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Private Prisons

The CoreCivic corporate headquarters in Brentwood, Tennessee, in 2023. The private prison operator is proposing to run an immigration detention center in Leavenworth, Kansas.
Closing Argument April 26
Not In Our Backyard: Some Pro-Trump Towns Push Against Detention Centers
Opposition to an immigration detention center in Leavenworth, Kansas, illustrates a tension playing out across the country.
By
An officer in a navy uniform holds a walkie talkie while walking through a hall. There is an open gate in the foreground. Two people in orange uniforms with towels are walking in the background.
Closing Argument February 15
How Trump Is Trying to Expand the Already Colossal U.S. Prison System
The administration’s efforts — from mass deportation to harsher punishments for some crimes — rely on access to more prison and jail cells.
By
A group of men wearing white uniforms, seen from the back, walk toward a fenced area. A guard stands by the entrance.
Analysis January 22
What Will Trump’s Executive Order on Private Prisons Really Do?
The order reverses Biden’s ban on private prison contracts with the Justice Department. Private immigrant detention never stopped and is expected to grow.
By
A man in an orange uniform looks out of a small window in his solitary confinement cell, which contains a narrow bed, a sink and attached toilet, and a small desk and chair.
Closing Argument April 20, 2024
The Enduring Use of Solitary, and New Proposed Limits That Will Likely Fail (Again)
Isolation’s damaging effects are widely known. But many facilities confine people — even youth — virtually all day, sometimes in shower stalls.
By
News December 17, 2020
How Trump Made a Tiny Christian College the Nation’s Biggest Prison Educator
His administration has funneled $30 million to Ashland University in Ohio. Critics say the school’s tablet-based program fails incarcerated students.
By
A guard escorts an immigrant detainee at the Adelanto Detention Facility in 2013 in Adelanto, Calif.
News November 17, 2020
Think Private Prison Companies Are Going Away Under Biden? They Have Other Plans
CoreCivic and GEO Group have been shifting away from prisons toward other government contracts, like office space and immigration detention.
By
The System November 13, 2020
Life Behind the Wall
Sure, prisons and jails are dangerous places. But everyday life inside isn’t as explosive as TV and movies make it look.
By and
Feature June 26, 2019
Corporate Confession: Gangs Ran This Private Prison
What happened in Mississippi when no one wanted dangerous, low-paying guard jobs.
By and
The Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton, Minn., opened in 1992.
Commentary November 6, 2017
When A Small Town’s Private Prison Goes Bust
Contrary to popular belief, private prisons often don’t save the economies of the rural towns that seek them out.
Lauren-Brooke Eisen
Life Inside October 13, 2016
How My Time as a Private Prison Guard Changed the Way I See Inmates
“No one wants to be accused of being ‘inmate-friendly.’”
By M. LeAnn Skeen
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