WASHINGTON: The Obama administration announced Thursday it will phase out its use of some private prisons, affecting thousands of federal inmates.
In a memo to the Bureau of Prisons, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates told it to start reducing “and ultimately ending” the Justice Department’s use of private prisons. The announcement follows a recent Justice Department audit that found private facilities have more safety and security problems than government-run ones.
The Obama administration says the declining federal prison population justifies the decision to eventually close privately run prisons. Private prisons hold about 22,100 federal inmates, or 12 percent of the total population, the Justice Department said.
The policy change does not cover private prisons used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Yates did not specify when affected federal inmates would be in government-owned facilities.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has said the U.S. should move away from using private facilities to house inmates. GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump has said he supports the use of private prisons.
The private prisons on the chopping block are operated by three private companies — Corrections Corp. of America, GEO Group Inc., and Management and Training Corp. All have operations for state, local or federal agencies in Ohio; CCA’s Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown has a contract with the U.S. Marshals Service.
After the announcement Thursday, Corrections Corp. stock dropped $13.22, or 48.6 percent, to $14 and Geo Group tumbled $13.80, or 42.7 percent, to $18.49.