President Joe Biden continued to Build Back Better in his second week in office with an executive order phasing out the federal use of private for-profit prisons.
“There is broad consensus that our current system of mass incarceration imposes significant costs and hardships on our society and communities and does not make us safer. To decrease incarceration levels, we must reduce profit-based incentives to incarcerate by phasing out the federal government’s reliance on privately operated criminal detention facilities,” the executive order reads. “Privately operated criminal detention facilities consistently underperform federal facilities with respect to correctional services, programs, and resources. We should ensure that time in prison prepares individuals for the next chapter of their lives.”
Biden directed the Justice Department not to renew contracts with private prisons.
AFGE Council of Prison Locals, which has long opposed the use of private prisons to house offenders, applauds President Biden for ending the federal use of for-profit prisons.
“Profiting from the incarceration of American citizens transcends our moral conscience,” said AFGE Council of Prison Locals National President Shane Fausey. “When incarceration becomes necessary, we must do it as safely as possible, while balancing the importance of preparing offenders to reintegrate into society.”
“It has been proven time and again that the loyal public servants of the Bureau of Prisons are the quintessential correctional law enforcement professionals. They house, confine, and protect those who have committed a crime against our citizens and the American way of life; they do so more cost effectively, more efficiently, and much safer than their for-profit counterparts,” he added. “No one is better suited nor has better prepared offenders for their return to society. The empirical data and studies supporting the dedication of our professional law enforcement employees is indisputable.”
Fausey said for those offenders that are too dangerous to return to society, we must house them humanely while prioritizing the absolute safety of our officers and employees. Every American deserves the protection our employees dedicate their lives to ensure, and the taxpayers deserve the cost effectiveness and efficiency in which we do it.
“We will continue to protect America, just as we have done for more than a century,” he concluded.
The Council of Prison Locals represents more than 30,000 federal law enforcement professionals who secure 122 BOP facilities across the country.
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