U.S. Gets Injunction Against California Ban on Private Prisons

California’s ban on private prisons in the state has been put on hold because it’s preempted by federal law and violates the doctrine of intergovernmental immunity, the Ninth Circuit said Tuesday.

California adopted the ban in 2019, which phases out all private detention facilities in the state. But the U.S., which relies solely on private facilities to hold immigration detainees, and a private company that operates two prisons in the state, Geo Group Inc., sought a preliminary injunction.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California said that the well-being of detainees falls within the state’s traditional police ...