Private Prisons

Why the United Methodist Church Divested from Private Prisons

By Bill Mefford, United Methodist Church at 11:28am

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, considered caring for those imprisoned to be one of the highest priorities in his ministry. That legacy has been carried forward by the many passionate United Methodists today who are committed to ministries of healing and restoration for the millions impacted by the U.S. criminal justice system.

So, it was horrifying to realize last year that the United Methodist Church owned nearly one million dollars in stock in private prisons corporations Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and GEO Group. Dispensing justice not as a public trust, but rather as an item for sale in the marketplace has dramatically accelerated the incarceration of mass numbers of people, particularly people of color. While United Methodists have been caring for those imprisoned and fighting to lessen the number of people incarcerated, our church has been profiting from corporations making billions of dollars from the incarceration of people of color. It was a sickening realization. Profiting from stock in CCA and GEO Group is a betrayal of all that we stand for and believe in as United Methodists and followers of Jesus.

Stop For-Profit Prisons

By David Shapiro, ACLU National Prison Project at 12:47pm

Today, the ACLU released Banking on Bondage: Private Prisons and Mass Incarceration, an in-depth examination of the private prison industry.

The Big Business of Inhumane Detention of Immigrants

By Will Matthews, ACLU of Northern California at 5:13pm

The inhumane and abusive immigration detention system is good business for one particular special interest group — the private prison industry.

The Problem With Private Prisons

By Rachel Myers, ACLU at 3:06pm

Check out this great opinion piece at CNBC.com by David Shapiro of the ACLU National Prison Project about the problems with the for-profit, private prison industry.

Says David:

Now is the time for serious criminal justice reform, not privatization schemes. The private prison industry feeds off the mass incarceration problem and cannot be part of the solution. The only real way to cut prison spending is to cut the number of people we keep in prison.

David is the author of a forthcoming, comprehensive report on private prisons. The ACLU’s work on the issue will be featured in a CNBC documentary on October 18.

A Sunny Day in Florida (Unless You're a Private Prison)

By David Shapiro, ACLU National Prison Project at 7:00pm

Today, the Florida Senate averted disaster by voting down a proposal to create the largest private prison system in America. The plan would have turned over nearly 30 Florida correctional facilities to private, for-profit companies, which have would run the prisons under contract with the state.

Florida operates the third-largest prison system in the United States, a $2.2 billion-a-year enterprise overseeing nearly 101,000 inmates and another 112,800 on community supervision. The prison population has nearly quadrupled since harsh sentencing laws were passed in the 1980s – Florida incarcerated just 26,471 people in 1980.

License to Abuse? Time for Bureau of Prisons to Sever Ties with CCA

By Azadeh N. Shahshahani, ACLU Foundation of Georgia at 6:08pm

In 2009, a 39-year-old detainee at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, died after a heart infection was allegedly allowed to go untreated. Stewart, the largest immigration detention center in the country, is owned by the Corrections Corporation of American (CCA), which also manages four other facilities in Georgia.

This Week in Civil Liberties (5/4/2012)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 4:41pm

What surveillance tool used by law enforcement could lead to nightmarish privacy infringement?

This week, the White House confirmed the existence of what program that has been kept secret by the CIA?

“Liking” on what social network is not protected by the First Amendment, according to a federal judge in Virginia?

Which state wants to replace one private prison contractor with another?

Which state is being sued by an ACLU affiliate for its discriminatory voter ID law?

"Private Prisons Don’t Save Dollars and They Don’t Make Sense"

By Julie Ebenstein, ACLU of Florida at 3:03pm

As Florida considers a bill that would create the largest private, for-profit incarceration system in the nation, some of the nation’s leading criminal justice experts joined me yesterday at a press conference outside the doors to the Florida House of Representatives to share their research showing that locking people away for profit is the wrong answer to Florida’s growing prison population and budget woes.

VICTORY! Students Triumph over Private Prison Company’s Bid to Name College Football Stadium

By Carl Takei, ACLU National Prison Project at 11:33am

For-profit prison company GEO Group announced its decision last night to withdraw the $6 million...

This Week in Civil Liberties (3/30/2012)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 7:01pm

In which state did doctors try to force a pregnant woman to have a c-section against her wishes?

What group can no longer be held in solitary confinement in Mississippi?

How many cells compose a person according to Personhood USA's definition?

How many states oppose a national ID card?

Which federal agency illegally gathers intelligence on innocent American Muslims?

Your Body, Your Decisions — This Means You, Moms!
Recently, a mother in South Carolina reached out to the ACLU for help. She was pregnant, and although she had had two prior cesarean surgeries, she wished to attempt a "trial of labor," that is, to give birth naturally, rather than having a scheduled cesarean surgery. The mother's wish made sense in light of her medical history, and according to professional standards set by obstetricians.

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