Private Prisons Vs Private Prison

The United States government had been working closely with private prison corporations for over three decades. Private prisons were first constructed to help the U.S. government house an ever-expanding prison population, and to relieve the government of some expenses. Today, these privately owned facilities have stirred up controversy with the questionable results of their formation. While it can be difficult to compare private prisons to public prisons, several researchers conclude that private prison corporations are harmful to society in the United States because they hinder economic stability, establish systems that negatively impact prison staff and inmates, and

The United States has had a long and controversial history when it comes to the U.S prison system. Holding only approximately 5% of the global population; U.S prisoners account for almost 25% of the worlds prisoners, having even more than China; a nation with almost a billion more citizens than the U.S (PrisonStudies.org) Even when considering these alarming statistics, discussing the method of caring for, feeding, and rehabilitating prisoners in the U.S is often avoided as many United States citizens are uninformed on the subject. Perhaps because of this lack on information; certain states have begun handing over the responsibilities of running U.S prisons to private companies. These privately owned prisons are run by corporations; and

Private prisons have a negative effect on states and local governments. Unfortunately, the number of private prisons has been increasing since their inception in 1983 causing further problems. For-profit prisons offer no real benefits and are bad investments for states. Furthermore, private prisons beleaguer communities with high turnover rates that hurt local economies. The demands of these institutions put an excessive burden on the local community’s infrastructure. Similarly, private prisons strain the county and city legal systems. More often than not, spin-off industries and economic benefits promised by the for-profit correction industry fail to appear. Additionally, private prisons are allowed to cherry pick the least expensive

Though many Americans are aware that their nation imprisons more of its own citizens than any other country in the world, what much fewer of them are aware of is the increasing number in which those citizens are housed in facilities with little to no government oversight. From 2002 to 2009, the amount of inmates held in private prisons grew thirty-seven percent while the overall number of incarcerated Americans during that same timeframe grew by only fourteen percent (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2010), a statistic that reveals a worrying trend; that of a disproportionate amount of citizens being housed in what has come to be known as the prison-industrial complex, a term used not only for the growing

In many of the contracts between private prisons and the state, prisons actually get a guarantee that their prisons will be filled up which mean more money to the company. In the Public Interest, an organization dedicated to high quality accurate research for the public, analyzed 62 contracts from private facilities and found that 41 of the contracts contained quotas. These quotas were occupancy requirements that the

Despite what you may think, private prisons have existed in the United States dating all the way back to 1852, beginning with the San Quentin state prison. Private prisons did not truly become as common as they are today though until President Ronald Reagan led a large-scale effort for increased privatization around the United States during the 1980’s. One result of this effort was a large upswing in the number of private prisons. As a result of private prisons becoming more common place, it has been seen that compared to prisons run by the government, length of sentences have gone up within private prisons, while at the same time the treatment of prisoners has gone down. This topic interests me because I believe that it should never be in the best interests of such a large and powerful group to have as many people as possible in prison for as long as possible. In my opinion, it is not ethically correct on a basic human level to ever have it in people’s best interests to keep other people in prison. I chose this topic because I have always held a strong opinion on this topic but have never had the time to do extensive research on it and either confirm or dispel my current beliefs about it.

When the objective became getting more people behind bars, we should have realized that something had gone terribly wrong. The current nightmare; also known as our prison system, has gotten out of proportion. Since the early 1970s until 2009, prison population grew exponentially by a staggering 600%. Thanks to the policies made during the War on Crime and Drugs, jails and prisons around the country crammed with as many inmates could fit in. Even though there has been a slight decrease of the incarceration rate since it peaked in 2012; the declining numbers don’t seem significant enough. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, there were 1.5 million prisoners in the U.S or 450 convicts for every 100,000 U.S residents for during 2016.

Prison sentences are extraordinarily lengthy, disproportional to the crimes committed, and lacking in consistency throughout the legal system’s application of the punishments. Rather than endorsing a system that inspires growth and modification, the existing criminal justice system in the United States aims felons into lives of poverty and despair. Inmates, through reality television programs, are shown as living lives of ease and prosperity, with little to do besides relaxing in front of television screens and whiling away each day while the government provides for all their needs (Yamato). From this perverse standpoint, society is at risk of becoming even more outraged at the government for the prison system, which is neither supporting or restructuring inmates, but increasing taxpayer costs (Gilson). The efficacy of prison privatization is also largely without benefit for the United States’ economy. If responsibility for crimes committed shifts to the private sector, the need for and methods of punishment for criminals or those who commit wrongdoings must be revalued, as the benefits amassed by society through a given criminal justice system are the predicators for its effectiveness (Mulch).

As the number of prisoners have constantly been rising at an exceedly fast pace, several governments around the world have embraced the use of private prisons. Private prisons are confinements run by a third party, through an agreement with the government. In the United States, it is estimated that there are over 1.6 million inmates, of that there are 8% that are housed in privately-operated prisons. While the other 92% are housed in the public prison system. Private prisons have existed since the 19th century. Their use increased in the 20th century and continues to rise in some states. When a government makes an agreement with a private prison, it makes payments per prisoner or vacancy in jail on a regular basis for maintenance of the prisoners. Privatization became involved due to the fact that prisons were becoming overpopulated. Public prisons contracted the confinement and care of prisoners with other organizations. Due to the cost-effectiveness of private firms, prisons began to contract out more services, such as medical care, food service, inmate transportation, and vocational training. Over time private firms saw an opportunity for expansion and eventually took over entire prison operations. However, now their security, how they treat the inmates, and their true cost effectiveness has come into question

Are Private Prisons being run for profits or are they just a solution to the current problems we are dealing with today in society? There has been a recent debate on whether private prisons are being run for profit for their corporations or for the people. Especially with the expected increase in stocks on the two major private prison corporations due to the election of our new President Donald Trump. There has been many different problems and views arising to this. Many of the problems I will be talking about that include the important topic of mass incarceration and the safety of the inmates and staff at these facilities.

The number of privately owned prisons has grown, as has the imprisonment rate of Americans. “In 2005 more than 2.3 million Americans (or .7% of the US population) were incarcerated, in nearly 1700 state, federal, and private prisons, with many more under other forms of custodial supervision including probation and parole”(Smith and Hattery 2). “In 1980, only 474,368 citizens in the US were imprisoned, but in just a little over two decades, 2,042,270 people

A prison is a building made up of hard, cold, concrete walls and solid steel bars in which individuals, known as inmates, are physically confined and deprived of their personal freedom. This is a legal consequence that is imposed by the government to lawbreakers as a punishment for a crime they have committed and for the protection of the community. A private prison is much like a public prison except people are incarcerated physically by a “for-profit” third party who has been contracted by a government agency. These private prisons enter into an agreement with the government, and the state pays a monthly amount for every prisoner who is confined in the private facility. In both public and private prisons, incarceration cannot be imposed without the commission and conviction of a crime. Even though public and private prisons may seem to be the same in several aspects and are used to serve the same purpose, there are numerous differences between the two. At one point the Obama administration opted to put an end to private prisons; on the other hand, the Department of Homeland Security and current President Donald Trump fought for them to stay in place. The U.S Justice Department and the Bureau of Prisons will realize that keeping private correctional facilities in place is a huge mistake; therefore, will opt to phase out such facilities and will stick to housing inmates in the public state-run prisons.

Currently, many prisons are beginning to be run by private corporations. If a company is running a prison then they need prisoners to stay in business. Around 1 in every 107 Americans is currently being housed in a prison. The United States has about 5 percent of the world’s population yet 25 percent of its prisoners(ACA, 2008). This is the easiest way to maintain a large prison population is by maintaining the current drug war. The largest private prison company in the United States is Corrections Corp. of America(ACA, 2008). In the last twenty years, CCA has donated nearly $5 million dollars to certain political

Privatizing prisons may be one way for the prison population to get back under control. Prisons are overcrowded and need extra money to house inmates or to build a new prison. The issue of a serious need for space needs to be addressed. “As a national average, it costs roughly $20,000 per year to keep an inmate in prison. There are approximately 650,000 inmates in state and local prisons, double the number five years ago. This costs taxpayers an estimated $18 billion each year. More than two thirds of the states are facing serious overcrowding problems, and many are operating at least 50 percent over capacity. (Joel, 1988)” Private prisons may be for profit, but if they can solve the issue of cost then it may be a

This article is a response to the misconceptions and controversies surrounding privatized prisons. Seiter intends to uphold the “no differences between the public and private prison operations” arguments by systematically acknowledging each claim and then using logic to discredit them (427). He introduces potential problems of private corporations, with the intention to refute the myths and remind the audience of the similarities to public corrections. Seiter effectively convinces the audience that the controversies about private are fiction through building his ethos as a moral and credible writer by demonstrating his scholarly credibility and expertise, as well as through establishing his logos by presenting the audience with logical arguments