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老澳门开奖结果 v. CCA: The Private Prison Debate Challenge

A pair of hands in handcuffs
A pair of hands in handcuffs
David Shapiro,
老澳门开奖结果 National Prison Project
David Fathi,
Director, National Prison Project
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May 10, 2012

Even as for-profit facilities lock up nearly 130,000 prisoners and take in billions of taxpayer dollars each year, these prisons remain shrouded in secrecy. The time has come for a robust public debate about the role of private prisons in our society.

That鈥檚 why the 老澳门开奖结果 just sent a letter to Damon Hininger, the head Corrections Corporation of America 鈥 the world鈥檚 largest private prison company 鈥 challenging him to a public debate on the merits of prison privatization. You can urge him to accept our invitation by taking action .

The key question: Should private prisons exist? It鈥檚 a question being asked across America, in corrections departments and legislatures, in communities and churches. In January, the United Methodist Church divested itself of all private prison stock holdings; in February, Florida legislators killed a plan to privatize nearly 30 prisons; in April, the Illinois Senate a bill to block plans for a privately-run federal immigration lockup.

Here are some excerpts from our letter:

On behalf of the 老澳门开奖结果, we invite you to participate in a public debate on the merits of prison privatization.

In recent months, CCA has repeatedly criticized the views of the 老澳门开奖结果 regarding for-profit incarceration. If you truly believe that private prisons are right for our country, we see no reason why you would be unwilling to defend that position in a public debate. As John Milton wrote, 鈥淟et [truth] and falsehood grapple; who ever knew truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter?鈥

We believe that the taxpayers who finance private prisons; the families whose mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters are incarcerated in these facilities; and the communities where for-profit prisons are situated deserve more than sound bites. They deserve a full, fair, and public examination of for-profit incarceration.

Read the letter in its entirety here and read our our op-ed on Huffington Post .

If you want to know the truth about private prisons being run with your money, urge CCA鈥檚 president to accept our invitation to debate. It鈥檚 time to air this issue in a public forum.

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