WASHINGTON - Senator Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., has
introduced the Private Prison Information Act, S. 4031, a bill that
would impose reporting obligations similar to those of the Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) on private prisons contracting with
federal agencies.
"As the federal government increasingly turns to private,
for-profit companies to incarcerate federal prisoners, we must
ensure that information about the operation of private prisons and
detention facilities is readily available. This legislation will
lift the veil of secrecy surrounding private facilities and will
hold them accountable to the public," Lieberman said.
Approximately 25,000 federal criminal prisoners are jailed in
private facilities at any given time, and more than 20% of the
200,000 immigrants and asylum seekers detained annually by
Immigration and Customs Enforcement are held in 33 private detention
centers.
Studies by criminal justice groups have shown that correctional
officers at privately run prisons are paid less well, receive less
training, and experience higher turnover rates than those at prisons
run by government agencies. This can lead to greater rates of
assaults on staff, inmate on inmate assaults, and escape attempts.
Immigration advocates report that private immigration detention
facilities rely on psychotropic medication as a management tool for
their non-criminal population. The Private Prison Information Act
would help prevent abuse and unlawful conduct at private prisons by
requiring public disclosure of information about the operation of
these facilities.
The bill, which was introduced Friday, was endorsed by
associations and unions representing law enforcement and
correctional officers, including the Connecticut Correctional
Employees Union, the California Correctional Peace Officers
Association, the Florida Police Benevolent Association, the
Pennsylvania State Correctional Officers Association, and the
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs. The bill also has the
support of more than two dozen human rights, immigrant, and legal
justice groups, including: Asian American Justice Center, Center for
Constitutional Rights, Church World Service Immigration and Refugee
Program, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Washington Lawyers' Committee
for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, Immigrant Legal Resource Center,
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, National Immigrant Justice
Center, National Immigration Law Center, Physicians for Human
Rights, U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, and Women's
Commission for Refugee Women and Children. The bill is also
supported by government employee unions, including AFGE and AFSCME.
