Safeguard Incarcerated Journalists

A prisoner looks out from his cell at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison, December 2015, in Jackson, Ga.

Reporting on the incarceration system sheds light on opaque and powerful institutions.

Journalists who report on the incarceration system from inside and out provide essential transparency, oversight, and accountability for America’s secretive carceral institutions.

Too often, these centers operate beyond the public eye. Corrections agencies closely guard any information about incarcerated people and facilities and restrict public access to them. We push back on efforts to block reporting on carceral institutions and support the First Amendment rights of journalists covering them.

Write a letter for private prison transparency

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Edit this message so that it is unique to you: Dear Senator/Representative, As your constituent, I am deeply concerned about the secrecy surrounding private prisons and detention centers being used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. These facilities are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act and have been able to shirk oversight for decades as a result. Unsurprisingly, the Department of Justice has found these secretive facilities are more dangerous than their government-run counterparts. The long-standing secrecy has grown inexcusable now that ICE is housing a record number of people in these private facilities. The Intercept has reported this includes an unknown number of pregnant women, whose health may be in jeopardy. I am asking that you PLEASE SPEAK OUT and demand that private prisons and detention facilities that hold people on behalf of the federal government be subject to FOIA. It is critical that the public, Congress, and even ICE be able to ensure that the private prison companies are fulfilling the terms of their lucrative federal contracts and that the people in their care are treated humanely. This is impossible without transparency. Now is the time to use your considerable influence to support transparency and improve public understanding of the private prison system. Thank you. URLs are not allowed in this message.

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Thank you for fighting for private prison transparency.

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