Examining Tennessee’s Relationship With CoreCivic

Fifty years ago, private prisons largely didn’t exist.

While early forms of for-profit prisons first began operating in the U.S. during the 19th century via prison labor and convict leasing, state, local and federal governments were the primary entities to wield control of the country’s penal institutions. Then, in the early 1980s, mass incarceration began to skyrocket as a result of President Ronald Reagan’s acceleration of the “war on drugs” and “tough on crime” policies.

Meanwhile, the state-run prison system in Tennessee was in a period of turmoil marked by overcrowding and violence that led to the system being placed under federal supervision. As a result, a trio of Nashville businessmen sought to take an entrepreneur’s approach to address these issues.

Tom Beasley, a previous chai