The private prison industry includes for-profit companies that provide correctional services. Most well-known are companies such as Corrections Corporation of America (CCA, which has rebranded as "CoreCivic"), the GEO Group and Management & Training Corp. (MTC), which own and operate prisons, jails and other detention facilities. CCA and GEO are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
A wide variety of other correctional services are also privatized, and thus monetized -- including prison medical care, mental health care, food services, transportation services, pharmaceutical services, telephone services, money transfer services, commissary/canteen services, video visitation, secure email services and more. Together these companies make up the private prison industry, which directly profits and benefits from incarceration.
We are interested in hearing from whistleblowers, including current or former private prison employees, who are aware of contract violations or fraud by private prison firms. For example, contracts may require that private prison operators provide specific services or programs that they are not providing, or specific staffing levels they have failed to meet. If you have documentation about contract violations or fraud at private prisons, please contact us confidentially via our contact page. Note that whistleblowers may be entitled to financial compensation for exposing fraud by government contractors.
In north Louisiana, sheriff and private prison operator trade prisoners for ICE detainees
Opinion: California’s private prison ban isn’t a ban at all
CalPERS Drops Listed Prison Companies
Could Colorado end the use of private prisons by 2025? Lawmakers want to find out.
State officials in Eastern Kentucky lease private prison to stop overcrowding
Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign Publishes Report, Renews Demands
Over 200 Artists and Scholars Urge MoMA and Board Member to Divest from Private Prison Companies
The Private Prison Industry (Finally) Faces an Uncertain Future
Nashville councilman urges scrutiny of CoreCivic, privatization of jails and prisons
Private-run lockup firm considered in Arkansas has share of complaints
Other Resources
"I Worked In A Private Prison — They Are A Cancer On American Society"
August 2016 Dept. of Justice review of federal private prisons
ACLU report "Banking on Bondage"
Fordham law journal report on private prison cost savings/shifting
Mother Jones article - 4 months as an undercover private prison guard
