Justice Department Announces Plans To Stop Using Private Prisons

Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates made the announcement in a memo which instructed the Bureau of Prison officials not to sign any new contracts with private prison operators, and not to renew any existing contracts in the future.

“Private prisons served an important role during a difficult period, but time has shown that they compare poorly to our own Bureau facilities. They simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs, and resources; they do not save substantially on costs; and as noted in a recent report by the Department’ s Office of lnspector General, they do not maintain the same level of safety and security.”

Yates added:

“The fact of the matter is that private prisons don’t compare favorably to Bureau of Prisons facilities in terms of safety or security or services, and now with the decline in the federal prison population, we have both the opportunity and the responsibility to do something about that.”