Federal Law Authorizing Privatization of Federal Prisons
According to the Heritage Foundation, although private companies have a long history of being awarded contracts for providing prison services, privatization of the prison system began with the awarding of contracts for companies to use prison labor for private means.
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History
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The Privatization of Prisons website (see Resources) explains that the privatization of federal prisons in the United States was begun as a result of a prison population that grew from 1970 onward. It was helped by the willingness of the Reagan administration to seek free-market solutions to national problems.
Privatization
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Privatization of Prisons reports the privatization of federal prisons in the United States began in 1984, when Congress allowed private companies to operate a prison for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.
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Population
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At the beginning of 2008, around 1 in every 100 Americans was housed in a U.S. prison. Federal prisons for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Marshals Service were contracted to be run by private companies in 1986, according to Privatization of Prisons. Legislation in a number of states allows prisons to be operated by private companies in 2010.
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