Capitalizing on Mass Incarceration: U.S. Growth in Private Prisons

By Kara Gotsch and Vinay Basti
The Sentencing Project

 

Despite substantial research that challenges the purported cost-saving benefits of private prisons, and the bipartisan consensus on the need to address mass incarceration, from 2000 to 2016 the number of people housed in private prisons increased 47 percent, compared to an overall rise in the prison population of 9 percent…

Aside from details on the national and state levels, the report includes case studies of several states — Florida, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina and Texas. “The profiles offer historical context about state criminal justice policies, and document the political culture, perspectives and circumstances that influenced the rise or fall of private prisons in each jurisdiction.”

 

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