“This place is like a jail!”
How many times have you heard kids say that about school?
Well, out of the mouths of babes. They won’t be far from
wrong in the near future!
Prior to the 1980s private prisons were unheard of !
Since then the privatization of the prison systems with its
over two million inmates has skyrocketed.
I sure hope that I am wrong.
*******
“Mother Jones reporter Suzy Khimm, writing at Ezra Klein's
spot, observes that the portion of Arizona's prison population now residing in privately
owned and operated facilities is 20% and growing. "Nationally,"
Ms Khimm notes, "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% of the total US prison population, up
from 6% in 2000." Should we welcome this development?”
*********
“The move has translated into big business for industry
leaders like Corrections Corporation of America (CXW), The Geo Group (GEO) and
Cornell Companies, Inc. (CRN) (just last week, The Geo Group and Cornell
finalized a merger valued at $730 million).
According to research firm IBISWorld USA, private
corrections is a $22.7 billion industry with an annual growth rate in
the last half-decade of 4.7%. While growth slowed from 2009 to 2010,
projections for the industry remain largely optimistic.”
"States have had challenging situations where they have
to look at operating costs. We provide savings of anywhere between 5 to 15% or
more [versus a public correctional facility]," says Damon Hininger,
chairman and CEO of Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the industry's
leader.
Private facilities can offer these savings, in part because they
don't have to contend with the hefty employee pension and wage obligations
that government agencies do.
"Private corrections companies can pay a lower
wage or pay fewer benefits, particularly no pensions," says John
Roman, senior researcher at The Urban Institute.
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