The Prison Initiative is hosting a book discussion. Please read the book in advance and then join on this Friday evening for a group discussion over zoom. Contact Ray (raymond.leclair@gmail.com) for the zoom link.

This month we will be reading and discussing 

Inside Private Prisons: An American Dilemma in the Age of Mass Incarceration by Lauren-Brooke Eisen (2017)

A year ago, as the Obama era wound down, federal officials signaled their interest in moving away from private prison operators and back toward more conventional means of confinement. The reasons were clear; private prisons were, and still are, particularly dangerous and understaffed, run by corporations that are even less dedicated to accountability and transparency than their public counterparts. Nearly one year into the Trump administration, we see a near-complete reversal of public policy, and Eisen's well-sourced book comes at this pivotal moment. Now the feds have embraced and expanded the role of private prisons, especially for the growing number of immigration detainees. Eisen's book is essential in telling us not just where the industry has been but where it is going in the years ahead.