Nuns' Path to Private Prison Human Rights Reform: Own The Prisons

While students at Columbia University hold demonstrations encouraging the school to divest ownership shares in private prisons, an order of nuns has devised a different solution for ensuring prisoner human rights.  The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, through their Mercy Investment Services, Inc., have be purchasing shares in those prisons. 

Fund manager Sr. Valerie Heinonen has been purchasing shares in private prison companies since 2000.  The fund strategy is to purchase a sufficient amount of shares to influence change in the way that private prisons are run.  Heinonen told CNN Money:  "What we want is the establishment of a human rights policy at these companies". 

The two largest owners of private prisons are Geo Group and Corrections Corporations of America.  The companies have been hugely successful.  According to CNN Money, the stock of Geo Group has risen 130% over the past three years.  But, many argue, those profits are made on the backs of prisoners whose human rights are  disregarded. 

With the decline in incarceration rates, empty private prisons have been used to house detained immigrant children and adults.  As  reported by CNN, Mercy has raised concerns around food, housing and education for detained children and adults.  Sr. Heinonen said:  We've also been concerned about legal access for people."  The Mercy Fund and prison ownership companies are in communication, addressing the human rights concerns.  The Mercy Fund has also used corporate process successfully.  After its initial success with a corporate environmental ballot, prison waste is being recycled.  The nuns then moved on to typing executive compensation to social, as well as financial, success.  Said Sr. Heinonen:  "By the time we got started with the human rights policy, we had had had some success with other shareholder initiatives." Now the prisons have official human rights policies. 

Prison reform by shareholders and others is a long term venture.  But the investor strategy gives the shareholders clout that is no longer available to those who sell their stocks in protest.