Summary: Privatization Of Private Prisons

The United States is regarded as a country of innovation and progress. However, the prison and disciplinary systems in the U.S. fall short in several aspects. With the highest incarceration rate in the world, one might expect American prisons to be prepared for providing quality care and rehabilitation for inmates. Unfortunately, this is not the reality - with a growing number of privatized prisons, the quality of life for inmates and their families is dissipating. The U.S. prison system is in desperate need of reform; closing down private prisons will help in alleviating monetary pressure, reducing abuse reports, and lowering the rate of reincarceration in individuals. Prison reform should be seen as a priority, as nonviolent offenders are suffering far more than they should, and are purposely conditioned to be reincarcerated after their release. Private prisons are rapidly growing in the U.S. to keep up with a growing number of inmates. With the rising number of prisoners, prisoner abuse levels are also rising exponentially. This is due to the fact that private prisons are a booming industry that exploits prisoners for profits. Private prisons may seem beneficial at a glance; however, they enforce lax regulations and are notorious for overcrowding and “barbaric” conditions. Prisons should rehabilitate nonviolent offenders in

At the expense of the young, to the detriment of the poor, and on the backs of the immigrants is the means by which the private prison companies have constructed a business that trades freedoms for profit but more concerning is to what ends these freedoms are being exchanged. The advancement of the private prison system has changed the face of the prison industry as we know it. Because little attention has been given in the media to the private prison industry, they have been able to expand their influence and their revenue by means the average American would consider unscrupulous. Private prisons came about to act as the solution to a problem facing federal prisons, overcrowding, which was created due to the war on drugs, but in acting as a solution to one problem they created another one that could be more problematic than the one it intended to fix. Proponents of private, for profit, prisons claim that it is a better alternative than federal prisons because they can provide the same service for less and save taxpayers money in the process. They also contend that the service they provide would help to stimulate the economy. However, privatization of America’s prison systems will contribute to an increase in the incarceration rate and unfairly target certain demographics of the population, which could lead to psychological trauma affecting the people of those demography’s that it

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.

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.”

Across the nation, both local and federal prison systems have looked to private corporations to provide beds for

One public policy issue that is attracting a great deal of attention is the matter of prison reform. While a great many members of the public support improvements in the safety, security and quality of life in prisons, few will endorse this at the expense of the same for law-abiding citizens. However, according to Koh (2013), Texas is currently facing one such dilemma. According to Koh, "prison reforms may result in better conditions for inmates, but those improvements come at the expense of welfare cash assistance and other government relief for the needy, according to a study released this month by Rice University and Louisiana State University." (Koh, p. 1)

The minor financial benefit they may provide is not enough to offset the detriments they have on our society. In addition to society the people inside the prison suffer from the cut budget as well losing out on healthcare and other quality of life benefits. Beyond this the ethical idea of using people's punishment and suffering as a form of profit is deplorable. These corporation are then using the money they make to influence our country's lawmakers encouraging the imprisonment of more and more people and doing much less to help the people already inside the prisons. Our nation should stop the expansion of private prisons ,which have expanded significantly the past few years, and then begin to phase them out allowing for the growth of a healthier justice system (Mason, Too Good to be True Private Prisons in

Many people, since the early 1990s, when the privatization of prisons became popular, have had concerns that these companies would be more worried about profit than the prisoners human rights. Since then, private prisons have only increased in popularity. The original reason private prisons exist are cash strapped states were looking for an alternative to state and federal facilities to incarcerate inmates affordably. It is now a 5 billion industry. Many states pay millions of dollars each year to the private companies. Colorado has the largest number of private prisons in the country. “The state had not saved money by contracting out minimum security beds, and that more money is actually spent on private medium security beds than would be spent in a publicly operated institution.” (Mason) This study, performed in 2010 in Arizona, showed that they were not saving and were actually spending more money on the private facility than the public. The U.S. General Accounting Office, in 1996, went over five different research studies and came to the conclusion that there was no real evidence that prisons for profit saved the government and the general public money. Private

The economic components associated with maintaining and operating public prisons in the U.S. has become a prominent topic in recent years. Many anti-prison activist such a Angela Y. Davis and Ruth Wilson Gilmore contend that the involvement of private corporations and the prevailing social ideology have contributed to the radical expansion of prisons in America.

But unlike federal prisons, private ones focus on maximizing gain rather than saving money, and maximizing gain becomes possible with the business practices aforementioned. Not only has the prison itself been privatized, but also the food and medical care. One company in particular is the Aramark Corporation who provides food to prisoners at a lesser cost. If there’s one thing not to be thrifty about, its food, and this proved to be true when there were serious cases of prisoners being mal fed reported all throughout the system. There were 65 reported cases in Ohio alone of food failing to be provided or running out of it, and 5 cases of maggots being found in the food. The Aramark Corp. has also changed their recipes to include cheaper and sub standard ingredients in their food. These prisons are failing to provide these prisoners with basic human care, because the fact that they’re in prison doesn’t change the fact they’re

where's that goes on the privatization of prisons. Providing a broad study between public and

Private prisons result from public contracting. State and federal governments can, in times of special need or for increased financial security, develop contracts with independent businesses to allocate to them any additional prisoners or to have them take in prisoners instead of the public prison. These institutions take on the public responsibility, assets, and management aspects of prison work. In his article, “Private Prisons are Beneficial,” Mr. Erwin Blackstone argues that private prisons decrease costs for the state, operate more efficiently than state prisons, and reduce large scale inmate overcrowding. He suggests that the benefits from this type of prison management unequivocally outweigh any adverse effects of this system, and neglects,

Studies conducted in the comparison of state owned and ran prison versus private prisons by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics found that the cost-savings promised by private prisons “have simply not materialized.”

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

As discussed below, even assuming arguendo that private prisons are more cost-effective than state and federal-run prisons, this is achieved through cost-cutting measures. As one commentator notes, “[m]uch of the presumed cost savings of private prisons are achieved through lower staffing costs: private prisons pay their employees less than public prisons.” Cost-cutting can threaten prisoner safety and lead to deplorable prisons conditions.. For example “[a] private prison in Idaho run by CCA (which operates 3 out of 4 active private prisons in Oklahoma) established a reputation as a “gladiator