"I hereby rescind the memorandum… entitled ‘Reducing Our Use of Private Prisons’," Sessions stated in the new memorandum. "The [old] memorandum changed long-standing policy and practice, and impaired the Bureau [of Prisons’] ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system."
Sessions noted the previous memorandum was sent by former Deputy US Attorney General Sally Yates on August 2016.
In it, Yates instructed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to decline to renew contracts with private prisons or reduce their use consistent with the decline of the Bureau’s inmate population.
On January 30, Trump fired Yates after she issued a memorandum banning the Justice Department from presenting arguments in court in defense of President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration.
