private prison and detention contractor

The GEO Group

A public private-prison and detention contractor providing secure facilities, processing centers, transport, reentry, and electronic monitoring. The GEO Group scores low because of documented human harm, coercive violence, and person-dependent governance, with poor loss-bearing fidelity and extractive economics reinforcing the negative evaluation.

Why this matters: Electronic monitoring and detention management extend confinement into an investable service category.

Letter grade F Malignant Medium confidence (AI) Rubric gcd-rubric-v1 Last reviewed May 6, 2026

Final Score -37* F - Malignant

FMALIGNANT-37 pts

* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.

Base Material7

Bonus+0

Cap35Ownership <= 2 and Governance <= 2

After Cap7

Penalties-44

Private Government badge

The GEO Group receives the Private Government badge because it combines large-scale private rule-setting over customers, workers, users, members, or counterparties with OpenLobby-documented lobbying of about $1.5M on public policy issues.

Evidence: [8]

Policy Capture: L for Lobbying

The L badge appears when the Policy Capture penalty is severe. Here, L stands for Lobbying: the policy-capture value is -10, meaning the evidence indicates major private-interest lobbying or policy pressure against workers, customers, citizens, affected communities, democratic accountability, or ecological life.

Evidence: [7]

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Evaluation Overview

F - Malignant

The score turns mainly on Labor Sovereignty, with the largest penalty coming from Human Harm.

Strengths

Labor Sovereignty2/7
Ownership1/10
Governance1/10

Penalties

Human Harm-16
Policy Capture-10
Coercive Violence-9
Reversibility-5

Evidence state

ConfidenceMedium confidence (AI)
ThoroughnessPartial (AI)
Linked claims8
Direct axis claims7
Coverage7/15

Scoring Axes

Axis	Score	Why this score
Ownership ? Control rights: shareholder-dominated at 0, worker cooperative control at 10.	1 / 10	GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. That keeps The GEO Group low on Ownership: decisive control remains with shareholders, private owners, executives, or state insiders rather than affected people. The value is above zero only where the linked record still shows some real function, constraint, or public value on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 12 scored entries below, 65 tied, 149 above on Ownership. Linked evidence context GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. [1]
Governance ? Binding decision authority: centralized control at 0, democratic stakeholder control at 10.	1 / 10	GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. That keeps The GEO Group low on Governance: ordinary users, workers, customers, or affected communities cannot change the rules that govern them. The value is above zero only where the linked record still shows some real function, constraint, or public value on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 2 scored entries below, 68 tied, 156 above on Governance. Linked evidence context GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. [1]
Extraction ? Surplus allocation, wage share, CEO pay ratio, margins, and structured extraction judgment.	1 / 10	GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. That keeps The GEO Group low on Extraction: the business model makes extraction from workers, users, suppliers, customers, or the public central rather than incidental. The value is above zero only where the linked record still shows some real function, constraint, or public value on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 2 scored entries below, 17 tied, 207 above on Extraction. Linked evidence context GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. [1]
Labor Sovereignty ? Worker power: coercive conditions at 0, co-determination or ownership at 7. Employee dissatisfaction matters only when source-backed evidence shows concrete limits on worker agency, such as coercive scheduling, retaliation, wage theft, harassment, unsafe conditions, suppression of worker voice, or extreme turnover.	2 / 7	GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. That keeps The GEO Group low on Labor Sovereignty: labor remains managerially controlled, replaceable, or exposed to coercive employment and contracting conditions. The value is above zero only where the linked record still shows some real function, constraint, or public value on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 8 scored entries below, 36 tied, 182 above on Labor Sovereignty. Linked evidence context GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. [1]
Solidarity with the Unemployed ? Treatment of exits and nonworkers, including severance, redeployment, and non-competes.	1 / 7	GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. That keeps The GEO Group low on Solidarity with the Unemployed: the model provides little protection for people who leave, are excluded, or cannot bargain from employment. The value is above zero only where the linked record still shows some real function, constraint, or public value on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 3 scored entries below, 27 tied, 196 above on Solidarity with the Unemployed. Linked evidence context GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. [1]
Loss-Bearing Fidelity ? Willingness to absorb costs to preserve values, workers, users, and public obligations.	0 / 7	GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. That keeps The GEO Group low on Loss-Bearing Fidelity: losses, hazards, or adjustment costs are routinely pushed onto workers, customers, suppliers, communities, or the public. The value is above zero only where the linked record still shows some real function, constraint, or public value on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 0 scored entries below, 11 tied, 215 above on Loss-Bearing Fidelity. Linked evidence context GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. [1]
Market Conduct ? Pricing fairness, switching costs, lock-in, and rent extraction.	0 / 5	GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. That keeps The GEO Group low on Market Conduct: market power, lock-in, coercive pricing, or exclusionary conduct is a major part of the institution's position. The value is above zero only where the linked record still shows some real function, constraint, or public value on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 0 scored entries below, 14 tied, 212 above on Market Conduct. Linked evidence GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. [1]
Product Integrity ? Preservation of quality rather than degradation for monetization.	1 / 5	GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. That keeps The GEO Group low on Product Integrity: the core offering is closely tied to harmful, addictive, deceptive, degrading, or low-integrity product design. The value is above zero only where the linked record still shows some real function, constraint, or public value on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 5 scored entries below, 17 tied, 204 above on Product Integrity. Linked evidence context GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. [1]
Scale Integrity ? Whether growth improves or degrades fairness and accountability.	0 / 5	GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. That keeps The GEO Group low on Scale Integrity: scale magnifies harm, gatekeeping, opacity, or extraction rather than disciplining it. The value is above zero only where the linked record still shows some real function, constraint, or public value on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 0 scored entries below, 13 tied, 213 above on Scale Integrity. Linked evidence context GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring. [1]

Penalties

Penalty	Applied	Why this penalty
Reversibility ? Applied when positive conduct depends on current living leaders, founders, family owners, or other person-contingent governance rather than durable structure. Range: -5 to 0.	-5	GEO Group’s positive conduct is structurally reversible because the company remains a conventional private contractor whose core business includes secure facilities, processing centers,… GEO Group’s positive conduct is structurally reversible because the company remains a conventional private contractor whose core business includes secure facilities, processing centers, electronic monitoring, transport, and reentry rather than affected-person control. That warrants a severe Reversibility penalty because favorable conduct depends on current people or discretionary leadership rather than locked stakeholder structure. The value is near the floor because the conduct appears central, large-scale, repeated, or institutionally powerful rather than incidental. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 0 scored entries below, 95 tied, 131 above on Reversibility. Linked evidence GEO Group’s positive conduct is structurally reversible because the company remains a conventional private contractor whose core business includes secure facilities, processing centers, electronic monitoring, transport, and reentry rather than affected-person control. [2]
Human Harm ? Severity, scale, culpability, vulnerable targets, willful reoffense, reputation laundering, pattern escalation, and time decay. Range: -20 to 0.	-16	GEO Group states its operations include 97 secure facilities, processing centers, and community reentry centers with approximately 74,000 beds including idle capacity and projects under development. GEO Group states its operations include 97 secure facilities, processing centers, and community reentry centers with approximately 74,000 beds including idle capacity and projects under development. That warrants a severe Human Harm penalty because ordinary operation, documented misconduct, or institutional power creates serious injury, deprivation, abuse, or foreseeable human damage. The value is near the floor because the conduct appears central, large-scale, repeated, or institutionally powerful rather than incidental. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 12 scored entries below, 1 tied, 213 above on Human Harm. Linked evidence GEO Group states its operations include 97 secure facilities, processing centers, and community reentry centers with approximately 74,000 beds including idle capacity and projects under development. [3]
Coercive Violence ? Direct or institutionally enabled killing, torture, detention abuse, armed repression, forced displacement, violent domination, or nonconsensual crisis-line emergency escalation that exposes callers to confinement or force. Range: -30 to 0.	-9	GEO Group's secure facilities, processing centers, transport, and electronic-monitoring business places confinement and state coercion at the center of its operating model. GEO Group's secure facilities, processing centers, transport, and electronic-monitoring business places confinement and state coercion at the center of its operating model. That warrants a limited Coercive Violence penalty because the institution uses, enables, profits from, or materially supports violent domination, detention abuse, war, or armed coercion. The value is limited because the linked record shows a real problem but not one that dominates the profile on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 10 scored entries below, 1 tied, 215 above on Coercive Violence. Linked evidence GEO Group's secure facilities, processing centers, transport, and electronic-monitoring business places confinement and state coercion at the center of its operating model. [4]
Policy Capture ? Private-interest attempts to bend law, regulation, subsidies, taxes, enforcement, trade, labor, safety, competition, environmental, healthcare, housing, surveillance, civil-liberties, or consumer policy against workers, customers, citizens, affected communities, or ecological life. Public-interest advocacy is not penalized merely because it is lobbying. Range: -15 to 0.	-10	OpenLobby records THE GEO GROUP, INC. (FORMERLY CAPITOL COUNSEL OF BEHALF OF THE GEO GROUP, INC.) lobbying on homeland security and law enforcement with about $1.5M in spending across 34… OpenLobby records THE GEO GROUP, INC. (FORMERLY CAPITOL COUNSEL OF BEHALF OF THE GEO GROUP, INC.) lobbying on homeland security and law enforcement with about $1.5M in spending across 34 filings; the reviewed filings document private institutional lobbying over public rules rather than a public-interest advocacy role. That warrants a substantial Policy Capture penalty because private institutional pressure is being applied to public rules while affected people cannot democratically govern that agenda. The value is substantial but not at the floor because the linked record shows serious conduct without the strongest aggravating factors on this axis. Linked evidence OpenLobby records THE GEO GROUP, INC. (FORMERLY CAPITOL COUNSEL OF BEHALF OF THE GEO GROUP, INC.) lobbying on homeland security and law enforcement with about $1.5M in spending across 34 filings; the reviewed filings document private institutional lobbying over public rules rather than a public-interest advocacy role. [7]
Accountability Opacity ? Material opacity, reputation laundering, or hidden accountability structures that prevent public accountability. Range: -2 to 0.	-2	GEO Group markets secure transportation and electronic monitoring as business services alongside secure facilities and reentry programs. GEO Group markets secure transportation and electronic monitoring as business services alongside secure facilities and reentry programs. That warrants a severe Accountability Opacity penalty because material facts, risks, conflicts, ownership, or accountability information are obscured from the public. The value is near the floor because the conduct appears central, large-scale, repeated, or institutionally powerful rather than incidental. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 0 scored entries below, 52 tied, 174 above on Accountability Opacity. Linked evidence GEO Group markets secure transportation and electronic monitoring as business services alongside secure facilities and reentry programs. [5]
Ideological Disavowal ? Concealed ideology presented as neutrality, expertise, professional necessity, public-service administration, market inevitability, or non-ideological common sense while exercising power. Range: -3 to 0.	-2	The GEO Group's public framing is assessed as ideological-disavowal evidence because The GEO Group exercises meaningful institutional or cultural power while strongly presenting contested… The GEO Group's public framing is assessed as ideological-disavowal evidence because The GEO Group exercises meaningful institutional or cultural power while strongly presenting contested choices as neutral expertise, safety, objectivity, professionalism, administrative necessity, or public service. That warrants a substantial Ideological Disavowal penalty because the institution presents situated, contested choices as neutrality, expertise, inevitability, safety, or common sense. The value is substantial but not at the floor because the linked record shows serious conduct without the strongest aggravating factors on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Ideological Disavowal 0 to -3 recalibration: 0 for explicit standpoint or no penalty-level neutrality theater; -1 for bounded softening of contested choices; -2 for strong neutrality theater by a powerful institution; -3 for major gatekeeping or coercive power presented as neutral, necessary, objective, or non-ideological. Uncertainty This recalibration uses public self-presentation and profile evidence; later review should add direct language-analysis evidence for high-impact institutions. Linked evidence The GEO Group's public framing is assessed as ideological-disavowal evidence because The GEO Group exercises meaningful institutional or cultural power while strongly presenting contested choices as neutral expertise, safety, objectivity, professionalism, administrative necessity, or public service. [6]

Bonus Credits

No bonus credits applied in this version.

Confidence Basis

Confidence is computed from the evidence trail and review state, not typed into the profile by hand.

Medium 67/100

7 verified linked claims 7 direct axis claims 0 disputed claims 7/15 components covered

This confidence label measures the source-backed evidence trail. AI-scaffolded scores remain tentative until human review.

Claim confidence 17/20

7 verified linked claims

Source quality 10/18

Best source per verified claim, weighted by institutional reliability

Direct axis-specific claims 6/18

7 direct claims across 15 active components

Dispute load 12/12

0 disputed claims on this entity

Recency 10/10

Newest accepted timestamp: May 13, 2026

Reviewer status 7/12

Human-reviewed components score higher than AI scaffolding

Component coverage 5/10

7/15 evidence-bearing components have direct support

Evidence State

Profile stateAI draft / human-pending

VerificationUnverified

ConfidenceMedium confidence (AI)

ThoroughnessPartial (AI)

Correction routeUse “Challenge this rating” for factual errors, missing counterevidence, source problems, or calculation mistakes.

Company responseCompany representatives can submit source-backed corrections; payment never changes scores or reviewer authority.

Claims and Sources

Claims are the evidence record. Each claim needs a source link, axis category, status, confidence level, and timestamp before it can support a score.

* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.

1GEO Group reports operations across secure facilities, processing centers, community reentry centers, transportation, and electronic monitoring.

Market Conduct Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 6, 2026

AI scaffold

GEO Group locationsGeneral web source · 58%
GEO Group official websiteGeneral web source · 58%

2GEO Group’s positive conduct is structurally reversible because the company remains a conventional private contractor whose core business includes secure facilities, processing centers, electronic monitoring, transport, and reentry rather than affected-person control.

Reversibility Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 6, 2026

AI scaffold

GEO Group locationsGeneral web source · 58%
GEO Group official websiteGeneral web source · 58%

3GEO Group states its operations include 97 secure facilities, processing centers, and community reentry centers with approximately 74,000 beds including idle capacity and projects under development.

Human Harm Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 6, 2026

AI scaffold

GEO Group locationsGeneral web source · 58%

4GEO Group's secure facilities, processing centers, transport, and electronic-monitoring business places confinement and state coercion at the center of its operating model.

Coercive Violence Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 6, 2026

AI scaffold

GEO Group locationsGeneral web source · 58%
GEO Group official websiteGeneral web source · 58%

5GEO Group markets secure transportation and electronic monitoring as business services alongside secure facilities and reentry programs.

Accountability Opacity Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 6, 2026

AI scaffold

GEO secure transportationGeneral web source · 58%
GEO Group official websiteGeneral web source · 58%

6The GEO Group's public framing is assessed as ideological-disavowal evidence because The GEO Group exercises meaningful institutional or cultural power while strongly presenting contested choices as neutral expertise, safety, objectivity, professionalism, administrative necessity, or public service.

Ideological Disavowal Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 9, 2026

AI scaffold

The GEO Group official siteGeneral web source · 58%
GEO Group locationsGeneral web source · 58%
GEO secure transportationGeneral web source · 58%

7OpenLobby records THE GEO GROUP, INC. (FORMERLY CAPITOL COUNSEL OF BEHALF OF THE GEO GROUP, INC.) lobbying on homeland security and law enforcement with about $1.5M in spending across 34 filings; the reviewed filings document private institutional lobbying over public rules rather than a public-interest advocacy role.

Policy Capture Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 11, 2026

AI scaffold

OpenLobby — THE GEO GROUP, INC. (FORMERLY CAPITOL COUNSEL OF BEHALF OF THE GEO GROUP, INC.) lobbying profileGeneral web source · 58%

8The GEO Group receives the Private Government badge because it combines large-scale private rule-setting over customers, workers, users, members, or counterparties with OpenLobby-documented lobbying of about $1.5M on public policy issues.

Private Government Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 11, 2026

AI scaffold

OpenLobby — THE GEO GROUP, INC. (FORMERLY CAPITOL COUNSEL OF BEHALF OF THE GEO GROUP, INC.) lobbying profileGeneral web source · 58%

Competitors

DEXTRACTIVE2 SpaceX private aerospace company · same market FMALIGNANT-13 Boeing public company · same market FMALIGNANT-37 CoreCivic private prison and detention contractor · same market

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Audit Log

Recent public changes for this company or group. The full audit log is part of the Transparency record.

May 6, 2026 at 12:00 AM UTC ai-scaffolding

Added source-backed tentative evaluation during the A-grade/public-interest and nonobvious extraction expansion pass.

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