Ninth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Arizona Challenge 
to Private Prisons

In 2020, the Arizona chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and two state prisoners filed a federal class-action suit, challenging the state’s use of privately-operated prisons on a variety of constitutional grounds. The district court dismissed the case for failure to state a claim in January 2022. Plaintiffs appealed, but a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the decision on May 21, 2024, rejecting each of the Plaintiffs’ claims.

After first determining that the NAACP had organizational standing to sue, the appellate court summarized the arguments raised in the complaint: “That private prisons are inferior to state-run prisons because they are motivated by profit, leading them to cut costs and resulting in diminished safety and security as well as reduced programing and services.” The profit motive also provided a financial incentive “to keep prisoners incarcerated longer … by manipulating disciplinary proceedings.” 

Around 20% of Arizona state prisoners are held in privatized facilities, but the appellate Court found that the Plaintiffs had not “plausibly alleged” that incarceration in private prisons violates their due process rights. Serving time in for-profit facilities did not constitute an “atypical and significant hardship” …