Pros And Cons Of State Ran Prisons

In the United States of America there are currently two prison systems in place; the Federal prison system, and the State prison system. Every state in the U.S. has its own Department of Corrections, which is tasked with handling crimes committed at the state level (Allen, 2017). The state where the crime occurred has jurisdiction over the individual that committed the crime. An individual, whom has committed a crime within a state’s jurisdiction that results in a long sentence, is sent to the state prison system in that particular state (Allen, 2017). A long sentence encompasses a period of time which exceeds a year, and a day; which is the length of time given to an individual convicted of a felony crime. An individual convicted of a misdemeanor crime which is accompanied by a sentencing length of less than a year, will serve their respective sentence in a jail. Once the individual has received their sentence, they will go through an initial classification process (Allen, Latessa, and Ponder, 2013). The purpose of the initial classification process is to identify the individual’s custody level, work assignment, and treatment. The initial classification process will differentiate between those individuals that present different security risks, and supervision concerns. Factors such as the individual’s current offense, escape potential and prior criminal history are factored in during the initial classification. Also, an individual’s background attributes, such as mental

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.

The private prison system is a bad joke that goes really bad. I learned about it seven years ago but I did not pay much action to it until recently. I have not understood in a million years the US government in moral fiber nor the American people will allow something like that to happen but it is happening and sadly it is growing.

Crime rates are down in America, yet there is an unproportionately large number of Americans incarcerated. This paper will delve into and examine this problem and how it is closely linked to private prisons and the issues surrounding them. While private prisons claim to be cost effective and well-run, evidence has shown that these profit-driven companies ignore ethical consequences by purposefully lengthening prisoners’ sentences, target certain groups for incarceration and maintain despicable living standards for the prisoners; ultimately, these prisons have caused more harm than good for the state.

In 2001, Emerging issues on privatized prisons found many striking statistics concerning the privatization of prisons. It is estimated that worldwide there were 184 privately operated correctional facilities. Within the United States, a total of 158 private correctional facilities are operating. A substantial portion of the worlds privately owned correctional facilities are in

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.

According to Alex Tabarrok, privately managed facilities can have cost savings of 15-25% on prison edification and 15% on administrative expenses. Likewise, private prisons generate competition and exert pressure towards public prisons. They encourage public prisons to also innovate and lower costs. Other studies (Lundahl et al. 2009, page 392) argue, “prison privatization provides neither a clear advantage nor disadvantage compared with publicly managed prisons.”

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

For profit prisons are contracted out to the government to help hold convicted criminals. Private prisons are thought to help save money for states, it also helps with overcrowding. Since America incarcerates so many people they didn’t have space to put everyone. So, they started using private prisons. But private prisons can be more dangerous than public prisons. The conditions in private prison are not very good, and there have been many complaints about it. Some people think that inmates should not be sold for profit. The for-profit prison industry has two main corporations the Geo and the CCA.

Thesis: Private prisons actually exacerbate many of the issues they were designed to solve by incentivizing increased incarceration, and at the same time they produce lower value than regular prisons while ultimately costing more, such that private prisons should be abolished and incarceration should remain exclusively public.

For instance, states like Texas, Tennessee, Florida, Ohio, and Arizona have been increasing the number of private prisons in their states. In fact, “there's been a similar surge in private prison construction as the inmate population has tripled between 1987 and 2007: Inmates in private prisons now account for 9 percent of the total U.S. prison population, up from 6 percent in 2000” (Khimm 2010). Regrettably, instead of alleviating budgetary woes these states have added new burdens to their bottom lines.

evidence of private prisons saving money is mixed at best. most studies show they don’t save money or even cost more than public prisons.

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

The United States has an incarceration problem that personifies issues throughout the entire criminal justice system. "The United States, with just 5 percent of the world 's population, currently holds 25 percent of the world 's prisoners" (Khalek). This issue runs deeper than just incarceration; it permeates every level of the criminal justice system, from incarceration to probation. Many states have turned to private institutions in an attempt shed operating costs, while also increasing effectiveness throughout the criminal justice system. These acts can include anything from providing treatment programs to full blown management of the entire prison system. Overcrowding at prisons and the rising costs associated with them has led many states to turn to some form of privatization within the criminal justice system. However, privatizing the entire correction system would not be beneficial for the state, from both an ethical and a public policy standpoint.

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