August, 18 2016, 02:00pm EDT
Justice Department Tells Bureau of Prisons to Phase Out Private Prisons
WASHINGTON
The Department of Justice announced today that it is ordering the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to begin phasing out its use of private prisons.
The order, announced by Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, includes amending the solicitation for five private prisons in Texas from 10,800 prisoners to 3,600. By May of 2017, the BOP is expected to have 14,000 prisoners in private prisons, a decline of about 50 percent from the peak a few years ago. The BOP has been instructed that as contracts come up for renewal nationwide, it is to reduce the numbers and, if possible, not renew the contract at all.
David Fathi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project, had this comment:
"This is an important and groundbreaking decision. With its announcement today, the Justice Department has made clear that the end of the Bureau of Prisons' two-decade experiment with private prisons is finally in sight. The ACLU applauds today's decision and calls on other agencies -- both state and federal -- to stop handing control of prisons to for-profit companies."
The DOJ memo can be found here: https://www.aclu.org/letter/doj-memo-reducing-use-private-prisons
This press release can be found here: https://www.aclu.org/news/justice-department-tells-bureau-prisons-phase-out-private-prisons
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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The United Nations children's agency on Saturday condemned the Israel Defense Forces' "indiscriminate strikes on civilians in the Gaza Strip" after at least 50 children were reportedly among those killed in attacks on Jabalia refugee camp in the northern part of the enclave.
Northern Gaza has been under siege since early October, when Israel resumed its attacks there, claiming it was targeting Hamas militants.
The current situation in northern Gaza has been called "apocalyptic" by leading humanitarian groups in recent days, with women and children making up the majority of the hundreds of people killed, and Israel imposing a near-total blockade on humanitarian aid.
Now, said Catherine Russell, executive director of the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), "the entire Palestinian population in North Gaza, especially children, is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine, and the ongoing bombardments."
In addition to the attacks on residential buildings this weekend in Jabalia, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that an attack on a healthcare center in Gaza City injured at least six people, including four children. The facility was participating in a polio vaccination drive, the second round of inoculations for children across Gaza.
"The Sheikh Radwan primary healthcare center in northern Gaza was struck today while parents were bringing their children to [get] the life-saving polio vaccination in an area where a humanitarian pause was agreed to allow vaccination to proceed," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. "These vital humanitarian-area-specific pauses must be absolutely respected. Ceasefire!"
Russell said the vehicle of a UNICEF staffer who was working on the vaccination campaign was attacked by "what we believe to be a quadcopter while driving through Jabalia—Elnazla."
The staff member was not injured, but Russell said "the attacks on Jabalia, the vaccination clinic, and the UNICEF staff member are yet further examples of the grave consequences of the indiscriminate strikes on civilians in the Gaza Strip."
"Civilians and civilian structures, including residential buildings, as well as humanitarian workers and their vehicles, must always be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law," said Russell. "Yet these principles are being flouted over and over again, leaving tens of thousands of children killed, injured, and deprived of essential services needed for survival."
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Overall, women in the state are backing Harris in the poll by a margin of 20 points, according to the survey.
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Watch:
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