Senior Director, Justice Program, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law; attorney; author of Inside Private Prisons (Columbia University Press); editor of Excessive Punishment (Columbia University Press)
More than 65,000 people are in ICE detention, many in facilities managed by for-profit firms. In the NYT this week, I write that Congress should expand the information that private prison companies must disclose, giving the public better insight into these contracts www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/o...
Opinion | If You Think ICE Detention is Bad Now, Privatization Will Make It WorseThe Trump administration has a housing problem.www.nytimes.comThanks to @vitalcitynyc.bsky.social for highlighting ways that NYC can learn from innovative reforms taking place in prisons and jails across the country
New York City (@nyc.bsky.social)No, I ❤️ younyc.bsky.socialBrennan CenterInnovative programs helping some states make life safer & more humane for the people who live & work behind bars could be a helpful blueprint as the NYC jail remediation manager & other experts look to improve conditions in city jails, @lbeisen.bsky.social writes in @vitalcitynyc.bsky.social.
This week, we released “The Data Behind Prison Reform.” Built from the data highlighted in our report, Prison Reform in the United States, this analysis provides a visual representation of what is working to reduce violence in prisons and reduce recidivism. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
The Data Behind Prison ReformPreliminary studies suggest that innovative programs could improve prison conditions and outcomes after release.www.brennancenter.orgA criminal justice system that is more equitable, fair, and focused on human dignity is critical to the success of a healthy democracy. Please tune into a podcast where we highlight our @brennancenter.org report demonstrating that prison reform in the U.S. is possible.
Brennan CenterIn a new report, the Brennan Center investigates prison reforms throughout the country and outlines how states can replicate their successes. L.B. Eisen and Maine Corrections Commissioner Randall Liberty discuss the reform landscape on The Briefing with Michael Waldman. bit.ly/4bU3ZrL
Justice Brennan viewed conditions in prisons as a critical issue w/in the context of a just society. In Governing our @brennancenter.org team discusses our work finding prison reform is possible & working across a geographically & politically diverse set of states www.governing.com/management-a...
How to Move Away From Inhumane PrisonsInnovative programs make them safer while enhancing opportunities for success after release. Some states are showing the way.www.governing.comThanks to @wamu.org for highlighting how the $45 billion Congress approved for ICE to increase detention centers has driven a huge increase in ICE detention across local jails, for-profit detention centers, and now potentially in a new system of government owned warehouses the1a.org/segments/if-...
If You Can Keep It: The private companies profiting off ICECoreCivic and The GEO Group have both reported $2 billion in revenue in 2025.the1a.orgWe joined CNN Explains to provide context on the growing detention industrial complex that relies on a multi-billion dollar network of public and private sector interests that profit from the detention of immigrants. Check out the episode here www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMHV...
The biggest companies making billions from Trump's deportationsYouTube video by CNNwww.youtube.comHelpful context on the complicated and interconnected reasons violent crime has been declining since 2022 ⬇️
Ames GrawertA new report from the @counciloncj.org shows a 21% decline in murder from 2024-25 and drops in other forms of violent crime. It provides strong evidence of continuing, nearly across-the-board declines in crime and especially violent crime. Some quick notes & context. counciloncj.org/crime-trends...
Great piece of reporting by @dmac1 and @marianne_levine about ICE's plans to reopen some of the country's most notorious and troubled former prisons as immigrant detention centers. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Riots and abuse troubled these former prisons. ICE plans to reopen them.The same operators that closed facilities plan to reopen them to hold immigrants. Advocates say that puts detainees at risk of violence and mistreatment.www.washingtonpost.comPresident Trump just signed 2 EOs to force Washington, D.C., and other cities from taking steps to substantially eliminate cash bail as a potential condition of pretrial release, threatening to withhold federal funding from cities that fail to end these policies www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Taking Steps to End Cashless Bail to Protect AmericansBy the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose andwww.whitehouse.gov