Criminal Justice Reform Case Study

Criminal justice stakeholders affected by various social, political, economic, and institutional forces throughout the last five decades have implemented policies that have increased reliance on incarceration and its punitive purpose. In contemporary criminal justice reform efforts to scale back mass incarceration, some of the most active stakeholders have been this year’s presidential candidates, the for-profit prison industry, and community-based organizations.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, former first lady, senator, and secretary of state, described mass incarceration as an epidemic of racial bias in which a third of black men will go to prison during their lifetimes, mostly for low-level, nonviolent offenses. In
In his Republican nomination acceptance speech, Trump vowed to restore law and order. Earlier in his campaign, he denied being influenced by interests groups, earning him many supporters. However, Trump later accepted donations from lobbyists and political action committees, coming under fire recently for a donation from the GEO Group, the second biggest private prison company in the country. Although his tough-on-crime stance was thought to be a political liability during his campaign, as it challenged unprecedented bipartisan efforts for criminal justice reform in later years, Trump’s position was a windfall that ultimately appealed to a strong conservative base. Trump’s intentions for, and potential to do away with, current criminal justice reform efforts remain to be seen. Regardless, as the president he will have influence, but the power to end mass incarceration will still primarily lie with the
The company has only indirectly alluded to the issue of mass incarceration, stating that risks related to its business and industry include being subjected to a decrease in occupancy levels. In addition, there is the matter of its ability to secure new contracts to build and manage correctional and detention facilities depends on many factors outside its control. CCA denies lobbying on policies or legislation affecting incarceration or detention, yet its support for policies driving mass incarceration has been implied and documented. Tied to the American Legislative Executive Council (ALEC), an organization of 2,000 state legislators and more than 300 corporations on task forces that drafts model bills, CCA has pushed the passage of three-strikes and truth-in-sentencing laws in several states. Mass incarceration is good business for the for-profit prison industry because more punitive criminal laws and longer sentences imprison more people, strain state budgets, and maintain and increase demand for their facilities and services. Despite business from CCA’s state customers decreasing by 4.4% from $791.8 million during 2014 to $756.9 million in 2015, the company expects state finances to improve, growth in inmate populations, and continued overcrowding for now. CCA’s business strategy is to own and operate high quality correctional and detention facilities, offer compelling