News Articles

This site contains over 2,000 news articles, legal briefs and publications related to for-profit companies that provide correctional services. Most of the content under the "Articles" tab below is from our Prison Legal News site. PLN, a monthly print publication, has been reporting on criminal justice-related issues, including prison privatization, since 1990. If you are seeking pleadings or court rulings in lawsuits and other legal proceedings involving private prison companies, search under the "Legal Briefs" tab. For reports, audits and other publications related to the private prison industry, search using the "Publications" tab.

For any type of search, click on the magnifying glass icon to enter one or more keywords, and you can refine your search criteria using "More search options." Note that searches for "CCA" and "Corrections Corporation of America" will return different results.

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59 results

Oklahoma Supreme Court Kills One Jail Death Suit,  Threatening Settlement of Another

Article • June 1, 2025 • from PLN June, 2025

Filed under: Systemic Medical Neglect, Private Contractors, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

Oklahoma Supreme Court Kills One Jail Death Suit, Threatening Settlement of Another by In a case with enormous implications for Oklahoma jail detainees, the state Supreme Court ruled on March 11, 2025, that a jail’s subcontracted medical providers are “employees” for the purposes of the Oklahoma Governmental Tort Claims Act …

Turn Key Health Walks Away From Oklahoma County Jail

Article • January 15, 2025 • from PLN January, 2025

Filed under: Contractor Misconduct, Private Contractors, Contractor Liability

Turn Key Health Walks Away From Oklahoma County Jail by On October 9, 2024, Turn Key Health Clinics ended its contract to provide healthcare at the Oklahoma County Jail in Oklahoma City. The firm gave notice 30 days earlier, after winning just a one-year $7.4 million extension to the contract …

GEO Group Just Wants to Be a Landlord for Oklahoma DOC

Article • December 15, 2024 • from PLN December, 2024

Filed under: GEO Group/Wackenhut, Cost of Prison Systems, Rural Prisons, Fines

GEO Group Just Wants to Be a Landlord for Oklahoma DOC by In June 2024, after Oklahoma failed to meet a $3 million pay hike demanded by The GEO Group, Inc., the private prison operator gave ...

Turn Key Health Clinics: Another Private Jail Medical Provider Leaving a Trail of Death and Misery

Article • September 15, 2024 • from PLN September, 2024

Filed under: Private Contractors, Medical Neglect/Malpractice

). The parties notified the district court that they had reached a settlement on August 9, 2024, but as with many settlements involving private contractors, details remain secret. Buchanan is represented by Tulsa ...

After Takeover from CoreCivic, Oklahoma Prison Even More Short-Staffed

Article • June 1, 2024 • from PLN June, 2024

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Staffing

After Takeover from CoreCivic, Oklahoma Prison Even More Short-Staffed by Five days after the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (DOC) took over a state prison from private operator CoreCivic on October 1, 2023, a ceremony was held to rename the former Davis Correctional Facility. On the same day, October 6, 2023, …

18 Stabbings in Less Than Nine Months at Oklahoma CoreCivic Prison

Article • March 1, 2023 • from PLN March, 2023

Filed under: Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic

Oklahoma’s Davis Correctional Facility (DCF) have endured an unprecedented amount of bloodletting at the lockup, which is operated by Tennessee-based private prison giant CoreCivic: Between New Years ...

CoreCivic Bilked Rural Oklahoma Town, Forced to Pay Back Money in Lawsuit

Article • March 6, 2019 • from PLN March, 2019

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic

industry, the small town of Sayre, Oklahoma recently found itself in the middle of a lawsuit against private prison operator CoreCivic, formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America. And the township ...

Oklahoma Prisoners, Advocacy Group File Short-lived Lawsuit Alleging Corruption

Article • September 3, 2018 • from PLN September, 2018

Filed under: Private Prisons, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, GEO Group/Wackenhut, Parole

filed a federal civil rights suit arguing political contributions made by private prison firms to state officials led to contracts with those companies that included a 98 percent occupancy rate at private ...

In the Public Interest - An Examination of Private Financing for Correctional and Immigration Detention Facilities, 2018

Publication • June 1, 2018

Filed under: Sexual Assault, Staff-Staff Assault, Private Prisons, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, GEO Group/Wackenhut, Prison Industries, Workplace Injury, Work Conditions/Safety, Prison Gangs, Staffing, Security Systems, Guard Brutality/Beatings

private prison companies, CoreCivic (formerly Corrections Corporation of America, or CCA) and GEO Group, are actively pushing governments to consider the use of private financing to build new facilities ...

Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Oklahoma Sheriffs – All of Them

Article • May 9, 2018 • from PLN May, 2018

Filed under: Private Prisons, Contractor Misconduct, Government Misconduct, Criminal justice system reform, Bond Fees, Booking Fees

Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Oklahoma Sheriffs – All of Them by Derek Gilna by Derek Gilna A federal lawsuit was filed in November 2017 against every sheriff in the state of Oklahoma, along with judges, court officials and the Oklahoma Sheriffs’ Association, challenging a scheme that turned unpaid court fees …

Lawsuit Claims CoreCivic Allowed Corruption and Gangs to Flourish at Oklahoma Prison

Article • January 8, 2018 • from PLN January, 2018

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Contractor Misconduct, Prison Gangs, Failure to Protect (Wrongful Death), Excessive Force (Wrongful Death)

,” said District Attorney Thomas. “Maybe all of them are scary, but that one is a scary prison.” Oklahoma paid private prison companies $92,675,632 to incarcerate nearly 6,000 offenders ...

3 Murders in 10 Months at Oklahoma Prison Run by CCA

Article • January 3, 2018

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Prison/Jail Murders

3 Murders in 10 Months at Oklahoma Prison Run by CCA by Joe Watson by Joe Watson Three prisoners were murdered in a span of 10 months at an Oklahoma facility run by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the largest for-profit prison operator in the country. The trio of homicides …

Supreme Court of Oklahoma Rules Compulsory Debt to Be Paid by Appropriation

Article • December 26, 2017

Filed under: Armor Correctional Health Services, Medical, Private Contractors

that appropriation of funds to pay for the constitutional duty was warranted. The trial court’s ruling was affirmed. See: Armor Correctional Health Services v. The Board of County Commissioners of Oklahoma ...

Private Prisons in Oklahoma Prove Costly

Article • June 9, 2017 • from PLN June, 2017

Filed under: Private Prisons, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Cost of Prison Systems

Private Prisons in Oklahoma Prove Costly by Private prisons cost the state of Oklahoma $92.7 million in 2015 alone, and almost $1 billion since 2004. With its prison system currently ...

Videos Show the Dark Side of Shadow Mountain Youth Psych Facility

Article • April 18, 2017

Filed under: Contractor Misconduct, Guard Misconduct, Private Contractors, Staffing, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Mental Health, Failure to Protect (Juveniles), Staff Training

signed three mortgages to finance the purchase. Two years after the company based in the Worshams’ home purchased the property, Shadow Mountain opened a wilderness program for adolescent boys ...

Avalon Correctional Services Settles Suit Over Alleged Corporate Irregularities

Article • August 23, 2016

Filed under: Avalon, Contractor Misconduct

Avalon Correctional Services Settles Suit Over Alleged Corporate Irregularities by Matthew Clarke On November 16, 2012, Avalon Correctional Services, Donald Smith and Tiffinay Smith agreed ...

$1 Million Settlement in Oklahoma City Jail Fatal Prisoner Beating Suit by Matt Clarke

Article • August 22, 2016

Filed under: Correctional Healthcare Solutions, Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Restraints, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death)

$1 Million Settlement in Oklahoma City Jail Fatal Prisoner Beating Suit by Matt Clarke by Oklahoma County approved a $1 million settlement in a civil rights suit involving a prisoner who was first denied his anti-seizure medication then fatally beaten by guards when he had a seizure in an Oklahoma …

Sexual Harassment, Abuse Alleged at Oklahoma Halfway House for Women

Article • February 29, 2016 • from PLN March, 2016

Filed under: Work Release, Sexual Assault, Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Avalon, Sexual Harassment, Misconduct/Corruption, Contractor Misconduct, Guard Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Gender Discrimination -- Women, Retaliation for Litigating, Retaliation for Filing Grievances, Failure to Protect (General)

participant,” but kept sending women to his business because the private prison company “earned a kickback on wages paid to women in the work release program.” Kia “used women supplied ...

Prisoner Calls 911 on Escapees

Article • October 9, 2015

Filed under: Transport Companies, Escapes

is governed by minimal federal guidelines. Prisoner transportation companies are required to notify local law enforcement only if they have a scheduled stop in that state. They are also required to conduct ...

CCA Prison in Ohio Loses BOP Contract

Article • September 25, 2015 • from PLN October, 2015

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, GEO Group/Wackenhut

CCA Prison in Ohio Loses BOP Contract by CCA Prison in Ohio Loses BOP Contract The privately-owned Northeast Ohio Correctional Center (NOCC) in Youngstown no longer holds prisoners for the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) after the federal agency declined to renew its contract with Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). According …

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