Prisons, Privatization

The term prison privatization commonly refers to the policy of contracting out the management and operation of prisons and jails to private, for-profit companies. Prison privatization is a controversial public policy issue, with ongoing debate over the ethics of delegating the punishment function of the criminal justice system to private actors, whether private prisons [Page 718]cost less to operate than public facilities, and if the quality of security and conditions of confinement differ between public and private prisons. In 2005, approximately 200 private correctional facilities operated in the United States, housing a total of 107,000 inmates. Four companies—Corrections Corporation of America, Geo Group, Management and Training Corporation, and Cornell Corrections—provide more than 90 percent of private prison capacity. About 6 percent of all state inmates and 14 percent of federal inmates are incarcerated in privatized facilities.

The idea of privatizing prisons emerged in the 1980s as a policy remedy to the problem of growing incarceration rates, severe prison overcrowding, and constraints on increasing government funding of new prison space. Public investment in new prisons climbed eightfold from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, but was at or approaching its limits in many jurisdictions due to voter rejection of construction bonds, statutory ceilings on state debt, or general taxpayer unwillingness to support increases in government spending. With privatization used as a way of reducing costs and increasing capacity in other areas of government services—such as public works and infrastructure (e.g., utilities, building maintenance, and highway construction) and social policy (e.g., health care, pension plan management, and welfare services)—supporters of prison privatization argued that the benefits of privatization in those areas could apply to prisons as well. Private companies could build new prisons more rapidly than the government and draw upon private investors to help fund prison construction, while competition for contracts would help to contain costs and promote more efficiency in operations. On the strength of these arguments, the first private prison opened in 1984. Within the next 20 years, private correctional facilities arose in 33 states.

On the other side of the debate, critics of prison privatization argue that the profit motive of private companies encourages them to cut corners, resulting in diminished conditions of confinement for inmates, a risk to public safety, and more dangerous environments for both prison inmates and staff. Correctional worker labor unions are among the most vocal of private prison critics, with their opposition based in part on the fact that the wages of correctional officers in private prisons are generally lower than in public prisons. Correctional officer unions have organized campaigns to defeat prison privatization attempts in many jurisdictions. Reflective of their efforts, the number of private prisons around the country correlates inversely with labor unions' strength: 47.5 percent of private prison beds are in southern states, 25.1 percent in western states, 17.7 percent in midwestern states, and 9.7 percent in northeastern states. Since the late 1990s, a number of faith-based organizations have also voiced opposition to prison privatization on ethical grounds, arguing that the business ethos of economy and efficiency is an insufficient rationale to drive policy in a criminal justice system founded on principles of justice and public service.

...