The Department of Justice (DOJ) will resume doing business with private prisons. This announcement came Thursday, as attorney general, Jeff Sessions wrote a memo saying phasing out private prison use “changed long-standing policy and practice” and “impaired” the ability of the Bureau of Prisons “to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system.”

The directive issued by the Obama administration instructing the DOJ to curtail the use of private prisons is officially obsolete.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union private prisons hold approximately 18 percent of federal prisoners and 7 percent of state prisoners.

Sally Yates, former deputy attorney general indicated private prisons “simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs, and resources; they do not save substantially on costs; and as noted in a recent report by the Department’s Office of Inspector General, they do not maintain the same level of safety and security.”