USA: with Sessions’ sentencing change, it’s time to end secrecy around private prisons

Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently announced new guidelines that will result in a significant increase in the prison population, directing federal prosecutors to seek the toughest penalties possible for nonviolent defendants. Those prisoners will have to be incarcerated somewhere, which is perhaps the reason for the Attorney General’s February memo reversing an Obama-era directive to phase out the Justice Department’s use of private prisons.

While the private prison population will likely increase, taxpayers can expect little in terms of accountability in return for footing the bill for government contracts with private prison companies. Even though for-profit prisons are fulfilling a government role by housing federal prisoners, the industry remains shrouded in secrecy and shielded from meaningful public oversight.

By asserting their status as private entities, private prison companies exempt themselves from the public’s chief tool for transparency and accountability, the Freedom Of Information Act, making it harder to assess whether private prisons are comparable to their federally-run counterparts.

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