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March 4, 2021
New Sentencing Project fact sheet provides updated data on private prison populations in US
The Sentencing Project has this new fact sheet titled simply "Private Prisons in the United States." The document has lots of data and helpful graphics in a short space, and here is how it gets started:
Private prisons in the United States incarcerated 115,954 people in 2019, representing 8% of the total state and federal prison population. Since 2000, the number of people housed in private prisons has increased 33% compared to an overall rise in the prison population of 3%.
However, the private prison population has declined 16% since reaching its peak in 2012 with 137,220. Declines in private prisons’ use make these latest overall population numbers the lowest since 2006 when the population was 113,791.
States show significant variation in their use of private correctional facilities. Indeed, Montana held 47% of its prison population in private facilities, while 19 states did not employ any for-profit prisons. Data compiled by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and interviews with corrections officials find that in 2019, 32 states and the federal government incarcerated people in private facilities run by corporations including GEO Group, Core Civic (formerly Corrections Corporation of America), LaSalle Corrections, and Management and Training Corporation.
Twenty-one states with private prison contracts incarcerate more than 500 people in for-profit prisons. Texas, the first state to adopt private prisons in 1985, incarcerated the largest number of people under state jurisdiction, 12,516.
Since 2000, the number of people in private prisons has increased 33%, compared to an overall rise in the prison population of 3.5%. In eight states the private prison population has more than doubled during this time period: Arizona (480%), Indiana (313%), Ohio (253%), North Dakota (221%), Florida (205%), Montana (125%), Tennessee (118%), and Georgia (110%).
March 4, 2021 at 11:04 PM | Permalink