s 13
private prisons could impact
governmental budgets the DOJ has
conceded that the long-term outcomes are
difficult to predict but also but it
doesn’t anticipate having to invest too
heavily to absorb the absence of
privatized sites number two what effects
will this have on the justice system in
the United States the director of the
American Civil Liberties Union’s
national prison project
David fatty has called the DOJ memo a
quote groundbreaking decision he also
explained how the ACLU applauds the move
and asked other agencies to follow suit
soon the taking of power from private
organizations would reportedly allow for
greater uniformity in the prison system
and more transparency the move could
also help lower prison numbers a
longtime goal of the Obama
administration we should not tolerate
conditions in prison that have no place
in any civilized country
it could feature heavily in Hillary
Clinton’s campaign for presidency as she
promises large-scale criminal justice
reform number one is this the end of
private prisons in the United States if
the DOJ plans are realized and no
private contracts are renewed then the
last for-profit prisons will have
disappeared by 2021 however some
analysts are skeptical that the change
is even feasible according to height
securities industry expert Daniel Hanson
the plans are quote aspirational but not
necessarily quote attainable the
financial impact could yet prove too
much of a burden and even if the
government is able to comfortably lose
the thirteen private facilities
currently contracted privatized services
will still feature heavily in the US
justice system immigrant only centers
are set to remain privately run for
example for supporters of reform it’s a
step in the right direction but only the
first of many towards a fairer more
effective prison system did these facts
get you thinking every dollar I have to
put into a prison takes away from my
infrastructure on my roads takes away my
from my infrastructure building new
bridge buildings on college campuses to
vote for which news story is covered
next
head over to watchmojo.com slash suggest
and be sure to hit that subscribe button
for more newsworthy top 10s published
every week private prisons filled their
role for a time but now that role is
being phased out and within the next say
three to five years the government hopes
not to be relying on them anymore at all
out of crime but in 2016 that could all
be about to change in the u.s.
Corrections Corporation of America and
geo group are the two largest private
prison companies with combined revenues
of 2.9 billion dollars last year welcome
to watchmojo.com is installment we’re
counting down ten crucial facts you
should know about the end of private
prisons in the United States the prison
inmate population expanded so rapidly
the government couldn’t keep up keep up
with it by itself but now it says that
has changed the inmate population is
shrinking number 10 what is a private
prison otherwise known as a for-profit
prison a private prison is run by a
non-government third party fundamentally
its purpose to house prisoners securely
is the same as a federal prison but its
income comes from governmental contracts
with rates usually based on the amount
of prisoners incarcerated at a
particular facility or the space
available regardless of whether every
cell is occupied private prisons are a
controversial topic in the US and around
the world as protesters believe that
corporate money shouldn’t be made from
the criminal justice system number nine
how prevalent are private prisons in the
United States as of August 2016 there
were 13 private prisons in operation in
the u.s. located across eight states
including five in Texas alone inmate
populations range from between 1,000 to
3,200 per facility with just over 22,000
people held in private prisons a little
over ten percent of the total number of
prisoners overall in the US which is
just short of 200,000 private prison
populations reached a high point in 2014
when for-profit sites held around 40,000
inmates
according to reports 25 percent of the
world’s prisoners were incarcerated in
the u.s. in 2015 despite the country
housing just 5 percent of the global
population this has led some analysts
to tie the spike in private prison use
with an imbalance in the prisoner to
population ratio number eight how
prevalent are private prisons around the
world the United Kingdom was the first
European country to introduce privately
run prisons in modern times when Wald’s
prison opened in 1992 as of 2016 there
are sixteen private prisons across
England Scotland and Wales all operated
by either cerco Sodexo or g4s canada has
only ever had two private prisons both
of which are now under government
control and there are seven private
sites in Australia with the first
opening in the 1990s there was an
attempt to introduce private prisons in
Israel in the mid-2000s but the first
facilities were deemed unconstitutional
in 2009 a panel found that privately run
complexes were in danger of depriving
prisoners of their basic human rights
number 7 what are criticisms of the
private prison system the notion that a
corporation making a profit off this
practice is more important to us than
public safety or the human rights of
prisoners is a rapist opponents of
for-profit prisons argue that money is
the main driver for private owners not
prison management the US has seen a
sharp rise in the amount of people
incarcerated since the turn of the
century a trend that many attribute to
so-called prison profiteers driven by
greed there are also concerns about the
welfare of inmates and staff at private
prisons with accusations ranging from
neglect to abuse according to a 2016
report issued by the Inspector General
of the Justice Department there are more
safety and security issues at private
prisons than at federal jails problems
include quote extensive property damage
bodily injury and the report also listed
details of a 2012 incident at Adams
County Correctional Center in
Mississippi a riot in which one
correctional officer was killed number
six
who runs private prisons the majority of
America’s private prisons are run by two
major corporations Corrections
Corporation of America and the GEO Group
the CCA is the country’s largest private
prison group with over 110 million
shares and a market cap of over 4
billion dollars as of July 2015
geo weighs in with around 75 million
shares with value of its shares
approximately worth two point seven five
billion dollars CCA is seen as the first
of the modern prison privatization firms
after it gained a contract for a
Tennessee facility in 1984 ever since
then it’s seen finances boom with
profits increasing by more than 500% in
the last 20 years
today it has over 65 correctional and
detention facilities under its
management according to reports CCA and
geo Show combined annual revenue of 3.3
billion dollars number five what has the
Department of Justice done to get rid of
private prisons in the US on August 18
2016 the US Department of Justice made
the first significant steps towards
shutting down private prisons and giving
control of the system back to the
government the reasons for potential
closure were listed as part of a
two-page memo from the DOJ Deputy
Attorney General the report explained
how the prison population had risen by
almost 800 percent between 1980 and 2013
and that the Federal Bureau of Prisons
had once needed privatized help to deal
with the numbers however the prison
population has since declined and though
quote private prisons served an
important role during a difficult period
they are now surplus to requirements the
memo also drew on the Inspector
General’s report stating that private
prisons do not offer quote the same
level of correctional services while it
also notes that they do not
substantially cut costs nor are they as
safe or secure as government facilities
number 4 what was the immediate
aftermath of the Department of Justice’s
memo as the DOJ memo revealed plans to
reduce and quote ultimately end private
prisons the industry immediately
suffered dramatic Falls on the stock
market geo group stock fell 39% to $19
and 50
one sense while CCA plummeted 35% to
seventeen dollars and fifty seven cents
both groups have since responded to
events in an effort to calm the market
Gio reminded shareholders that
significant change wasn’t imminent as
some contracts would not expire for
another five years CCA suggested that
the corporation was strong enough to
withstand the plans put forward by the
DOJ as the private prisons they effected
only accounted for 7% of the overall
business CCA
also took issue with the inspector
general’s report labeling it as flawed
number three what kind of resistance
could this effort face while the DOJ
plans are sure to be met unfavorably by
those involved with the privatization of
prisons the decision to phase them out
could yet cause issues for the Federal
Bureau for-profit prisons were first
introduced partly as a cost-cutting
measure and partly as a method to
prevent overcrowding with the aim to
reduce the pressure on the government
generated by rising numbers of prisoners
we’re a similar situation and rise to
occur again the u.s. might once more
require a privatized resource there’s
also the question of cost and whether
the eventual closure of America’s 13
private prisons could impact
governmental budgets the DOJ has
conceded that the long-term outcomes are
difficult to predict but also but it
doesn’t anticipate having to invest too
heavily to absorb the absence of
privatized sites number two what effects
will this have on the justice system in
the United States the director of the
American Civil Liberties Union’s
national prison project
David fatty has called the DOJ memo a
quote groundbreaking decision he also
explained how the ACLU applauds the move
and asked other agencies to follow suit
soon the taking of power from private
organizations would reportedly allow for
greater uniformity in the prison system
and more transparency the move could
also help lower prison numbers a
longtime goal of the Obama
administration we should not tolerate
conditions in prison that have no place
in any civilized country
it could feature heavily in Hillary
Clinton’s campaign for presidency as she
promises large-scale criminal justice
reform number one is this the end of
private prisons in the United States if
the DOJ plans are realized and no
private contracts are renewed then the
last for-profit prisons will have
disappeared by 2021 however some
analysts are skeptical that the change
is even feasible according to height
securities industry expert Daniel Hanson
the plans are quote aspirational but not
necessarily quote attainable the
financial impact could yet prove too
much of a burden and even if the
government is able to comfortably lose
the thirteen private facilities
currently contracted privatized services
will still feature heavily in the US
justice system immigrant only centers
are set to remain privately run for
example for supporters of reform it’s a
step in the right direction but only the
first of many towards a fairer more
effective prison system did these facts
get you thinking every dollar I have to
put into a prison takes away from my
infrastructure on my roads takes away my
from my infrastructure building new
bridge buildings on college campuses to
vote for which news story is covered
next
head over to watchmojo.com slash suggest
and be sure to hit that subscribe button
for more newsworthy top 10s published
every week private prisons filled their
role for a time but now that role is
being phased out and within the next say
three to five years the government hopes
not to be relying on them anymore at all
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