2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumHow committed is Clinton to ending private prisons?
In September 2015 Sanders introduced a bill ban government contracts for privately run prisons and jails within three years.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-private-prisons-bill_us_55fad97be4b0fde8b0cd3545
A month later Clinton announced that she would also ban private prisons and would no longer accept their campaign contributions. However private prison lobbyists had already contributed $133,000 to her campaign (Clinton said that money would be given to charity).
Lobbying firms that work for two major private prison giants, GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America, gave $133,246 to the Ready for Hillary PAC, according to Vice. Those companies operate a number of criminal and immigrant detention facilities, some of which have been plagued by allegations of abuse and poor treatment of detainees.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-private-prisons_us_562a3e3ee4b0ec0a389418ec
Her current stance is admirable and she might act accordingly if elected. However it is not unreasonable to wonder how committed she is to this issue.
SoLeftIAmRight
(4,883 posts)...
BernieforPres2016
(3,017 posts)Private prison companies can still contribute to her SuperPacs via bundlers.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2016/02/clinton-campaign-gives-private-prison-lobbyist-cash-to-charity-218524
grasswire
(50,130 posts)kath
(10,565 posts)Onlooker
(5,636 posts)Sanders introduced a bill after deciding to run for president. Hillary changed her point of view after Sanders went on the attack. Clearly, Sanders introduced the bill to embarrass Hillary, not because he was active in the matter of private prisons.
Meanwhile, private prisons hold less than 10% of prisoners, which further suggests it's just a political issue that actually distracts from the bigger issues with the way prisoners are treated and rehabilitated.
jg10003
(974 posts)Private prison lobbyists influence sentencing guidelines, lobby against marijuana legalization, lobby against prison reform, and contribute to candidates who support their industry.
coyote
(1,561 posts)I'll get back to you.