Private prisons

Stocks in the for-profit prison sector skyrocketed after the election of President Donald Trump. The Obama administration and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had both pledged to phase out their use by federal authorities — an approach Trump rejected. But the industry hasn’t seen the sustained boost many investors expected.  Click the audio player above to […]

New York City’s pension funds announced they’re selling $48 million in stocks and bonds invested in three private prison companies. It’s the first group to publicly divest from that industry, and cited recent reports of inmate deaths, as well as concerns of overcrowding and understaffing. Private prisons are expected to grow under President Trump. That’s […]

A federal judge in Colorado has approved the first class-action lawsuit testing whether private prisons can force detained immigrants to work as “volunteers” for as little as $1 per day. The case centers on an ICE detention facility run by the GEO Group, one of the country’s largest private prison operators, and may turn on […]