{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=13&itemid=2232", "Grijalva, Sanders Call for US Marshalls Service to End Reliance on For-Profit Prison Industry", "2016-09-19", "2016", "2016-09", "Democrat", "House", "AZ", "Ra\u00fal Grijalva", "G000551", "grijalva.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Congressman Ra\u00fal M. Grijalva (D-AZ) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) today sent a letter to Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch urging she direct the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) to follow the Bureau of Prisons\u2019 (BOP) lead in phasing out private prison contracts as they come up for renewal.\r\n\r\n\tThe letter reads in part:\r\n\r\n\tWe ask that you use your existing authority to hold USMS facilities to the same standards as BOP by immediately initiating a review of privately operated prison and detention centers under their jurisdiction and beginning a phase-out of all for-profit prison contracts moving forward.\r\n\r\n\tRep. Grijalva released the following statement:\r\n\r\n\t\u201cThe Department of Justice\u2019s decision directing the Bureau of Prisons to sever ties with the private prison industry was a vital and necessary first step towards ending our nation\u2019s involvement with this morally reprehensible industry,\u201d Rep. Grijalva said. \u201cBut it was exactly that \u2013 a first step. The DOJ should immediately build on this progress and review the U.S. Marshal Service\u2019s for-profit prison contracts. They should disassociate from captivity profiteering immediately. A larger portion of USMS\u2019s prison population sleeps on privately operated beds than BOP\u2019s, making their use of private contractors an even greater concern. Until they, and others like the Department of Homeland Security do, our nation will remain ensnared in financial dealings that undermine our values and promote human suffering. That is simply unacceptable.\u201d\r\n\r\n\tThe full text of the letter is available here.\r\n\r\n\t###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=13&itemid=2232"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.5143401473760605, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}