Urges federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to adopt investment principles and vehicles that do not include entities that…
Eradicating a cancer in our system
We regard the profit incentive to incarcerate as a cancer in our criminal justice system that is spreading not just in prison privatization but also to for-profit probation, parole, community corrections and other services that take away or restrict freedom. It is critical to make this challenge before the private prison industry becomes “too big to fail”.
Allies
And we are not alone
Incarcerating people for profit has drawn broad-based opposition, from faith-based organizations to libertarian groups, and from civil rights associations to corrections officer unions.
Many of these groups formally adopted resolutions urging governments to end the practice of private incarceration, while others have operated behind the scenes to limit the growth of the industry.
These organizations represent very different worldviews, but they all see the inherent wrongness of injecting the profit motive into a criminal justice system thereby making the criminal justice system unfair, unsafe, and not aligned with the principles of a well-functioning democracy.
Your tax-deductible contribution will provide vital funding for building the infrastructure necessary to win a fight of this scale. Every single dollar will bring us one step closer to our goal of Abolishing Private Prisons.
PLEASE JOIN THE FIGHT TODAY.
Donate NowResolutions
A number of legal, faith-based, secular, and labor organizations have called for abolition, prohibition, divestment, and moratoriums on the use of private prisons.
You can help build the momentum of abolishing private prisons by working with an organization to pass a resolution in support of the cause.
American Bar Association – Report and Resolution 518 (2024)
NAACP
The NAACP passed a resolution calling for abolition of private prisons citing, in part, several church organizations that “have all…
Black Lives Matter
Some police and security forces, prisons, jails, and immigration detention facilities, and virtually all services inside prisons… have been privatized,…
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
…the Board of Directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) adopted a statement and resolution opposing prison…
American Correctional Officers
Therefore be it RESOLVED, that the American Correctional Officer, and all organizational individual members have a ZERO tolerance of prison…
Israeli Supreme Court
…when the power to incarcerate is transferred to a private corporation whose purpose is making money, the act of depriving…
American Bar Association
In 1986, the American Bar Association did ask, and called for a moratorium on private prisons until the “complex constitutional…issues”…
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
We bishops question whether private, for-profit corporations can effectively run prisons.
Episcopal
Resolved, That the Episcopal Church call for a moratorium on further prison construction and the use of private prisons ….
Catholic Bishops of the South
We call on all levels of government to refuse to sign new contracts or to renew expiring ones with private…
Presbyterian
Since the goal of for-profit private prisons is earning a profit for their shareholders, there is a basic and fundamental…
Methodist
The United Methodist Church declares its opposition to the privatization of prisons and jails and to profit making from the…
Unitarian Universalist
WHEREAS, prisons for profit encourages longer terms of imprisonment and maximizes profit by minimizing services and rehabilitation…
News
Non-Delegation and Philosophy (2/x)
This post continues the thread from the earlier discussion of the political philosophies of Hobbes, Locke, and von Pufendorf. There…
Seeing Ourselves in Those Behind Bars
I have visited a number of people in prison over the years. They are people who were already convicted of…
Non-Delegation and Philosophy (1/x)
The non-delegation doctrine is one of the core constitutional claims that Abolish Private Prisons advances in its efforts to end…
Why We Do This Work
Several years ago, I was making a presentation to the student chapter of the American Constitution Society at the University…