Green-Colored Glasses: Private Prisons Are a Socially Responsible Investment, According to Bizarre Wall Street Measures
The Intercept_, June 27, 2022: Green-Colored Glasses: Private Prisons Are a Socially Responsible Investment, According to Bizarre Wall Street Measures
“CoreCivic, the first publicly traded prison company in America and the first to operate both private prisons and private immigration detention centers on a for-profit basis, had another first to announce. Damon T. Hininger, the chief executive, paused to share the news on a call with investors last month: CoreCivic Inc. was the first company after the George Floyd protests to proactively conduct a ‘racial equity audit,’ the results of which it was now ready to release.
“‘CoreCivic is one of the very few companies in the United States that has proactively embraced the process,’ Hininger gloated.
“The private prison corporation’s stock price and access to bond markets had been battered by pressure over its role in profiting from immigrant detention and for providing financial support to Donald Trump’s presidency. The company is currently facing a class-action lawsuit brought by immigration detainees claiming that they were forced to work with little or no pay. The racial equity audit was a conscious effort by CoreCivic not only to mend its poor public image, but also to harness public interest in racial justice to bring the company back into the good graces of Wall Street investors.”
Additional reading:
The Tennessean, June 17, 2022: Why CoreCivic is seeking to block a prominent attorney from speaking out about a prison it runs
ebn, October 13, 2021: Where do your DEI initiatives end? What you need to know about youth incarceration
Harvard Business Review, September 6, 2021: What is DEI Doing for the Formerly Incarcerated?