private prisons

“A Shared Dread”: Immigrant Prisoners Near Release, Knowing ICE Is Waiting

Fourteen years ago, Mateo* was in a Tennessee county jail waiting to be processed into the prison system when he…

July 11, 2025

“Alligator Alcatraz” ICE Detention Opens, Floods, and Begins Filling Beds

On July 1, President Donald Trump visited the Florida immigrant detention compound dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.” On July 2, water began…

July 3, 2025

At CoreCivic Prisons, Re-Entry Staff Are Told to Do Less

South Central Correctional Facility recently hosted a job fair, and didn’t invite anyone to attend it. There were no flyers,…

May 7, 2025

CoreCivic Crisis in Uncharted Waters at the Four Private Prisons in Tennessee

Private prison contractors have been around for a long time, but the concept of handing over management of an entire…

April 3, 2025

DOJ Investigation Found Horrors in Georgia Prisons. It Missed a Lot, Too.

Four years after the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division opened an investigation into the whether the Georgia Department of…

October 3, 2024

Everyone in Prison Needs a Hustle. For a Small Fee, I’ll Help You Find Yours.

When you enter the men's prison system in Tennessee, you receive two blue, smock-like shirts and two matching pairs of…

September 9, 2024

“Like Two Cavalries”: After TN Prison Standoff, Fear of What Comes Next

On the evening of July 24, South Central Correctional Facility, a medium-security private prison in Tennessee, gave notice that 128…

July 29, 2024

CoreCivic Manages Our Prison, and Tries Not to Manage Our Medical Care

Five years ago, abdominal pain drove James to the infirmary at South Central Correctional Facility, the Tennessee private prison where…

May 1, 2024

TN Private Prisons Quietly Transfer Us, This Time Without Saying Why

In 2016, the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) opened Trousdale Turner Correctional Center—the largest of the state's 14 prisons, and…

April 17, 2024

When You Need to Go to a Hospital, and Private Prison Says You Don’t

Let’s say you’re incarcerated and have a heart condition. You’re supposed to be see a cardiologist every six months, but…

April 10, 2024