NEW YORK—The Justice Department announced in a memo this week that it will be reducing its contracts with private prison operators with the goal of ultimately ending such relationships altogether. Recent reports have shown that assaults—both inmate on inmate and inmate on staff—occur more often in privately run correctional facilities, as compared to those managed by the federal Bureau of Prisons. In response to this news, Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster, director of programs at T’ruah: the Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, issued the following statement:
“T’ruah welcomes the Justice Department’s announcement as a positive sign that the government takes seriously its responsibility to improve the criminal justice system and respect the human rights of federal prisoners. This momentous decision by the Justice Department brings us one step closer to a day when private entities will no longer profit from mass incarceration in the United States. As our scripture teaches us, ‘You should not have gazed on my people’s wealth on the day of their calamity,’ (Obadiah 1:13).
“We hope that the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement will soon follow suit. DHS and ICE must end their contracts with private prisons that inhumanely detain immigrants and asylum seekers—a practice which must end altogether.”