What happens in a private state prison in Texas doesn’t stay secret in a private state prison in Texas. That’s the court ruling handed down on Wednesday.

A Travis County district court held that Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the nation’s largest for-profit prison company, is a “governmental body” for purposes of the Texas Public Information Act and therefore subject to the “act’s obligations to disclose public information.”

The case was brought by Prison Legal News, a monthly publication that reports on criminal justice-related issues and a project of the nonprofit Human Rights Defense Center.

Brian McGiverin is an attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project.

"In Texas and around the nation, the worst abuses that we see are in the context of private prisons. And the big reason is that they don't have the same level of transparency that state-run organizations have -- until this ruling anyway."

[Audio from radio show is available at the link]