MVA Investigations Team Conducts Racial Equity Audit for CoreCivic, Inc.

In December of 2020, the Service Employees International Union Pension Plans Master Trust (“SEIU Fund”), which holds several billions of dollars in pension fund assets under management, issued a shareholder proposal to CoreCivic, Inc. (“CoreCivic”) to conduct a racial equity audit. CoreCivic adopted the proposal by agreement that same month and engaged Moore & Van Allen to conduct the audit. The shareholder proposal to CoreCivic was one of approximately 12 such proposals issued to publicly traded companies in the late 2020 and early 2021 timeframe.

CoreCivic is the nation’s largest private owner of correctional, detention, and residential reentry facilities. Nearly 50,000 individuals are imprisoned or detained in CoreCivic facilities pursuant to contracts with local, state, and federal government entities. People of color currently make up the majority of residents housed in CoreCivic facilities. CoreCivic also employs over 10,000 individuals across the U.S., the majority of which are people of color. In conducting the audit, Moore & Van Allen analyzed CoreCivic’s impacts on nonwhite residents, their families, CoreCivic employees, and local communities, and generated a public audit report which is available on CoreCivic’s website. The report, which was published on March 10, 2022, details Moore & Van Allen’s findings, as well as our recommendations to enhance CoreCivic’s current practices and improve outcomes for CoreCivic’s stakeholders of color.   

The Moore & Van Allen audit team consisted of lead auditor Valecia McDowell; Ed O’Keefe, the former General Counsel of one of the nation’s largest banks; attorneys Elena Mitchell, Jamea Richardson, Jon Gilmartin, Sarah Negus, and Kaitlin Price; and key staff contributor Jordyn McAtee, whose combined personal, professional, and civic experiences informed the work. To read the full report, please visit https://www.CoreCivic.com/DEI (click on Racial Equity Audit Report).