Today (March 25) at the Clinton School, John Dacey will discuss his work to abolish private prisons.  The program begins at noon at the Clinton School in Sturgis Hall.

In 2015, Executive Director John Dacey started a nonprofit with a name as straightforward as its goal: Abolish Private Prisons. In 2018, Dacey left his private law firm to focus on his nonprofit work full time.

Abolish Private Prisons believes that in turning over incarceration to the marketplace, government has abdicated a responsibility that belongs to government alone and creates huge financial incentives that sustain our societal addiction to mass incarceration. Taking away an individual’s liberty should never have any relationship to corporate profits.

Professor andré douglas pond cummings, UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law Professor and President of the Board of Abolish Private Prisons, will join Dacey for the program. He states: “It is not just a constitutional issue for us. It is a moral imperative.”

Dacey says, “It’s about what kind of a country we are, and what kind of a country are we going to be? Are we really going to put these perverse incentives into our criminal justice system? This is treating people as human inventory. It’s a violation of human dignity.”

All Clinton School Speaker Series events are free and open to the public. Reserve your seats by emailing publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu or by calling (501) 683-5239.