US private sector witnessed steady growth in job creation in September, reveals ADP report

Private prison operators first emerged in the United States in the 1980s when the prison population began to explode, notably because of the war on drugs. It became a big and profitable business, with the prison companies publicly traded on stock exchanges.

Many, however, accused the private prisons for cutting corners in terms of inmate care. They also have allegedly encouraged tough sentencing policies to keep their facilities full.

As per reports about 2 mn people are being held in prisons in the US of which about 1.16 lakh are in private prisons. The private prisons are said to be much worse than the government facilities. "Privately operated criminal detention facilities consistently underperform federal facilities with respect to correctional services, programs, and resources," Joe Biden said. "We should ensure that time in prison prepares individuals for the next chapter of their lives."

"There is broad consensus that our current system of mass incarceration imposes significant costs and hardships on our society and communities and does not make us safer," Biden said in the order. "To decrease incarceration levels, we must reduce profit-based incentives to incarcerate by phasing out the federal government's reliance on privately operated criminal detention facilities," he added. The move will effectively revert the Justice Department to the same posture it held at the end of the Obama administration.