The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

As federal agencies increase their use of for-profit prisons, it is imperative that we permit the public to obtain information about the operation of those facilities and their impact on local communities. Over 32,000 federal prisoners are held at privately-run detention facilities at any given time. Since taxpayer money is spent to operate these prisons, the public has a right to know whether they are getting value and quality for their dollars.

For many years, private prison firms have hid behind a corporate veil of secrecy to keep damaging information from becoming public. H.R. 2450 would put an end to this practice, and would place private prisons that house federal prisoners on the same footing as federal detention facilities. If federal agencies must comply with FOIA requests, then private prisons that house federal prisoners, through contracts paid with public funds, should do likewise.

Last year, TIME magazine exposed the practice of Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) of keeping two sets of internal quality assurance audit reports: one for release to government contracting agencies and another, more detailed audit report for internal use only. CCA’s general counsel admitted in a written statement to Senator Feinstein that the company “did not make our customers aware of these documents.” This blatant concealment of information from the public – and from government agencies – must be rectified.

Studies have shown that private prison guards receive less pay and fewer benefits, and have higher rates of turnover than those in the public sector. As a result, employees and inmates at private prisons, as well as surrounding communities, are exposed to greater risks. Earlier this year, there were two riots at the Reeves detention center in Pecos, Texas, which houses federal prisoners and is operated by the GEO Group, a private prison contractor. The Obama Administration recently announced plans to overhaul the nation's immigration detention system and transform it from one reliant on scattered local jails and private prisons to a centralized one with greater federal oversight and accountability.

As GEO is not presently subject to FOIA requests, local residents cannot obtain basic information about such violent incidents and whether their families are being put in danger. While members of the public can obtain limited records from contracting federal agencies through FOIA requests, such requests should properly be filed with the private prison contractors, which are often the sole source of such information.

Because I am deeply concerned with this lack of public accountability by private prison companies, I hope you will lend support to this effort to protect the public’s right to know about the operations of privately-operated prisons and detention facilities. The federal government cannot contract away the public’s right to oversee the operation of their government by hiring private contractors to provide correctional services.

Very Truly Yours,
/s/
Sheila Jackson Lee
Member of Congress