Following Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory, private prison stocks experience their second massive surge after a Trump win. CoreCivic stock jumps 29% and GEO Group vaults 42% in a single trading session as investors bet on profits from Trump’s pledge to carry out “the largest …
Donald TrumpCoreCivicGEO GroupTom HomanWall Street investors+1 moreprivate-prisontrump-administrationimmigration-detentionmass-deportationwall-street+4 more
In May 2023, Tennessee’s State Building Commission approved a three-year, $168 million contract renewal with CoreCivic to operate the South Central Correctional Facility, despite the private prison corporation’s documented record of inmate deaths, safety violations, and nearly $18 …
CoreCivicBill LeeTennessee Department of CorrectionTennessee State Building Commissionprivate-prisonscampaign-financegovernment-contractsregulatory-capturecorporate-corruption+1 more
President Joe Biden signs Executive Order 14006, titled “Reforming Our Incarceration System to Eliminate the Use of Privately Operated Criminal Detention Facilities,” directing the Attorney General to not renew Department of Justice contracts with privately operated prisons. The order …
Joe BidenDepartment of JusticeBureau of PrisonsU.S. Marshals ServiceCoreCivic+2 moreprivate-prisonbiden-administrationexecutive-orderprison-reformimmigration-detention+1 more
In April 2017, McKinsey partners send a confidential final report to the New York City corrections commissioner after spending almost three years leading their project at Rikers Island. The contract, which ultimately cost $27.5 million, ends with violence at the jail complex having increased by …
McKinsey & CompanyNew York City Department of CorrectionBill de Blasiomckinseyprison-industrial-complexrikers-islandconsulting-scandalgovernment-waste+3 more
Attorney General Jeff Sessions issues a one-paragraph memorandum rescinding the August 18, 2016 directive from Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates to phase out federal use of private prisons. Sessions claims the Obama policy “changed long-standing policy and practice, and impaired the …
Jeff SessionsDepartment of JusticeDonald TrumpCoreCivicGEO Group+1 moreprivate-prisontrump-administrationjeff-sessionsdojprison-industrial-complex+2 more
The day after Donald Trump is declared winner of the 2016 presidential election, private prison stocks experience massive gains. CoreCivic (formerly CCA) jumps from $14.19 to $20.31 per share (43% increase) and GEO Group rises from $23.88 to $28.96 per share (21% increase). According to Bianca …
Donald TrumpCoreCivicGEO GroupWall Street investorsWorth Risesprivate-prisontrump-administrationwall-streetprison-industrial-complexstock-market+1 more
Corrections Corporation of America announces it is rebranding as CoreCivic, claiming the name change reflects a “multi-year strategy to transform our business from largely corrections and detention services to a wider range of government solutions.” The rebranding comes two months after …
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA)CoreCivicDamon T. HiningerBoard of Directorsprivate-prisoncorporate-rebrandpublic-relationsprison-industrial-complexgreenwashing
Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates issues a memorandum directing the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to discontinue outsourcing operations to private entities and either decline to renew contracts or substantially reduce their scope as they expire. The memo cites a comprehensive Office of Inspector General …
Sally YatesDepartment of JusticeBureau of PrisonsCoreCivicGEO Group+1 moreprivate-prisonprison-reformobama-administrationdojprison-industrial-complex
McKinsey tests its new anti-violence strategy in what the firm calls ‘Restart’ housing units at Rikers Island, implementing its centerpiece algorithm called the Housing Unit Balancer (HUB) designed to predict each inmate’s propensity for violence. By July 2015, eight Restart units …
McKinsey & CompanyNew York City Department of CorrectionGeorge Motchan Detention Centermckinseyprison-industrial-complexrikers-islandconsulting-scandaldata-manipulation+3 more
At a December 2009 meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)’s Public Safety and Elections Task Force, Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce sits behind closed doors with executives from Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and lobbyists from the for-profit bail industry …
ALECCorrections Corporation of America (CCA)Russell PearceJan BrewerGEO Group+2 morealecprivate-prisonprison-industrial-compleximmigrationarizona+4 more
Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan are exposed for accepting $2.8 million in illegal payments from the builder and co-owner of PA Child Care, a for-profit juvenile detention facility. From 2003 to 2008, the judges altered the lives of more than 2,500 …
Mark CiavarellaMichael ConahanPA Child CareLuzerne County Court of Common PleasPennsylvania Supreme Court+1 moreprivate-prisonjudicial-corruptionjuvenile-justiceprison-industrial-complexkickbacks+2 more
President Bill Clinton signs the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, the largest crime bill in U.S. history, consisting of 356 pages that provided for 100,000 new police officers and $9.7 billion in funding for prisons. Drafted by then-Senator Joe Biden and sponsored by …
Bill ClintonJoe BidenJack Brooksmass-incarcerationcriminal-justiceprison-industrial-complexracial-justicelegislation
Wackenhut Corrections Corporation (WCC) launches its initial public offering on NASDAQ, selling 2.2 million shares and becoming the second major private prison company to go public. Founded in 1984 by George C. Zoley as a division of The Wackenhut Corporation security firm, WCC establishes itself as …
Wackenhut Corrections Corporation (WCC)GEO GroupGeorge C. ZoleyThe Wackenhut CorporationNASDAQprivate-prisonprison-industrial-complexwall-streetmass-incarcerationfinancial-capture
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), with Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) serving as co-chair of its Criminal Justice Task Force, passes the “Three Strikes You’re Out Act” model legislation requiring mandatory life imprisonment after a third felony conviction. …
ALECCorrections Corporation of America (CCA)GEO GroupNational Rifle AssociationRobert Britton+1 morealecmass-incarcerationprivate-prisonprison-industrial-complexthree-strikes+3 more
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) launches its initial public offering on NASDAQ under the symbol CCAX, selling 2 million shares at $9 per share and raising $18 million to fund expansion. Despite struggling for profitability in its first three years, the company convinces Wall Street …
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA)Thomas W. BeasleyNASDAQVanderbilt University Law SchoolJack C. Masseyprivate-prisonprison-industrial-complexwall-streetmass-incarcerationinstitutional-investment+1 more
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) opens the first adult detention facility to be fully managed and run by a private corporation in the United States in over a century. After winning “the first contract ever to design, build, finance and operate a secure correctional facility” from …
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA)Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)T. Don HuttoThomas W. Beasleyprivate-prisonimmigration-detentionprison-industrial-complexinstitutional-capturereagan-era
Thomas W. Beasley (chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party), Robert Crants, and T. Don Hutto found Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) in Nashville, Tennessee, creating the first modern for-profit prison company. After a 15-minute presentation on Valentine’s Day 1983, Massey Burch …
Thomas W. BeasleyRobert CrantsT. Don HuttoCorrections Corporation of America (CCA)Massey Burch Investment Group+1 moreprivate-prisonprison-industrial-complexmass-incarcerationcorporate-lobbyinginstitutional-capture+1 more
Alabama Governor Robert Patton authorizes convict leasing, declaring that Black prisoners “should feel the hardship of labor in iron and coal mines” rather than mere confinement. The state begins leasing prisoners to private companies that pay monthly fees while providing minimal food, …
Robert Patton (Alabama Governor)Alabama State LegislatureCoal Mining CompaniesRailroad Companiesprison-industrial-complexsystematic-corruptioninstitutional-captureracial-injustice
Mississippi becomes the first Southern state to enact comprehensive Black Codes, creating a legal framework to re-enslave freed people through criminalization. The laws include draconian vagrancy statutes allowing arrest of any African American without a written labor contract, apprenticeship …
Mississippi State LegislatureGovernor William L. SharkeySouthern Planterssystematic-corruptioninstitutional-captureprison-industrial-complexracial-injustice