Press Releases

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) today released the following statements after the U.S. Department of Justice announced they will discontinue the use of privately operated prisons:

Ranking Member John Conyers said, “I applaud the directive of the Deputy Attorney General that the Federal Bureau of Prisons reduce its reliance on and ultimately cease the use of private prisons.  Private, for profit prisons create perverse and counterproductive incentives that only worsen our crisis of overincarceration.  Furthermore, they are too costly and often perform poorly at humanely housing prisoners, providing competent medical treatment, and offering programs to reduce recidivism.  I have long had the very concerns the Deputy Attorney General cited for this decision, which is consistent with our efforts in Congress to reform our criminal justice system.”

Subcommittee Ranking Member Sheila Jackson Lee said, “Today, for-profit companies are responsible for approximately 6 percent of state prisoners, 16 percent of federal prisoners, and inmates in local jails in Texas, Louisiana, and a handful of other states. While supporters of private prisons tout the idea that governments can save money through privatization, the evidence is mixed at best—in fact, private prisons may in some instances cost more than governmental ones. That is why I have introduced H.R. 2470, the Private Prison Information Act of 2015. This bill subjects records relating to the facility operation and management of prisoners in privately owned prisons to adhere to the standard set by the Freedom of Information Act that regularly monitors public prisons. Out of 1.6 million people incarcerated, 128,195 are in private prisons without any legal rights regarding complaints and incidents, according to the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. These private prisons have also been linked to numerous cases of violence and atrocious conditions. I am happy to see that the Justice Department plans to end its use of private prisons after it has concluded the facilities are both less safe and less effective at providing correctional services than those run by the government.”