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http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01h702q944p| Title: | Capitalizing on mass incarceration U.S. growth in private prisons |
| Contributors: | Gotsch, Kara Basti, Vinay |
| Keywords: | Prisons—United States Privatization—United States Criminal justice, Administration of—United States |
| Issue Date: | Aug-2018 |
| Publisher: | The Sentencing Project |
| Place of Publication: | Washington, D.C. |
| Description: | The United States has the world’s largest private prison population. Of the 1.5 million people in state and federal prisons in 2016, 8.5 percent, or 128,063, were incarcerated in private prisons. Another 26,249 people -73 percent of all people in immigration detention- were confined in privately-run facilities on a daily basis during fiscal year 2017. From 2000 to 2016 the number of people housed in private prisons increased five times faster than the total prison population. Over a similar timeframe, the proportion of people detained in private immigration facilities increased by 442 percent.This report provides a portrait of private prisons as a component of the American corrections landscape and assesses its impact on mass incarceration. Among its most striking features is the broad variation found across jurisdictions in reliance on private prisons. As outlined in the state case studies examining the history of prison privatization in Florida, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina and Texas (available in the appendix), those corrections systems most committed to the industry have faced controversy, including riots, deaths, and allegations of improper financial influence from for-profit prison companies. Political influence has been instrumental in determining the growth of for-profit private prisons and continues today in various ways. If overall prison populations continue the current trend of modest decline, 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. |
| URI: | http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01h702q944p |
| Related resource: | https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/ |
| Appears in Collections: | Monographic reports and papers (Publicly Accessible) |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capitalizing-on-Mass-Incarceration.pdf | 2.35 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Download |
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