New Sentencing Project Report: Private Prisons in the United States

The problems with private prisons are often lost in the conversation of mass incarceration because they hold a smaller number of incarcerated people. However, the number of people in private prisons has increased 33% since 2000, while the overall prison population has increased 3%.

Of note, 81% of the immigrant detention population are confined in privately run facilities.

“Political influences have been instrumental in determining the growth of for-profit private prisons and continue today. However, if overall prison populations continue the current trend of modest declines, the privatization debate will likely intensify as opportunities for the prison industry dry up and corrections companies seek profit in other areas of criminal justice services and immigration detention.”

You can read the full article here: https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/private-prisons-united-states/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=9118c83e-6507-45dc-a91b-3441e9a7b817