The Deputy US Attorney General announced [official statement] Thursday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] will phase out privately operated prisons. The report states the DOJ’s intent to focus on the rehabilitative aspects of incarceration will be better both for society and the taxpayer, and outlines the ultimate goal of housing all federal inmates in bureau facilities. This memo was supported by the 2013 report Smart on Crime [official report, PDF] and was prompted by the expiration of a contract for 1,200 privately operated beds.

The treatment of prisoners and prison reform [JURIST podcast] have been matters of ongoing concern in the US. In March two groups in Ohio released a report [JURIST report] detailing recommendations for criminal justice reform in their state. Also in March the DOJ urged state court systems [JURIST report] to stop using procedural routines and hefty fines to profit off poor defendants [press release]. In February the Supreme Court of California ruled [JURIST report] that Governor Jerry Brown can put his plan to ease prison overcrowding on the ballot this November. In January the US Supreme Court ruled that a landmark decision banning mandatory sentences of life without parole for juveniles should apply retroactively [JURIST report]. In May Human Rights Watch released [JURIST report] a report stating that mentally disabled prisoners experience “unnecessary, excessive, and even malicious force” at the hands of prison staff across the US.