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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 6, 2023 02:59 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Stephen Kinsey and Rep. Perry S. Warren, Rep. Chris Pielli |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Prohibiting State and Local Private Prison Contracts |
| According to the Sentencing Project, private prisons incarcerated 99,754 individuals in 2020, or around 8 percent of the entire state and federal prison populace in the United States. Too often focused on profit, at the expense of rehabilitation and humane conditions, private prisons have had a history of questionable behavior and poor service, lacking in quality in comparison to state facilities. Safety and rehabilitation should be the primary goals of every correctional facility, and corrections is a public responsibility, and yet, private corporations continue to profit off the incarceration of nearly a hundred thousand individuals. Our legislation would address this problem in Pennsylvania by prohibiting state and local contracts with private prison facilities and corporations. While we cannot change federal law, we must take action as a state to end the privatization of corrections, prisons and immigrant detention centers at the state and local level. There is no acceptable reason for private entities to be in charge of the custody, care and rehabilitation of any incarcerated individual. As legislators, we must ensure that everyone, even those involved in the criminal justice system, are treated with respect and given the correct care. Please join us in supporting this legislation to prevent future privatization and profiting from a system that should focus on public safety and rehabilitation. |
Introduced as HB466