TD Original

Discipline and Profit: The Origins of the Private Prison

Paul Von Blum / Truthdig Jul 19, 2024 A Harvard historian explores the roots of the for-profit carceral state through the tragic tale of a 19th-century African American teenager. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

Prison Reform

Prison Labor Is Slave Labor and the Constitution Says That’s Fine

Tana Ganeva / Truthdig Sep 3, 2023 Incarcerated people work for cents on the dollar or for free to make goods you use. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

California to End its Use of Private, For-Profit Prisons

DON THOMPSON and AMY TAXIN / The Associated Press Oct 11, 2019 Immigrant advocates say the bill will put an end to almost all immigration detention in the state in the next few years. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Private Prisons Expect Surging Profits During the Trump Administration

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Nov 23, 2016 People invested in the prison industry are set to get even richer off the mass incarceration of minority and low-income people when Donald Trump and the tough-on-crime nominee for attorney general, Jeff Sessions, take control of the federal justice system. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Justice Department Says It Will Stop Using Privately Operated Prisons

Staff / Truthdig Aug 18, 2016 Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates (pictured) says officials concluded such facilities are less safe and effective than those run by the U.S. government. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Obama Administration Gave Nation’s Largest Private Prison Company a No-Bid, $1 Billion Contract

Staff / Truthdig Aug 15, 2016 The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency skipped the standard public process of bidding and offered the Corrections Corporation of America a generous deal to build a massive detention facility for women and children seeking asylum. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Private-Prison Executive Predicts More Profits, Downplays Criminal Justice Reform

Staff / Truthdig Dec 23, 2015 A senior executive with the second-largest for-profit prison company in America told investment bankers last summer that, talk of drug policy and criminal justice reform notwithstanding, the United States will continue to “attract crime,” generating new “correctional needs.” Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Bernie Sanders: ‘It’s Time to Put an End to Private Prisons’

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Oct 12, 2015 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has called on Americans to help him undo the laws that let private interests profit off the mass incarceration of Americans and migrants. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )