Youth incarcerated at a privately-run correctional facility in Mississippi will no longer have to live in a nightmarishly abusive and violent environment. They will no longer be regularly subjected to beatings, sexual abuse, and long periods of solitary confinement. Earlier this week, a settlement was announced in a federal lawsuit that demands that children who are housed at the facility be moved elsewhere. The facility is run by the GEO Group, the nation's second-largest operator of private prisons.
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On Thursday of this week, the New Orleans City Council will vote to determine how a new prison facility with be funded. ColorOfChange and more than 30 organizations have mobilized 2,200 New Orleanians to sign a petition calling for an end to the per diem funding structure-- a method that incentivizes longer lock ups and more prisoners.
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New Orleans is the only major city in the United States that funds its jail based on a per diem system, billing the city $22.39 per day for every individual held at Orleans Parish Prison (OPP). Much like the model for private prisons, this has created a perverse incentive to keep more people in jail on a daily basis. More prisoners for more days equals more money for the Sheriff's budget. We're working with our New Orleans partners and allies to do something about this.
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