California bans private prisons and immigrant detention centers

California is banning the use of for-profit prisons, something once embraced to ease overcrowding, but now scorned by prisoner and immigrant advocacy groups over substandard conditions and alleged abuses.Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed legislation effectively banning the outsourcing of inmates to private contractors. The law will prohibit the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from entering into or renewing contracts with private-prison corporations beginning in 2020, and bars the state from keeping prisoners in private lockups starting in 2028. "These for-profit prisons do not reflect our values," Newsom said in a statement. The Democratic governor promised to end the use of private prisons upon taking office in January. The state's prison system was already phasing them out, despite having to comply with an inmate population cap imposed by federal judges. THE COLD HARD FACTS ABOUT AMERICA'S PRIVATE PRISON SYSTEM  Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, second from left, flanked by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, center, and other lawmakers, discusses his measure on for-profit detention facilities on Friday in Sacramento.  (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)  California houses around 16,000 inmates in three prisons run by Florida-based GEO Group, according to the corrections department. Its contract expires in 2023, at which time it will not be able to renew it under the new law. California ended its last out-of-state private prison contract over the summer when it moved its final 33 inmates from Arizona to an in-state facility. At one point, Californa had contracts with five other out-of-state prisons, The Sacramento Bee reported. "By ending the use of for-profit, private prisons and detention facilities, we are sending a powerful message that we vehemently oppose the practice of profiteering off the backs of Californians in custody, that we will stand up for the health, safety and welfare of our people, and that we are committed to humane treatment for all," Assemblyman Rob Bonta, an Oakland Democrat and the bill's lead author, said in a statement. The measure also bans privately run immigration detention centers, which house undocumented immigrants awaiting deportation hearings. Advocates and Democratic lawmakers have railed against using the facilities to hold immigrants, citing poor conditions. ELIZABETH WARREN CALLS TO BAN PRIVATELY RUN FEDERAL PRISONS  This Aug. 28 image shows the Adelanto U.S. Immigration and Enforcement Processing Center, operated by GEO Group, in  Adelanto, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)  A Homeland Security watchdog report found that immigrants were being crowded into cells, and that many had trouble accessing medical care, showers, clothes and mental health care. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) currently houses 4,000 undocumented immigrants in four private detention facilities throughout the state. The largest facility, in Adelanto, has a temporary contract set to expire next year, along with an

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