What we want
The abolition of the use of private prisons and detention centers by state and local governments. These means individuals that are detained or incarcerated will not be held in a privately owned or operated facility. The government should not contract out correctional or detention operations and instead ensure government oversight and responsibility for the well being of individuals within the corrections system.
Private Prison Companies
Two private companies have contracts with the state government to operate detention centers and correctional facilities in Georgia:
CoreCivic, formerly Corrections Corporation of America (CCA)
- North Georgia Detention Center in Gainesville, GA
- Jenkins Facility in Millen, GA
- Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, GA
- Wheeler Correctional Facility in Alamo, GA
- McRae Correctional Facility in McRae, GA
- Coffee Correctional Facility in Nicholls, GA
The GEO Group Inc.
- Riverbend Correctional Facility in Milledgeville, GA
- Robert A. Deyton Detention Facility in Lovejoy, GA
- D. Ray James Detention Facility in Folkston, GA
Reasons for Reform
Private prison companies across the nation have a long history of serious problems, including medical negligence, sexual and physical abuse of individuals in their facilities, violent riots, and deaths. When a government privatizes a service, the stated goal is to save money and maintain the same level of, if not better, service. That is not what happens with private corrections companies like CoreCivic (formerly CCA) and the GEO Group which operate in Georgia.
No one should profit from putting people in cages.”
Private corrections companies are fundamentally profit-driven as corporations that trade publicly on the stock market. They seek to maximize profits, cut costs, and find ways to keep growing. “That’s just business,” right? When human welfare is involved, this becomes a problem. Prison should not be a business and no one should profit from putting people in cages.
We should seek the shrinking of the justice system and our state’s corrections population, not its expansion. These private contracts provide a certain amount of taxpayer money from the government for each individual in their facility. Companies make more money for each bed that is full.
A cruel economy of scale is at play – more prisoners means greater efficiency which turns into even more profit for the stockholders.People become profit. Companies will not benefit by helping people rehabilitate and get out faster. They will not benefit from people never returning to prison. However, they will benefit every time someone’s sentence is extended or when someone is re-incarcerated.
Another reality of these companies is that correctional officer employees are not paid well and are often insufficiently qualified and trained, yet they are in control of and responsible for dozens if not hundreds of lives, on a daily basis.
Private facilities also often use prison labor to generate revenue and provide little to no wages. The Georgia correctional system does not guarantee any compensation for prison labor. The minimum wage for prison labor is zero. We also need to address the lack of fair wages in state facilities. In this context, it means private companies are winning contracts for slave labor provided by the state.
The Solution? Shrink the System
We know that human incarceration is expensive and inefficient. Therefore, we recommend the Georgia state government and local jurisdictions seek ways to reduce the size of their corrections population and incarceration rates instead of handing the problem off to the private sector. We have recommendations for how to accomplish that elsewhere in our platform.