États-Unis : why is a Florida for-profit prison company backing bipartisan criminal justice reform?

GEO Group says reducing prison recidivism is in line with their missions. But the company is also well positioned to profit off a new-found interest in post-prison rehabilitation.

A bipartisan push in Congress backed by President Donald Trump to slow America’s rising prison population has a puzzling supporter: A Florida-based for-profit prison company.

GEO Group, one of the country’s largest detention companies, is publicly urging the Senate not to adjourn without passing the FIRST STEP Act, a bill that seeks to shorten some federal drug sentences and reduce the likelihood inmates will end up back behind bars. GEO’s biggest competitor, CoreCivic, is backing the bill as well.

On the surface, it’s a curious position for leaders of a $4.8 billion industry enriched by tough-on-crime policies that swept millions of Americans into lengthy sentences over the past three decades.

But others see two companies well-positioned to profit if Congress goes through with this reform.

Federal business filings show GEO Group and CoreCivic have aggressively expanded in recent years into another sector of the criminal justice system: post-prison rehabilitation. It’s one of the fastest-growing pieces in the companies’ respective portfolios.

Last year, GEO Group bought one of the country’s largest providers of halfway houses, Community Education Centers, for $360 million. CoreCivic owns dozens of re-entry centers and recently told investors more acquisitions are on the horizon.

Should Congress approve the First Step Act, demand will rise for the very services these two companies now provide en masse. The bill authorizes a $375 million expansion of post-prison services for inmates transitioning back into society.

GEO Group and CoreCivic insisted in statements that their support for reform is inline with a greater corporate mission and is not fueled by dollars. “Helping people get their lives back on track is at the core of our purpose to better the public good,” CoreCivic spokeswoman Amanda Gilchrist said.

But reform advocates also fighting to get the bill through Congress are skeptical of their new ally. These investments foretell a future where for-profit companies with controversial track records not only house a large percentage of people who are behind bars, but many who leave prison as well.

“They see it as a way to possibly make money,” said Jesselyn McCurdy in the Washington Office of the American Civil Liberties Union, a reluctant backer of the legislation. “There’s not enough capacity at the moment for people to be released to halfway houses as a result of this. (These companies are) already in the halfway house business.”

GEO Group and CoreCivic are faring quite well under the current administration. Indeed, few industries have enjoyed more success under Trump than private prisons.

Trump, elected on brash but unspecific promises to restore “law and order,” quickly reversed President Barack Obama’s decision to phase out federal use of for-profit institutions.

The new White House’s immigration policies — a national sweep of undocumented immigrants, including children and families — have proved lucrative to these prisons too. A share of GEO Group sold just under $16 before Trump’s election. Today, it’s at $23.41. CoreCivic’s stock has jumped 50 percent since November 2016.

For their part, GEO Group and CoreCivic have closely aligned themselves with Trump. Each donated $250,000 to Trump’s inaugural fund. Last year GEO Group moved its annual leadership conference from a venue near its Boca Raton headquarters to a Trump-owned Miami-area golf resort, the Washington Post reported last year.

GEO has hired lobbyists close to the president including influential Florida powerbroker Brian Ballard. It heavily supported Trump ally Gov. Rick Scott in his race for U.S. Senate. The company, which operates five facilities in Florida, and its CEO George Zoley donated $414,000 to Scott’s campaign and various related committees, more than it gave any other candidate.

Trump and for-profit prisons are again in lockstep on the FIRST STEP Act. The president on Twitter has implored the Senate to take it up before Christmas. It’s not clear they will.

Read full article.