Understanding and Confronting the Prison-Industrial Complex - An Overview for Philanthropists - Arabella Advisors

 
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Understanding and Confronting the Prison-Industrial Complex - An Overview for Philanthropists - Arabella Advisors
Understanding and Confronting
 the Prison-Industrial Complex
     An Overview for Philanthropists

                                       OCTOBER 2018
Understanding and Confronting the Prison-Industrial Complex - An Overview for Philanthropists - Arabella Advisors
UNDERSTANDING AND
         CONFRONTING
         THE PRISON-INDUSTRIAL
         COMPLEX

A BO UT T H E REPORT

As part of its commitment to learning, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation engaged Arabella
Advisors to conduct a study of the intersections between the private US prison system and the
work of foundations. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of
the foundation.

A BO UT A RAB EL L A ADV I SORS

Arabella Advisors helps foundations, philanthropists, and investors who are serious about
impact create meaningful change. We help our clients imagine what’s possible, design the best
strategies, learn what works best, and do the work necessary to turn their visions into reality.
To learn more, visit www.arabellaadvisors.com.

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Understanding and Confronting the Prison-Industrial Complex - An Overview for Philanthropists - Arabella Advisors
UNDERSTANDING AND
         CONFRONTING
         THE PRISON-INDUSTRIAL
         COMPLEX

CONTENTS
Introduction                                                             4

Mass Incarceration and the Prison-Industrial Complex                      5

    Opportunities for Philanthropists to Help Drive Change                6

An Overview of the Prison-Industrial Complex                              7

    The Prison-Industrial Complex Spans Multiple Sectors                  7

    Strategic Intervention Points Within the Prison-Industrial Complex   10

Next Steps for Concerned Philanthropists                                 17

    Support Additional Research on the Prison-Industrial Complex         17

    Divest from Egregious Actors                                         17

    Implement Investor Activism and Capital Market Strategies            19

Matching Types of Actors with Potential Philanthropic Strategies         20

Conclusion                                                               21

Acknowledgments                                                          21

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UNDERSTANDING AND
          CONFRONTING
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          COMPLEX

Introduction
PHILANTHROP I STS  can help address over-incarceration in America and the serious harm it
does to communities by supporting efforts to better understand and confront what criminal
justice experts call “the prison-industrial complex,” the network of companies that currently
profit from the US prison and detention system. Through their endowments, philanthropists
may be unwittingly invested in corporations within the prison-industrial complex whose
efforts are at odds with funders’ charitable missions and commitments to social, economic,
and racial equity. This report provides a high-level overview of the prison-industrial complex
for philanthropists, identifies several opportunities for potential intervention, and begins to
outline possible strategies that concerned funders and impact investors can use to help curtail
its growth and influence—and thereby work to end the current era of mass incarceration.
We hope that the report will prove helpful to funders that are concerned about the ways in
which their unintentional investments in the prison-industrial complex may undermine their
values and priorities and seek to understand how they can remediate those harms.

W
           e recognize that           We also recognize, however, that       our nation’s prison and detention
           ending the era of mass     ending the era of mass                 system and represents a potential
           incarceration will         incarceration will require a better    entry point for disrupting and
require much more than is             understanding of ways to               beginning to change that system.
outlined here. It will require        effectively confront the prison-
fundamental reforms to our            industrial complex: the network        Curtailing the influence of the
criminal justice system, including    of thousands of companies that         prison-industrial complex and
changes to unjust, unfit, and         are currently involved, in various     holding the worst actors
overly punitive sentencing policies   ways, in the detention,                accountable will require a broad
and drug laws, as well as reforms     incarceration, and confinement of      array of governmental, nonprofit,
of prosecutorial and policing         human beings across the United         and corporate actors.
practices that correlate with         States. As we describe in more         Philanthropists can play a role in
soaring prison populations. It will   detail below, this network             tackling this part of the mass
require funding for programs          extends across a wide range of         incarceration problem by using
designed to build communities,        sectors and includes a variety of      their endowments and grant-
reduce crime, and break down the      actors, from companies accused         making capital to increase
pathways and practices that           of egregious and exploitive            understanding of the prison-
currently channel far too many        practices to others that may           industrial complex, expose and
people into prisons, jails, and       simply be supplying services to        stigmatize flagrant practices
other detention centers. It will      prisons to still others that may       going on within it, and counter the
require more support of racial        not even realize that prison labor     political influence of those
justice and equity, work in which     is part of their supply chains. This   seeking to preserve and extend
many funders are increasingly         network is part of what enables,       the current system of mass
engaging.                             perpetuates, and helps to shape        incarceration.

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UNDERSTANDING AND
                 CONFRONTING
                 THE PRISON-INDUSTRIAL
                 COMPLEX

Mass Incarceration and the Prison-Industrial Complex
MASS INCARC ERATI O N  in the United States harms both individuals and communities, with
particularly devastating effects on communities of color, and it often does so without advancing
the public safety objectives that incarceration purports to serve. With 2.3 million people in
confinement and nearly three percent of the population under some form of correctional
supervision, the United States imprisons far more of its people than any other country.1
Over-incarceration disproportionately impacts economically distressed communities and is a
significant driver of racial inequality. Those convicted of felony offenses—primarily blacks and
Latinxs—suffer profound, long-term collateral consequences, including, but not limited to, lost
voting and civil rights and legalized discrimination in employment, housing, and access to
public benefits.

D
        espite the significant harm                       correction at the local, state, and                     Activists and others charge
        it does to communities,                           federal levels have handed billions                     numerous companies within this
        mass incarceration is big                         of dollars in contracts to private                      complex of engaging in egregious
business. Skyrocketing                                    firms. This has led to a network of                     and exploitive practices. Some
incarceration rates in the United                         thousands of companies that                             companies have also played a role
States have turned the criminal                           profit from mass incarceration,                         in advocating for the public
justice system into a multi-billion                       ranging from the companies that                         policies that have driven mass
dollar industry, with federal, state,                     operate private prisons to the                          incarceration and increased
and local governments spending                            subcontractors that provide                             immigrant detention. Others are
$80 billion on incarceration in                           prisons with telecommunications,                        companies that profit from
2013 alone.2 In an effort to achieve                      transportation, food vending, and                       conducting business within and
cost savings, departments of                              many other goods and services.                          across the network.

                             Racial composition of the incarcerated population in the United States*

                                                                                      % OF US INCARCERATED                        NATIONAL
              RACE/ETHNICITY                      % OF US POPULATION
                                                                                           POPULATION                        INCARCERATION RATE

           White (non-Hispanic)                             64%                                  39%                            450 per 100,000

                   Hispanic                                 16%                                   19%                            831 per 100,000

                     Black                                  13%                                  40%                           2,306 per 100,000

SOURCE: PRISON POLICY INITIATIVE, USING US CENSUS DATA.                                                                             *Does not add up to 100%

1
    Wagner, Peter. “Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2018.” Prison Policy Initiative. 14 March 2018. [Link]
2
    Executive Office of the President of the United States. “Economic Perspectives on Incarceration and the Criminal Justice System.” April 2016. [Link]

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       Over the last
     40 years, due to
                                                       State and Federal Prison Population
   a surge in tough-on-
      crime laws such
                                             2MM
      as three-strikes
     laws, mandatory                       1.5MM
  minimums, and truth-
   in-sentencing laws,                       1MM
  the number of people
      incarcerated in                      0.5MM

  the United States has
                                                0
        quintupled.
                                                    1970       1980       1990      2000      2010      2020

                                       *DOES NOT INCLUDE US JAIL POPULATION. SOURCE: BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS

Opportunities for                        Support organizations and               entities that are engaged in
Philanthropists to Help               initiatives that are working to            harmful practices, and can
Drive Change                          counter the advocacy efforts               potentially motivate other
Much work remains to be done,         of politically active corporations         corporations to cease doing
and we see several areas where        that profit from mass                      business with them unless and
philanthropists can play valuable     incarceration. Various companies           until they reform how
roles in beginning to confront the    within the prison-industrial               they operate. Meanwhile,
prison-industrial complex.            complex provide money to                   investment in positive solutions
                                      lobbying groups that strengthen            can begin to help rebuild
  Support research to map the         and perpetuate policies that help          damaged communities.
network of companies involved in      drive mass incarceration. Those
the prison-industrial complex in                                                              STATE
                                      working for better policies need             Consider   investor
                                                                                           PRISONERS
                                                                                                       activism and
greater detail. Such mapping can      financial support to overcome              capital market strategies. Donors
raise awareness of the prison-        potential opposition from groups           and investors may also want
industrial complex, identify and      that benefit from the continuation         to use theirFEDERAL
                                                                                              capital and influence
                                                                                           PRISONERS
expose its harmful practices, and     of “business as usual” in the sector.      to take equity positions in
empower advocates to counter                                                     companies that are associated
the influence of those seeking          Divest from egregious actors             with the prison industry from
to advance policies tied to profits   and invest in positive solutions.          which they can raise awareness
rather than to preserve and           As in other sectors, divestment            and push companies toward
protect communities.                  can help isolate and stigmatize            reform from within.

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                                 An Overview of the
                                 Prison-Industrial Complex
       There is no               The Prison-Industrial              America). These corporations
  heavy hitter among             Complex Spans Multiple             build, own, and operate private
                                 Sectors                            prisons, immigration detention
    philanthropists              The prison-industrial complex is   centers, halfway houses, and
     who’s saying,               an extensive network of            other forms of detention.
   ‘We are not going             thousands of public and private
       to support                corporations, many of which have   Other actors within the prison-
  the prison-industrial          profited directly from the         industrial complex include
 complex and neither             dramatic increase in the number    companies that supply goods and
                                 of people detained in the United   services to prisons, jails,
      should you.’
                                 States since 1980. The most        immigration detention centers,
    It would have a              well-researched and reported-on    and community corrections
  huge impact to have            companies profiting from the       programs; companies within the
even 10 big foundations          prison system are private prison   for-profit bail industry; and
       on board.”                operators, including the GEO       companies that use or profit from
    N ATION A L JU V E N I L E   Group (formerly the Wackenhut      prison labor.
       J USTI CE E X PE RT       Corrections Corporation) and
                                 CoreCivic (formerly the            Not every company necessarily
                                 Corrections Corporation of         warrants outcry or action. For

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UNDERSTANDING AND
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example, companies that provide            Case management technology        and security equipment and
food or construction services to        firms provide software systems to    technology.
publicly run prisons and are not        track arrest, probation,
engaged in any unfavorable              incarceration, and medical records     Prison personnel agencies
practices may not be good targets       of current and former inmates.       provide prisons with staff
for advocates or funders. More                                               members, including guards, and
research—including on how                 Prison construction and            with staff training and
companies profit, the effects of        maintenance companies build          management systems.
their services, and whether or not      prisons and other detention
they use political influence to         centers and provide maintenance,       Bail bond agents provide bail
perpetuate mass incarceration—          engineering, and utility services.   loans to people who cannot afford
is needed to understand the                                                  their bail.
full impact of every company’s            Telecommunication companies
involvement in the prison-              provide communication services         Bail bond insurance
industrial complex.                     to prisoners, such as phones or      companies provide insurance to
                                        video visitation systems.            bail bondsmen that backs their
To facilitate our own research and                                           bail bonds.
analysis, we identified 14 sectors in     Health care providers provide
which various companies that            medical services and                   Financial service providers/
make up the prison-industrial           pharmaceuticals to prisoners and     banks and corporate investors
complex operate:                        medical equipment to prisons.        provide financing to private
                                                                             prison operators to construct and
  Prison operations and                   Food and commissary                equip prisons, and to facilitate
management companies oversee            companies provide food, cafeteria    prisoner money transfers.
private prisons, halfway houses,        supplies, and vending machines
or immigration detention facilities.    and stock prison commissaries.         Prison labor programs
They may or may not build or own                                             provide services, raw materials,
the detention facility.                   Prisoner transportation firms      and technology for prison
                                        provide transportation services to   education, rehabilitation, and
  Community-based corrections           prisoners and visitors.              vocational programs (does not
companies manage tracking and                                                include companies purchasing
surveillance systems for people           Products and equipment             goods and services created with
diverted from prisons or placed         suppliers provide furnishings, IT    prison labor).
on probation.                           and communications equipment,

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UNDERSTANDING AND
        CONFRONTING
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           THE PRISON-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX AT A GLANCE

 2.3                                                                     $15
million people
                                           $5.1
                                                                The amount some prisoners
                                                              are forced to pay for a 15-minute
                                                                          phone call
 are in confinement                       million
in the United States.                     The combined
                                             total that
SOURCE: PRISON POLICY INITIATIVE          private prison
                                              owners
                                          CoreCivic and
                                         the GEO Group
                                          spent to lobby
                                                                       SOURCE: THE INTERCEPT
                                            local, state,
    3,100+                                  and federal
                                           governments
                                              in 2016       Number of prisoners held in
     corporations
   profit from mass                                             private prisons
    incarceration.
                                                                                     126,272
                                             SOURCE:
    SOURCE: CORRECTIONS                    CORRECTIONS
   ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT                 ACCOUNTABILITY
                                             PROJECT

                                                            68,690

                              Bail is a

                         $2
                       billion                                1999                             2015

                      per year industry.                     STATE PRISONERS      FEDERAL PRISONERS

                  SOURCE: THE ATLANTIC                           SOURCE: PEW RESEARCH CENTER

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          CONFRONTING
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          COMPLEX

Strategic Intervention                                                      detention centers, and other
Points Within the Prison-                                                   detention facilities, and for the bail
Industrial Complex                                                          bond industry.
To help philanthropists begin to
approach this intricate network of
corporations strategically, we          We know CoreCivic
have identified four categories of      and the GEO Group
actors that cut across the                 throw a lot of
previously mentioned sectors.
The categories represent
                                          money around.
                                                                            4. Socially responsible public
meaningful, potential intervention      We know they have
                                                                            companies: Many notable public
points to reduce the harm done          been working hard                   companies are doing business
by the prison-industrial complex.          to get in good                   with the prison industry despite
The first two categories are of           graces with this                  public commitments to corporate
actors whose priorities need to be        administration,                   social responsibility (CSR).
countered, corrected, and
                                       and that they are also               Consumer products and services
changed most immediately:                                                   companies that have built brands
                                        very involved at the
                                                                            based on their commitment to
                                         hyper-local level.”                social responsibility may be
                                         ADVOCACY ORGANIZATION              particularly sensitive to public
                                               EXECUTIVE
                                                                            recrimination for their involvement
                                                                            in the prison industry.

1. Egregious actors: Companies
whose profit-seeking activities                                             Egregious Actors
enact undue financial burden or      The next two categories                       Some companies within
physical harm on incarcerated        represent crucial players upon                the prison-industrial
people.                              which the current system               complex financially exploit those
                                     depends. Actors in these               involved in the criminal justice
                                     categories may or may not              system or cut corners in ways
                                     recognize the roles they play in       that threaten their safety and
                                     the system, and some could             wellbeing. These companies
                                     become partners in driving             operate within several of the
                                     change within it. They are:            previously identified sectors and
2. Undue influencers: These                                                 have come under legal and/or
actors, including corporations                                              media scrutiny for various types
and correctional trade                                                      of exploitation and/or neglect.
associations, use lobbying dollars
and campaign contributions to                                               1. Prison Operations and
protect privatization, oppose                                               Management
criminal justice reform, and         3. Financial sources and               A 2016 Department of Justice
shape criminal justice policy in     underwriters: These actors are         report determined that private
ways that benefit their business     providing the financial fuel for the   prisons run by CoreCivic, the GEO
interests.                           companies that are operating           Group, and Management and
                                     private prisons, immigration           Training Corporation were more

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violent, abusive, and dangerous                         houses, as well as sharp                                Global Tel Link, CenturyLink, and
than publicly operated prisons.3                        increases in violence, drug use,                        Securus) often charge extremely
Inmates in these private prisons                        and gang activity.5                                     high rates compared to what
were also more likely to be placed                                                                              those outside of prison typically
in solitary confinement or on                           3. Bail Bond Agents                                     pay, sometimes more than $1 per
lockdown than inmates in public                         Bail is now a $2 billion per year                       minute.8 Many incarcerated
prisons; and, they were less likely                     industry serviced by over 15,000                        individuals, who have little to no
to receive basic health care.                           bail professionals.6 Across the                         income, cannot afford to speak to
Measures that private prisons                           industry, bail bondsmen charge                          loved ones for more than a few
pursue to meet the demand for                           high fees—up to 15 percent of the                       minutes at a time. In addition,
low costs—incentives that                               total bail amount (with a minimum                       some prisons have moved toward
state-run prisons don’t have to the                     fee of $100)—to the most                                paid video visitation and away
same degree—may be causing                              vulnerable and poorest individuals                      from in-person visitation, meaning
these harsh conditions.                                 in the criminal justice system, and                     that some prisoners are now
                                                        threaten them with incarceration if                     financially unable to communicate
2. Community-Based Corrections                          they fail to make payments.7 Bail                       with their families at all.
As more states have allowed                             bondsmen have broad powers to
for-profit operators to run                             arrest and jail their debtors that                      5. Prisoner Transportation
halfway houses, reports of unsafe                       other creditors do not have. Many                       Private prisoner transportation
conditions, neglect, and abusive                        bail bondsmen have been accused                         companies, including the giant
practices have risen across the                         of harassing and even extorting                         Prisoner Transportation Services
country. Cost-cutting has led to                        extra fees out of debtors and their                     of America (PTS), have received
substandard hiring and training                         families under the threat of                            enhanced scrutiny in several
practices that keep houses                              incarceration. The bail bondsmen                        states for instances of sexual
staffed with unqualified, poorly                        industry is made up of many                             harassment, escape, injury, and
paid workers. In Oklahoma,                              small, local, privately held                            even death.6 For example, PTS
private halfway house operator                          companies that receive insurance                        and Brevard Extraditions Inc.
Avalon Correctional Services                            backing from nine large national                        are currently being sued in
operated a house where                                  or multi-national insurance                             Virginia by a man who had been
employees sanctioned fights                             companies, including Tokio                              arrested in 2016. The man's
between residents and recorded                          Marine America, Fairfax,                                lawsuit alleges that these
them on cell phones. Despite                            Bankers, Endeavour, and others.                         companies put people in
these abuses, Avalon was able to                                                                                unsanitary and unsafe conditions,
keep its state contracts.4 CEC, an                      4. Telecommunications                                   in violation of their constitutional
operator of halfway houses in                           The vendors that supply                                 rights, because of a financial
New Jersey, experienced an                              telephone and video visitation                          incentive to pick up as many
epidemic of escapes across its                          services to prisons (such as                            detainees as possible.10

3
  “Review of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Monitoring of Contract Prisons.” Office of the Inspector General, US Department of Justice. August 2016. [Link]
4
  Jones, Corey. “12 Ex-Avalon Tulsa Inmates Sue Facility, ODOC with Allegations of ‘Gladiator-Style’ Fights, Drug Ring.” The Tulsa World. 10 April 2015. [Link]
5
  Dolnick, Sam. “At Halfway House, Bedlam Reigns.” The New York Times. 17 June 2012. [Link]
6
  White, Gillian. “Who Really Makes Money off of Bail Bonds?” The Atlantic. 12 May 2017. [Link]
7
  “How Much Does Bail Cost?” AboutBail.com. Accessed: 25 September 2018. [Link]
8
   Law, Victoria. “$15 for 15 minutes.” The Intercept. 16 June 2017 [Link]
9
  Jan, Tracy. “Privately Run Prisoner Transport Company Kept Detainee Shackled for 18 Days in Human Waste, Lawsuit Alleges.” The Washington Post. 24 April
2018. [Link]
10
    Ibid.

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                                                       in several Idaho prisons.11                            not required to disclose their
                                                       Additionally, several class-action                     supply chains.
                                                       lawsuits have accused Corizon
                                                       of withholding care to some
                                                       prisoners and providing
         In recent years,                              inadequate care to others,                             Undue Influencers
        smart, strategic                               including those with cancer and                              Our research also identified
        [private prison]                               diabetes, causing suffering and                              how some players within
        corporations are                               death.12 A current class-action                        the prison-industrial complex
                                                       lawsuit in Illinois accuses the                        have used significant political
     following the market.
                                                       state’s corrections department of                      muscle to convince state and
        That means they                                significant lapses in care that put                    federal officials to adopt policies
          are now in the                               patients at “risk of pain, injury,                     that promote mass incarceration.
        probation space,                               and death.”13 The suit implicates                      More recently, these players
        which had been                                 Wexford Health Sources, which                          lobbied to defend privatization
       almost exclusively                              has been the state’s prison care                       and shape criminal justice reform
        nonprofit. These                               contractor since 2011.14                               policies in ways that benefit
                                                                                                              their business models. Political
       corporations have                               7. Prison Labor Programs                               activity in this industry manifests
       bought the better                               Many companies contract with                           in four main ways:
      nonprofit treatment                              prison labor outfits to produce
           providers.”                                 products or services at low cost.                      1. Lobbying
             ADVO CACY                                 In some states, prisoners earn                         Many of the largest corporations in
           ORG A N I Z ATI O N                         minimum wage, but in others,                           the prison-industrial complex hire
             EX ECU TI V E                             they earn only 16 cents per hour                       lobbyists at the federal and state
                                                       or nothing at all.15 Some                              levels to advance their interests. To
                                                       corporations contract directly                         get a sense of how politically
                                                       with local, state, and federal                         active the industry is, Arabella
6. Health Care Providers                               prisons for prison labor, while                        identified the 22 largest publicly
Advocates have accused two of                          others have prison labor in their                      traded or private equity-owned
the largest providers of prison                        supply chains and may not even                         corporations that are either fully
health care in the country,                            know it. Prison labor in the United                    dependent on the prison-industrial
Wexford Health Sources and                             States, especially within state                        complex for their revenue or own
Corizon Health, of delivering                          prisons, where the bulk of the                         subsidiary businesses that are fully
poor-quality care. In a report to a                    nation’s prisoners are held, is an                     dependent. According to their
federal judge in Idaho, advocates                      opaque industry. Generally, state                      lobbying disclosures, the members
charged that Corizon Health                            prisons are not required to                            of this group spent a total of $33.2
provided poor care and neglected                       disclose the corporations they                         million lobbying the federal
the health needs of prisoners                          work with, and corporations are                        government between 2015 and

11
   Dutton, Audrey. “Saint Al’s Sues Idaho Prison Contractor Over $14M in Medical Bills.” The Idaho Statesman. 27 April 2018. [Link]
12
   Clarke, Matt. “Numerous Lawsuits Filed Against Corizon.” Prison Legal News. 3 August 2017 [Link]
13
   Walsh, Dylan. “Does Bad Health Care Constitute Cruel and Unusual Punishment?” The Atlantic. 17 June 2017. [Link]
14
   Ibid.
15
   Goodrich, Julie and Mari Schwartzer, et al. “Prison Labor in the United States: An Investor Perspective.” NorthStar Asset Management. May 2018. [Link]

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                                                                                                           In total, the Corrections
                                                                                                           Accountability Project identified
                                                                                                           3,100 corporations with business
                                                                                                           interests in the criminal justice
                                                                                                           system (ranging from complete to
                                                                                                           minor involvement) that gave a
                                                                                                           combined total of $175 million in
                                                                                                           state and federal political
                                                                                                           contributions in the 2016 election
                                                                                                           cycle alone.19

                                                                                                           3. Revolving Doors
                                                                                                           In addition to lobbying state and
                                                                                                           federal officials and funneling
                                                                                                           contributions to candidates,
                                                                                                           many corporations that do
                                                                                                           business with the prison industry
2017.16 According to their own                       new forms of private detention                        are keen to hire former legislators
reports, in 2016 alone, the GEO                      from which they can profit.                           and agency officials to extend
Group spent $3.3 million and                                                                               their influence in government, or
CoreCivic spent $1.8 million to                      2. Campaign Contributions                             conversely, to have the officials
lobby states and the federal                         Corporations connected to the                         hire their staff members. These
government (including members                        prison-industrial complex also                        connections accelerate the
of the Senate and the US House of                    make contributions to state and                       growth of private prisons by
Representatives, the Department                      federal policymakers to build                         allowing corporations to build the
of Justice, the Department of                        political influence. Drawing on                       case for privatization, navigate
Homeland Security, and other                         data from the Corrections                             the contracting process more
agencies).17 The GEO Group and                       Accountability Project, we                            easily, and, in some cases, avoid
CoreCivic publicly stated that they                  estimate that the 500 companies                       strict oversight. Many top
do not lobby for or against policies                 that are completely dependent on                      corrections officals at the federal
or legislation that would determine                  the prison-industrial complex gave                    level and in several states,
the length or reason for an                          at least $2.5 million to political                    including Ohio, Maine, and New
individual’s incarceration or                        candidates in 2016.18 These totals                    Mexico, worked for CoreCivic or
detention. However, they do lobby                    do not include contributions to                       the GEO Group before entering
legislators to pass laws that will                   independent political action                          public service or moved to the
keep people detained longer and                      committees (PACs) or 501(c)(4)s                       prison industry after leaving
push for government investment in                    supporting political candidates.                      government.20, 21

16
   Arabella identified the 22 companies (including parent companies) that are dependent on the prison industry for revenue using the Corrections
Accountability Project’s “The Prison Industrial Complex: Mapping Private Sector Players.” Lobbying expenditures data come from www.OpenSecrets.org.
17
   Corrections Accountability Project. “Immigration Detention: An American Business.” June 2018. [Link]
18
   Data on direct contributions to candidates pulled from FollowtheMoney.org and aggregated by Arabella Advisors. Data courtesy of the Corrections
   Accountability Project. (Accessed June 29, 2018)
19
   Ibid.
20
   Katz, Eric. “Federal Official Boosted Use of Private Prisons; Now He Has a Top Job at One.” Government Executive. 29 August 2018. [Link]
21
   Clarke, Matt. “Private Prison Companies Use Political Influence to Increase Incarceration.” Prison Legal News. 15 November 2012. [Link]

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                                                                                                                  behalf of the individuals, who then
                                                          4. Support for Advocacy and                             must repay the bail bondsman
                                                          Trade Associations                                      and pay additional surcharges.
                                                          While some companies in the
                                                          prison-industrial complex may                           Additionally, many corporations in
                                                          not directly lobby on criminal                          the prison-industrial complex
                                                          justice issues, they consistently                       sponsor corrections industry trade
                                                          sponsor powerful advocacy                               associations, which have a history
                                                          groups and industry trade                               of advancing policies that drive
                                                          associations that have been vocal                       mass incarceration. According to a
                                                          proponents of policies that foster                      2015 report by the advocacy
                                                          mass incarceration policies. The                        group In the Public Interest, in
                                                          conservative American Legislative                       2014, corporate vendors to the
                                                          Exchange Council (ALEC) has                             prison industry contributed at
            One-third of                                  worked with corporate sponsors                          least $3 million to five of the
        prisoners in some                                 to pass numerous policies that                          largest professional corrections
                                                          have helped drive incarceration to                      associations: the American
        states are housed                                 historical levels and that have                         Correctional Association, the
          in county jails,                                increased the detention of                              American Jail Association, the
            and sheriffs’                                 immigrants. Throughout the                              Association of State Correctional
         associations and                                 1990s, CoreCivic (then                                  Administrators, the Corrections
        individual sheriffs                               Corrections Corporation of                              Technology Association, and the
           are shameless                                  America) was a corporate                                National Sheriffs’ Association.22
                                                          sponsor of ALEC and held a place                        These groups typically support
        about lobbying to
                                                          on ALEC’s Criminal Justice Task                         platforms designed to maintain
        their own benefit.                                Force. During this time, ALEC                           and expand the prison-industrial
             They want                                    successfully pushed model                               complex—policies that serve the
        more prisoners in                                 legislation creating tougher                            interests of the associations’
             their jails.”                                sentencing laws in dozens of                            corporate members. For example,
      ADVOCACY O RG A N I Z ATI O N                       states, driving steep increases in                      the National Sheriffs’ Association's
            EX ECU TI V E                                 incarceration rates throughout the                      policy platform advocates for
                                                          1990s and 2000s. Additionally,                          stronger immigration enforcement
                                                          the American Bail Coalition, a                          policies, which would result in
                                                          longtime partner of ALEC, helped                        higher levels of immigrant
                                                          to draft model legislation to                           detention, and has received
                                                          expand the bail industry, resulting                     corporate sponsorship from many
                                                          in three states legalizing “post-                       companies in the prison-industrial
                                                          conviction” bail. Under this new                        complex, such as Aramark, Global
                                                          practice, which exposes                                 Tel Link, Wexford Health Sources,
                                                          thousands of new people to the                          TriTech Software Systems,
                                                          bail industry, bail bond companies                      Pay Tel, and Accredited Surety
                                                          can pay court-imposed fines on                          and Casualty Company Inc.23

22
     In The Public Interest. “Buying Access: How Corporations Influence Decision Makers at Correction Conferences, Trainings, and Meetings.” August 2015. [Link]
23
     “Corporate Partners.” National Sheriffs’ Association. Accessed: 25 September 2018. [Link]

                                                                                                                                                              14
UNDERSTANDING AND
                 CONFRONTING
                 THE PRISON-INDUSTRIAL
                 COMPLEX

Financial Sources and                                      Wall Street banks have an
Underwriters                                               outsized role in the system                                 Private equity firms
      Another set of actors is                             because they extend revolving                               that invest in
      crucial to the system’s                              lines of credit to private prison                           businesses that are
functioning: its financial sources                         operators and underwrite the                                entirely dependent
and underwriters. An expansive                             companies’ bonds.24 Because the                             on revenue from the
network of banks, private equity                           GEO Group and CoreCivic are                                 prison-industrial
firms, and insurance companies                             technically classified as real                              complex:
finance the prison-industrial                              estate investment trusts (REITs),
complex and enable it to operate.                          the lion’s share of their profits                           American Securities
These financial backers offer a                            must be returned to shareholders,                           Apax Partners
potential entry point to apply                             leaving little cash on hand for
                                                                                                                       Audax Group
financial pressure on other actors                         everyday expenditures. They need
                                                                                                                       Beecken Petty O’Keefe &
in the industry, including private                         continuous, massive lines of
                                                                                                                       Company
prison operators, bail bondsmen,                           credit—and could be vulnerable
                                                                                                                       BlueMountain Capital
and additional companies                                   to any credible effort to push
                                                                                                                       Management
engaged in malicious practices.                            banks to withhold their financing.
                                                                                                                       Falfurrias Capital Partners

1. Banks                                                   2. Private Equity                                           Frazier Healthcare Partners

Banks make loans to all                                    Private equity firms play a strong                          GTCR
creditworthy applicants, often                             role in backing hundreds of                                 H.I.G. Capital
without bias or moral judgment.                            companies that do business with                             Kanders & Company
As such, any effort to curtail bank                        the prison system. According to                             Peninsula Capital Partners
financing of companies in the                              Corrections Accountability
                                                                                                                       Platinum Equity
prison-industrial complex cannot                           Project data, 76 private equity
                                                                                                                       Prophet Equity
rely on moral arguments; instead,                          firms own 141 companies within
it must make a credible case that                          the prison-industrial complex, 52                           Riverside Ventures
those companies’ business                                  of which are completely                                     Spotlight Equity Partners
practices expose them to                                   dependent on the prison industry                            Sverica Capital Management
litigation and regulatory risks,                           for their business.25 The list at
undermine their prospects for                              right shows the private equity
                                                                                                                       SOURCE: CORRECTIONS
delivering strong financial returns,                       firms that invest in businesses                             ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT
and make them less creditworthy.                           that are entirely dependent on
This is a difficult path but one that                      revenue from the prison-industrial
could be worth exploring further,                          complex, such as private prison
as the two largest private prison                          operations, telecommunications                          potential pathways to engaging
operators, the GEO Group and                               firms, and security services                            them through investor activism
CoreCivic, rely extensively on                             companies. While private equity                         that involves large institutional
debt to finance their operations.                          firms may be less susceptible to                        investors. Some of these
According to a 2016 report by In                           public pressure than publicly held                      strategies are described in more
the Public Interest, six prominent                         financial institutions, there are                       detail below.

24
     In The Public Interest. “Report: The Banks That Finance Private Prison Companies.” 17 November 2016. [Link]
25
     Tylek, Bianca. “The Prison Industrial Complex: Mapping Private Sector Players.” Corrections Accountability Project. April 2018. [Link]

                                                                                                                                                     15
UNDERSTANDING AND
        CONFRONTING
        THE PRISON-INDUSTRIAL
        COMPLEX

                                 3. Insurance Companies               with the prison-industrial system.
The largest insurers             A small cohort of large insurance    While over 100 companies that
backing the                      companies underwrites the bail       do business with prisons maintain
bail industry, with              industry, allowing tens of           public CSR commitments that
subsidiaries:                    thousands of bail bondsmen who       outline their dedication to
                                 charge high fees to vulnerable and   improving communities, it is not
AIA
                                 economically distressed              clear to what degree they profit
  IFIC Allegheny Casualty Co.
                                 populations to operate across the    from mass incarceration or for
American Surety Company          country. According to a 2015         how long they have been doing
Bankers Financial Corporation    ACLU report, many of the largest     so. More research is needed on
  Bankers Surety                 bail insurers are multi-national     companies that identify
Bail USA                         corporations for whom bail           themselves as socially responsible
Endeavor Insurance Services      insurance is a tiny part of their    to understand the extent of their
  Aladdin Bail Bonds/Two Jinn    business. For others, especially     investments in the prison industry.
                                 those companies actively involved    Additionally, advocates and
  Seaview Insurance Company
                                 in the American Bail Coalition,      researchers have identified several
Fairfax Financial Holdings
Limited                          bail insurance represents a large    high-profile, brand-name
                                 portion of their business, which     companies with strong corporate
  The North River Insurance
  Company                        insurance companies have             social responsibility policies that
  United States Fire Insurance
                                 worked aggressively to expand.       sell products created by or provide
  Company                                                             services performed by prison labor
FCS                                                                   programs. Because prison labor
                                                                      systems lack transparency, it is
Lexington National
                                 Socially Responsible Public          hard to know if these companies
R&Q
                                 Companies                            use prison labor on a regular basis,
  Accredited Surety and
                                        Many companies maintain       in what amounts, and for what
  Casualty Company
                                        public commitments to CSR     products or services.
Seneca Insurance Company
                                 related to promoting public
Tokio Marine America
                                 health, community development,       By setting up supply chain-
  HCC Surety Group               or similar issues, even as they      monitoring systems, socially
  United States Surety           profit from a system that targets    responsible companies could root
  Company                        economically distressed              out prison labor from their
  US Specialty Insurance         communities and perpetuates          suppliers or continue to source
  Company
                                 poverty and incarceration. Using     from prisons while demanding
                                 data from the Corrections            higher standards for working
                                 Accountability Project, Arabella     conditions and better wages for
SOURCE: COLOR OF CHANGE/ACLU     identified large, publicly traded    prisoners—in other words, an end
                                 companies with over $5 billion in    to exploitive practices.
                                 annual revenue doing business

                                                                                                       16
UNDERSTANDING AND
           CONFRONTING
           THE PRISON-INDUSTRIAL
           COMPLEX

Next Steps for Concerned Philanthropists
Given the scale of the system of        money flows between companies          document trends in abuse across
mass incarceration and the              that benefit from prisons and          the prison-industrial complex and
extensive network of actors             elected officials, the extent of       monitor the most egregious
profiting from it, philanthropists      these companies’ access to             corporate actors and sectors.
will ultimately need a multi-           politicians, and the specific
pronged, multi-year, multi-actor        policies for which they lobby.           Financing networks. Advocates
approach to effectively confront        Gaining a stronger understanding       have begun to explore the
the prison-industrial complex—          of corporate influence and the         complex networks of financial
one that uses both their                ability to identify the elected        support and underwriting within
endowment capital and grant             officials that accept corporate        the prison-industrial complex,
making to mobilize public,              money from the prison-industrial       but they need more information
political, and financial pressure for   complex is the first step in           on how to disrupt financing for
reform. Developing such a               reducing that influence over time.     the industry’s most glaring,
multi-pronged, multi-year                                                      influential actors.
intervention strategy is beyond            Prison labor supply chains.
the scope of this report. However,      Prison labor supply chains are           Policy research. Philanthropists
in surveying the landscape, we          complicated and opaque, and the        can support advocates who are
have identified several steps that      field does not have accurate           researching the most effective
concerned funders and investors         information on which companies         oversight and regulatory policies
can begin to take even today.           profit from prison labor. These        at the state and federal levels that
                                        data are somewhat simpler to find      can counter the influence of the
Support Additional                      at the federal level; finding the      prison-industrial complex. Better
Research on the Prison-                 data at the state level will require   oversight of contractors and
Industrial Complex                      investments in comprehensive           increased disclosure requirements
Philanthropists can bolster efforts     supply chain research. This            for corporations taking
to challenge the prison industry        information will help advocates        government funds could help
by funding research in several          identify high-profile brands that      identify and eliminate harms
areas. Filling these research gaps      use prison labor and allow them        within in the prison system.
is important for developing             to apply public pressure and
comprehensive corporate                 demand the brands stop the             Divest from Egregious
accountability strategies,              practice, or insist that prisoners     Actors
divestment campaigns, or                receive a fair wage and safe           Divestment movements that
approaches to investor activism.        working conditions.                    have targeted South African
                                                                               apartheid and the fossil fuel
  Political activity. According to         Reports of harm. Our                industry have demonstrated that
many advocates, those working           understanding of the physical and      these types of campaigns can be
for reform generally do not have        financial harms caused by              an effective strategy for
much political muscle to support        corporations within the prison         stigmatizing offending industries
their work, while corporate actors      industry is incomplete, with           and reducing their influence,
give millions in political              information drawn piecemeal            building broader social
contributions to lawmakers who          from lawsuits, one-off                 movements, and making the
support tougher criminalization         investigations, and reports to         political environment more
and immigration laws. Advocates         advocacy groups. Philanthropists       amenable to positive policy
still do not know exactly how           can support advocates’ efforts to      changes. Philanthropists should

                                                                                                                17
UNDERSTANDING AND
          CONFRONTING
          THE PRISON-INDUSTRIAL
          COMPLEX

view divestment primarily as a
movement-building and political
strategy, rather than a means to                          INVEST FOR IMPACT
exert substantial financial
pressure on its targets, as most         As a complement to divestment strategies, philanthropic funders can
                                         pursue impact investing strategies that channel divested (or other) funds
experts believe divestment is
                                         into companies that are working to counter the deleterious impacts of
unlikely to meaningfully impact          mass incarceration and reduce recidivism, such as businesses that provide
corporate bottom lines. The              employment and economic opportunity for citizens returning from prison.
biggest actors in prison
divestment to date are
universities, municipalities, and        1  Make mission-related investments in companies that are committed to
                                            employing individuals with criminal records. Philanthropists can work
                                         with a socially responsible financial services company to customize a
faith-based institutions.                portfolio that sets up a positive screen for such businesses.
Philanthropists are still relatively
rare in this landscape and can
help develop the movement not            2   Make program-related investments in innovative companies and
                                             organizations working to counter the impacts of mass incarceration.
                                         For example, the New Orleans-based Rising Foundations runs a small
only by removing prison
                                         business incubator for previously incarcerated individuals and provides
investments from their own
                                         them with microgrants and zero-interest loans. Similarly, Boston-based
endowments and retirement                New Profit operates the Unlocked Futures accelerator, which invests in
funds but also by leading a call for     businesses created by previously incarcerated people.
divestment pledges from fellow
philanthropic institutions.
                                         3    Make use of pay-for-success financing, also called social impact bonds,
                                              to make impact investments in initiatives that aim to reduce
                                         incarceration rates. Philanthropists can use these bonds to provide loans to
                                         organizations that are working to reduce recidivism by providing behavioral
How Philanthropists Can                  health, job training, and education programs to those who are exiting
Advance a Prison Divestment              prisons or the juvenile justice system. Several prominent foundations have
Movement                                 recently invested in the Massachusetts Juvenile Justice Pay for Success
1. Divest your endowment assets          Initiative, which aims to reduce incarceration rates by supporting hundreds
                                         of at-risk young men in the probation system.
of any holdings in CoreCivic or
the GEO Group, two of the most
egregious, politically active, and
vulnerable companies in the
prison-industrial complex.             want an investment partner to              communications, research, and
Philanthropists can act quickly to     help establish investment screens          grassroots organizing capabilities.
remove these high-profile private      and root out companies profiting           Philanthropic funding can help
prison companies even while they       from incarceration can work with           put such infrastructure in place.
consider a more comprehensive          socially responsible investment            While several advocacy groups—
divestment strategy that includes      groups like OpenInvest to                  including Enlace, the Corrections
multiple screens and other             establish investment accounts              Accountability Project, and the
corporations.                          that align with their values.              American Friends Service
                                                                                  Committee—and student
2. Use social, governance, and         3. Provide grants to advocacy              activists at a handful of Ivy
environmental screens to               groups that are building a prison          League universities have started
exclude companies profiting            divestment movement. To be                 prison divestment efforts,
from the prison-industrial             successful, divestment efforts             investments that better broadcast
complex from endowment                 must be situated within a larger           their work could help the
holdings. Philanthropists who          movement that has                          movement gather momentum.

                                                                                                                        18
UNDERSTANDING AND
          CONFRONTING
          THE PRISON-INDUSTRIAL
          COMPLEX

Implement Investor                    complex. Investor activism can be       private equity firms, and have a
Activism and Capital                  a powerful tool when it activates       history of shareholder activism on
Market Strategies                     large, institutional investors and      CSR issues.
Investors who are eager to exert      influences financial analysts and
financial pressure on companies       Wall Street opinion makers by           2. Use your standing as investors
may be able to achieve greater        demonstrating how a company’s           to provide proxies and access for
impact by taking equity stakes in     practices—due to reputational           advocates seeking to advance
companies connected to the            risks, regulatory pressures,            shareholder resolutions. While
prison-industrial complex and         litigation risks, etc.—are reducing     individual philanthropists may not
using their standing and creative     shareholder value.                      be well positioned to execute a
strategies to push companies to                                               shareholder advocacy campaign,
reform. Investor activism                                                     investors can provide nonprofit
proponents who seek to engage         How Philanthropists                     organizations or other activist
and disrupt companies in this way     Can Reform the Prison-                  investors with their proxy votes to
could pursue a variety of             Industrial Complex Through              strengthen a shareholder
objectives: demanding that            Investor Activism                       campaign’s position.
private prison operators increase     1. Provide grant support to
pay in prison work programs;          organizations engaged in investor       3. Join with other philanthropists
forcing companies connected to        activism targeting the prison           to set up an investment fund
the prison-industrial complex to      industry. Several organizations,        that has stakes in the most
disclose full details of their        including the Human Rights              egregious and politically active
lobbying and political activities     Defense Center and the Interfaith       companies in the industry.
and to cease supporting politically   Center on Corporate                     Philanthropists could staff a fund
active trade associations and         Responsibility, have engaged in         with experienced researchers and
industry front groups; pressuring     low levels of shareholder               advocates who can use the fund’s
telecommunications companies          advocacy on this issue.                 standing as an investor to
to stop charging incarcerated         Philanthropic capital could             advance industry reforms from
individuals excessive fees            catalyze their efforts. Additionally,   the inside. This could include
for video visitation and phone        partnering with big pension funds       shareholder resolutions as well
services; pushing for the             such as the California Public           as more aggressive shareholder
replacement of corporate board        Employees’ Retirement System            strategies, such as delaying
members with directors who            (CalPERS) and large fund                mergers and acquisitions,
are more sympathetic to the           managers such as BlackRock can          withholding votes in board of
interests of the communities          bring real power to investor            director elections, or pushing for
impacted by mass incarceration;       activism. These institutional           proxy access that allows for
and demanding that companies          investors own large equity stakes       direct shareholder nominations to
reduce their business with and        in most public companies, are           the board to gain concessions
reliance on the prison-industrial     often the largest investors in          from company management.

                                                                                                              19
UNDERSTANDING AND
            CONFRONTING
            THE PRISON-INDUSTRIAL
            COMPLEX

Matching Types of Actors with Potential Philanthropic Strategies
Each of the categories of companies we identified earlier represents an intervention point to reduce the prison-
industrial complex's harm. As such, there is a different set of goals that philanthropists and their advocacy
partners can pursue for each category. This chart summarizes those goals and their ultimate impact.

     EGREGIOUS ACTORS               UNDUE INFLUENCERS                FINANCIAL SOURCES AND            SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE
                                                                         UNDERWRITERS                   PUBLIC COMPANIES

GOALS

  - Understand where the most      - Secure full disclosure of       - Convince financial backers    - Gain a better
  egregious practices within the   lobbying and political              to stop supporting bad         understanding of which
  system are occurring             activities                          actors within the prison-      brand-name, socially
  - End egregious and harmful      - Pressure companies to             industrial complex             responsible companies
  practices                        cease supporting politically                                       benefit from prison labor
                                   active trade associations and                                      - Encourage socially
                                   front groups                                                       responsible companies to
                                                                                                      end contracts with
                                                                                                      privately operated prisons,
                                                                                                      immigrant detention centers,
                                                                                                      and other facilities

STRATEGIES

  - Research on corporate          - Opposition research to          - Investor activism that         - Support organizations
  activity to identify egregious   expose companies’ undue           pushes financial backers to      pushing for comprehensive
  practices                        influence                         condition their financing on     research into corporate
  - Divestment campaigns that      - Divestment campaigns that       reforming egregious              supply chains to identify
  stigmatize these companies       help stigmatize these             practices that pose litigation   prison labor
  and create public pressure       companies                         and other financial risks        - Investor activism and
  for regulatory reform            - Investor activism to push                                        corporate accountability
  - Investor activism to push      for disclosure and                                                 campaigns that push
  for reforms from the inside of   curtailment of political and                                       high-profile companies to
  companies                        lobbying activities                                                cut ties with the most
                                                                                                      harmful elements of the
                                                                                                      prison-industrial complex

 POTENTIAL IMPACT

  - Curtailment of the most        - Decline in the political        - Pressure from financial        - Isolation and
  exploitive and harmful           influence of companies in the     backers to reform the most       stigmatization of companies
  practices in the prison          prison-industrial complex         egregious practices in the       engaged in egregious
  industry                         and in their ability to advance   industry                         practices in the industry
                                   policies related to prisons                                        - Increased public visibility
                                   and the criminal justice                                           of and attention to harmful
                                   system that adversely impact                                       practices in the prison
                                   communities                                                        industry
                                                                                                      - Improvement in the
                                                                                                      standards, working
                                                                                                      conditions, and wages for
                                                                                                      prison labor

                                                                                                                                  20
UNDERSTANDING AND
         CONFRONTING
         THE PRISON-INDUSTRIAL
         COMPLEX

Conclusion
                                          will require advocating for fundamental reforms to our
ENDING THE ERA O F M ASS I N CARC ERATI O N

criminal justice system, including rolling back tough-on-crime sentencing policies and drug
laws and reforming prosecutorial and policing practices that have caused prison populations to
soar. It will also require confronting the power and influence of the prison-industrial complex:
the thousands of companies that profit from the detention, incarceration, and confinement of
human beings in the United States. Philanthropists can continue to invest in and profit from
these companies themselves, or they can use their endowments and grant-making capital in
creative and strategic ways to expose, stigmatize, and disrupt the industry, neutralizing its
harms and its undue political influence in our politics. Taming the prison-industrial complex can
help restore the public’s ability to shape just and equitable criminal justice and immigration
policies. Better policies and more accountable corporations can help reverse the mass
incarceration and mass criminalization that undermine freedom and opportunity for millions.

Acknowledgments
ARABELLA ADV I SO R Swould like to acknowledge the contributions of the experts and field leaders
who contributed their time, knowledge, insight, and research to the development of this report.
They include Jim Baker (Private Equity Stakeholder Project); Andrew Behar (As You Sow);
James Bell (W. Haywood Burns Institute); Noah Bookbinder (Citizens for Responsibility and
Ethics in Washington); Kevin Connor (LittleSis.org); Bill Dempsey; Margaret Dooley-Sammuli
(ACLU of California); Rachel Fagiano (Nathan Cummings Foundation); Alex Friedmann (Human
Rights Defense Center); Shar Habibi (In The Public Interest); Kyle Herrig (Daylight Project);
Kevin Keenan (Vera Institute of Justice); Cyrus Kharas (Arabella Advisors); Marc Mauer (The
Sentencing Project); Tulaine Montgomery (New Profit); Zachary Norris (Ella Baker Center); Udi
Ofer (ACLU Campaign for Smart Justice); Angela Peoples (ACRE); Rashad Robinson (Color of
Change); Lorraine Ramirez (Funders for Justice); Liz Ryan (Youth First); Marc Schindler (Justice
Policy Institute); Susan Shah (Vera Institute of Justice); David Shapiro (ACLU National Prison
Project); Carrie Sloan (ACRE); Ryan Strode (Arabella Advisors); Rob Thomas (Social(k));
Jamie Trinkle (Enlace); and Andrew Wright (Marathon Strategies).

We extend a special thanks to Bianca Tylek of the Corrections Accountability Project at the Urban
Justice Center for sharing the organization's in-depth research on the corporations profiting from
the prison-industrial complex.

                                                                                                21
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