Attorney General Sessions Would Be Good News for Private Prisons

When Donald Trump's victory on election night became clear, the shares of the largest private prison corporations shot up. If the Senate confirms Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) as the next attorney general in the coming weeks, the companies and their shareholders will have even more to celebrate.

Last summer, the Justice Department announced it would stop contracting with the for-profit prison industry, whose facilities are more violent and less humane than government-run prisons. But Trump has spoken favorably of private prisons, and Sessions, who at the helm of the Justice Department would have the power to reverse its decision, has close ties to the industry and a history of supporting private prisons.  Read more.