Hundreds of documents show how companies profit off of phone calls, commissary, and more.

Prison Policy Initiative updates for July 6, 2022 Exposing how mass incarceration harms communities and our national welfare

New Correctional Contracts Library shows you what companies are profiting off of incarcerated people in your area [[link removed]] Database contains hundreds of contract documents to help advocates identify and combat the exploitation of incarcerated people and their families. [[link removed]]

by Mike Wessler

Today, we launched the new Correctional Contracts Library [[link removed]], which contains documents that show how companies profit on the backs of incarcerated people and their families. Through our twenty years of work to expose and stop the abusive practices of private companies [[link removed]], we've amassed a collection of hundreds of documents, including contracts, bids, evaluations, and more. These documents provide a paper trail showing how for-profit companies work with jails and prisons to squeeze money out of people who can least afford it. Our collection is now publicly available through this new tool.

We're giving advocates and organizations access to the resources we've honed in our twenty years of working to end mass incarceration in America. The Library includes documents related to phone service [[link removed]], tablets [[link removed]], electronic messaging [[link removed]], commissary [[link removed]], and more. We've organized them so you can search for records from a specific facility or filter documents by state, vendor, service, or type. And we've provided some notes and remarks about the documents to help users understand what they contain and where they came from.

Using this new resource:

Organizers can monitor when their local jail is scheduled to renegotiate its contracts for services and pressure it to secure the best deal for people that are behind bars; Journalists can assess whether prisons and jails in their area are helping companies exploit incarcerated people and their families; Researchers can track how the cottage industry of companies that profit off of incarceration is developing new ways to sap profits from people in prison and jail; and Policymakers can examine contract terms and identify problematic practices that need to stop.

This new tool does not have every prison or jail contract document that exists. We're sharing our records, but we know our collection isn't exhaustive. If you don't see the documents you're looking for, we've put together a guide to help you submit your own public records request [[link removed]] to get them.

If you have documents that you think should be in this library, you can send them to us [mailto:[email protected]?subject=Correctional Contracts Libary submission&body=You can help us organize the information you submit by answering the following questions: -- Are you submitting this anonymously (Y/N): -- How did you obtain this document: -- If you are submitting a contract, is the contract still active? (Y/N/don't know)] or, if you have a lot of files, use this form to send us a message [[link removed]] telling us what you have.

This new database is the latest addition to our Advocacy Toolkit [[link removed]]. Through the Toolkit, we're giving advocates and organizations access to the data, lessons, and resources we've honed in our twenty years of working to end mass incarceration in America.

One of our primary goals here at the Prison Policy Initiative is to help others to make change in their communities. The Correctional Contracts Library is the latest way that we're opening the doors on our research and advocacy to empower the movement to end mass incarceration.

The new Correctional Contracts Library is available here. [[link removed]]

Help us fight exploitation [[link removed]]

You can help us expose the corrupt companies that profit from incarceration. Our work is possible because of individual support — can you contribute today? [[link removed]] Thank you!

Other news: Advocacy Toolkit [[link removed]]

Earlier this year, we released our Advocacy Toolkit [[link removed]], which shares tips, resources, and lessons we’ve learned over two decades of using data, visuals, and narratives to expose the harms of mass criminalization.

The toolkit is designed to support the work of advocates, journalists, and researchers working to end mass incarceration.

Insufficient funds: How prison and jail “release cards” perpetuate the cycle of poverty [[link removed]]

Every year, roughly 5 million people are released from jail and another half-million leave prison. But just because they are released from physical custody doesn't mean that they are free of the financial exploitation resulting from that experience.

In this recent briefing [[link removed]], we look at how the growing "release card" industry continues to sap money from people even after they're released from incarceration.

Please support our work [[link removed]]

Our work is made possible by private donations. Can you help us keep going? We can accept tax-deductible gifts online [[link removed]] or via paper checks sent to PO Box 127 Northampton MA 01061. Thank you!

Our other newsletters Ending prison gerrymandering ( archives [[link removed]]) Criminal justice research library ( archives [[link removed]])

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