Reform Advocates Applaud Expiration of CoreCivic Contract in D.C.

Loaded on May 5, 2017 published in Prison Legal News May, 2017, page 51

Filed under: Corrections Corporation of America/CoreCivic, Corizon, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement. Location: District of Columbia.

At midnight on January 31, 2017, a welcome change came to the District of Columbia’s jail system with the expiration of the District’s 20-year contract with CoreCivic – formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America – to operate the Correctional Treatment Facility (CTF), which houses around 600 minimum- and medium-security prisoners, female prisoners and juveniles adjudicated as adults.

The facility returned to public control, prompting celebration from criminal justice reform advocates who had waged a three-year campaign to oust CoreCivic from D.C. Jeremy Mohler, a member of the ReThink Justice DC Coalition, wrote that the organization had won a previous anti-privatization victory when it successfully campaigned to stop the District’s jail system from contracting with troubled for-profit medical provider Corizon. [See: PLN, Oct. 2015, p.20].

A 2015 report by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs found that juveniles at the CTF were subjected to “excessive” solitary confinement. It also found that CoreCivic was charging 31% more than the national average for correctional management.

Beyond the District of Columbia, CoreCivic has long been known nationwide for its record of violence, sexual assaults, escapes, riots and inadequate medical care in its facilities.

Sources: www.washingtonpost.com, www.corizonhealth.com

Reform Advocates Applaud Expiration of CoreCivic Contract in D.C.

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