In a memo announced Thursday, the Justice Department announced it plans to end using private prisons in the United States. As reported in the Washington Post, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates will instruct, “officials to either decline to renew the contracts for private prison operators when they expire or “substantially reduce” the contracts’ scope.”
By ending these contracts, officials' hope is to eventually end “our use of privately operated prisons.” They’re defending the decision by stating that private prisons don’t provide the same safety, resources, and support that federal prisons operate and they don’t significantly save costs.
This is already having a huge affect on the private prison industry as Corrections Corp. Of America and GEO stocks have plummeted almost 40 percent by midday trade as reported by CNBC.
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