Comptroller Stringer (photo: @scottmstringer)

New York City’s pension funds have faced criticism in the past for owning a stake, however small, in two for-profit private prison operators. On Thursday, one of the funds took the first significant step to recognize the issue by announcing a study of divestment from the controversial industry.

Comptroller Scott Stringer and the trustees of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS), one of the city’s five pension funds, voted unanimously to ...

A recent decision by the federal Department of Justice to scale back and eventually end the use of private prisons indirectly impacted New York City’s pension funds, reducing holding values by millions of dollars and leading to renewed calls from activists for the city to divest from the for-profit corporations that operate these prisons.

Earlier this month, the Obama administration took a major step against an industry that has long been criticized for its culture of violence, secrecy, and the devaluation of human life: private