Justice Department Finds Overcrowding at One of America’s Biggest Private Prisons

barring freedom” by meesh licensed under CC BY 2.0

Source: Mother Jones

According to the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General, the private prison company CoreCivic (formerly known as the Corrections Corporation of America) and the U.S. Marshals Service have left a maximum-security prison in Kansas understaffed and overcrowded.

As a result, the prison, Leavenworth Detention Center, has struggled with security risks and “low morale.”

The DOJ’s audit found that there was a 23% vacancy rate among correctional officers, which led to the abandonment of important security posts.

The auditors added that “rather than take the steps to address understaffing”, the U.S. Marshals Service did not request extra help and therefore “exacerbated the problem”.

In response, the U.S. Marshals Service said they would create a program to monitor staff contracts at each privately run detention facility.

Read full story at: Mother Jones

Justice & Poverty, News
Justice & Poverty, News