Editing Prison–industrial complex (section)

=== 1980s ===
President Ronald Reagan's [[Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986|1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act]] further accelerated mass incarceration. Very shortly many state prisons were experiencing unprecedented overcrowding.<ref name=":30" /> Rockefeller's successor, New York Governor [[Mario Cuomo]], was unable to generate enough support to dismantle the drug laws, and to keep pace with increasing arrests, was forced to expand the prison system using the [[Empire State Development Corporation|Urban Development Corporation]], a public state agency, which could issue state bonds without voter support.<ref name=":18" /> Despite a general economic retrenchment and avowed state government [[austerity]] policies, these events proved that government funds could nevertheless be made available for prison construction.<ref name=":18" /><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Kolbert|first1=Elizabeth|last2=Times|first2=Special To the New York|date=1990-01-17|title=CUOMO PROPOSES AUSTERITY BUDGET WITH MORE TAXES|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/17/nyregion/cuomo-proposes-austerity-budget-with-more-taxes.html|access-date=2021-11-13|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=November 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113011916/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/17/nyregion/cuomo-proposes-austerity-budget-with-more-taxes.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Meanwhile, in 1983, the [[CoreCivic|Corrections Corporation of America]] (CCA) was founded by Nashville businessmen who claimed they could build and operate state and federal prisons with the same quality of service provided by government prisons, but at a lower cost.<ref name=":2" /> In 1984, CCA was awarded a contract for a facility in Hamilton County, Tennessee, the first instance of the public sector contracting management of a prison to a private company. By 1987, the company had signed more contracts, with Tennessee, Texas, and Kentucky, establishing the legal precedent for other startups and established corporations to enter into the industry, not only operating prisons but also immigrant detention facilities for the U.S. [[Immigration and Naturalization Service]].<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Doty|first1=Roxanne Lynne|last2=Wheatley|first2=Elizabeth Shannon|date=2013-12-01|title=Private Detention and the Immigration Industrial Complex1|url=https://doi.org/10.1111/ips.12032|journal=International Political Sociology|volume=7|issue=4|pages=426–443|doi=10.1111/ips.12032|issn=1749-5679|access-date=November 13, 2021|archive-date=May 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519191611/https://academic.oup.com/ips/article-abstract/7/4/426/1807447?redirectedFrom=fulltext|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> As of 2012, the multibillion-dollar corporation, now known as [[CoreCivic]], manages over 65 correctional facilities and boasts an annual revenue exceeding $1.7 billion.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2013-06-17|title=The Dirty Thirty: Nothing to Celebrate About 30 Years of Corrections Corporation of America|language=en|work=Grassroots Leadership|url=https://grassrootsleadership.org/cca-dirty-30|access-date=2017-10-19|archive-date=October 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020033837/https://grassrootsleadership.org/cca-dirty-30|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1988, the now-second-largest for-profit private prison corporation, [[Wackenhut Corrections Corporation]] (WCC) was established as a subsidiary of [[The Wackenhut Corporation]]. The WCC is now known as [[GEO Group]], and as of 2017, their U.S. Corrections and Detention division manages 70 correctional and detention facilities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.geogroup.com/Management_and_Operations|title=Management and Operations|website=www.geogroup.com|language=en-US|access-date=2017-10-19|archive-date=October 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020085406/https://www.geogroup.com/Management_and_Operations|url-status=live}}</ref>

Between 1980 and 1989, the total U.S. prison population increased by 115%, from 329,821 to 710,054 people.<ref name=":30" />