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According to the Justice Policy Institute: "While private prison companies may try to present themselves as just meeting existing 'demand' for prison beds and responding to current 'market' conditions, in fact they have worked hard over the past decade to create markets for their product."<ref name="JPI">Justice Policy Institute, [http://www.justicepolicy.org/uploads/justicepolicy/documents/gaming_the_system.pdf "GAMING THE SYSTEM: HOW THE POLITICAL STRATEGIES OF PRIVATE PRISON COMPANIES PROMOTE INEFFECTIVE INCARCERATION POLICIES,"] June 2011, accessed Sept 8, 2013.</ref>
Although it claims that it has not lobbied for bills that extend or increase sentences for prisoners, for many years GEO Group participated in the task force of the [httphttps://www.alecexposed.org American Legislative Exchange Council] (ALEC) that pushed bills that lengthened time in prison, such as so-called “truth-in-sentencing” and “three strikes” legislation, as models for states to adopt across the nation.
GEO Group is now a multi-billion-dollar corporation whose for-profit prison operations have become increasingly controversial. The two primary critiques are that (1) GEO Group's lobbying and campaign contributions have led to federal and state policies and government contracts that expand its profit margins, but in many cases at the expense of the public interest; (2) the company's profit-increasing and cost-cutting strategies lead to a vicious cycle where lower wages and benefits for workers, high employee turnover, insufficient training, and under-staffing results in poor oversight and mistreatment of detained persons, increased violence, and riots. Other profit-focused measures that affect inmates, such as withholding medical care or inadequate nutrition, add to the volatility of the situation. This, in turn, has led to dangerous working conditions for correctional staff, as well as the communities where GEO Group's prisons operate. <ref>John Burnett, [http://www.npr.org/2011/03/28/134855801/private-prison-promises-leave-texas-towns-in-trouble Private Prison Promises Leave Texas Towns In Trouble], National Public Radio, March 28, 2011.</ref>
