Private Prisons Pros And Cons

The private prisons industry is growing rapidly, in the year 2011, companies that were a part of the private prison industry brought in "$1.7 billion: [in] total revenue recorded by CCA" (Lee) and many have questioned the intentions of the companies that own and operate those facilitates. The history of private prisons can be traced "as far back as 1852 when San Quentin was the first for-profit prison in the U.S." (“Private Jails”). Private prisons did not become popular again until the 1980s, when a "wake of wide-spread privatization" happened (“Private Jails”). Since the resurgence of the private prison, there have been two primary sides. Those who oppose private prisons state that profit drives the companies who operate and construct the
prisons and that they are willing to hire inadequately trained employees. Who have only been taught the bare essentials in order to open their prisons doors as soon as possible and begin to return a profit on their investment. “There are now about 130 private prisons in the country with about 157,000 beds” (Cohen) and Texas is home “to thirty-five” of those facilities (Lipton). The first key argument that the critics mention is in regards to the safety aspect of the private prisons since they do tend to hire improperly trained employees. The critics also like to bring up the dependency problem that could result from having private prisons take over the housing of the state's and federal government’s inmate population. On the other side, we have the supporters that argue that private prisons help the state and federal government by relieving the stress and financial responsibilities that come along with the housing of inmates. Private prisons clearly have supporters on both sides of the issue, but in time only one side will prevail.
There are three main arguments that critics use and that I fully support.
First, we have the safety concern that critics bring up when the topic of private prisons is mentioned. Secondly, we have the dependency issue they bring up when talking about data relating to the industry’s growth in the last decade. Finally, we have the issue of keeping inmates locked up in order for the private prisons to make more money. Since private prisons are in the business of making money, they are always tempted to cut corners to turn a greater profit each quarter. They do this by hiring people who are not properly trained when compared to a staff member who is employed by a publicly prison ran by the state. In fact “private prison employees receive 58 hours less training than their publicly employed counterparts” (Mason). A nationwide study found that “assaults on guards by inmates were 49 percent more frequent in private prisons” (Smith). The study also saw that inmate-on-inmate assaults were “65 percent more frequent in private prison” (Smith). Given these statistics, those who are critics of private prisons have a valid reason for concern. These statistics allow for critics to show that there is a strong possibility that the lack of training given by private prisons. Leads to a higher risk of violence within the prison walls. Since their staff members are not adequately trained to handle the duties they are required to perform on a day to day basis. Furthermore, dependency is an issue
brought up by those who oppose the use of private prison. They are worried that the states are becoming too dependent on private prisons to house their inmates. For example, in “1999 Texas had 11,653” inmates held within a private prison (Mason). By the year “2010[,] Texas had 19,155” inmates in private prisons (Mason). That is an increase of “64%” within an 11-year timeline (Mason). Also, the current primary customer of the private prison industry are those inmates who are detained by the federal government. The federal government has “16.3% of federal prisoners serving time in private facilities” (Culp). This is followed by the state governments who house “6.6% of state prisoners in private facilities” (Culp). Lastly, we have the issue of extending a prisoners term. In order to increase profits of that private prison. For example, researcher Anita Mukherjee looked over “eight years of data from Mississippi” (Canon) and saw that private prisons would give more than twice the amount of infractions to their inmates. Which would extend that inmates sentence “an average of two or three months” (Canon). By extending their sentence, the prison would see “an increase of about $3,000 in additional costs per prisoner” (Canon).
Supporters of the private prison industry argue that private corporations carry the cost of building and housing inmates, and this provides financial relief to state and federal governments. They also state that the private prisons are a cheaper alternative when compared to a publicly run prison. When it comes to cost states and the federal government can significantly benefit by allowing the private prisons to house and care for the inmates. Since the state and federal government can save money by outsourcing the cost that comes along with the creation and maintenance of a prison. They can allocate that part of the budget towards other aspects of the budget. Also, “A recent Republic news article disclosed that the ‘non-adjusted’ cost of housing a medium-security prisoner was $64.52 in a state-run facility and only $58.82 in a private prison” (Kavanagh). The companies who run and operate private prisons even offer to buy prisons from the states to free up room in that state's budget. A key example would be when “Ohio sold off one of its largest prisons… [In order] to plug holes in its budget… Moreover, by outsourcing that prison, [they] could save the state $3 million annually” (Kirkham). Which could then be used to fund different projects that state needs.
Supporters claim that private prisons are a cheaper alternative to the traditional state and federal prison system. As of 2013 there was a total of 141,921 inmates housed in state and federal private prisons. When you crunch the numbers and see that it would cost the state and federal government $9,156,742.92 to house those inmates. Compared to the private prisons who can do it for $8,347,793.22. You might consider that the $808,949.70 is a clear indication that the private prisons are vital and save our state and the federal government a substantial amount of money. However, we cannot tell whether or not this is true due to the fact that “the public and private facilities [that are] compared often differ in ways that confound comparison of costs” (Volokh). Without the ability to compare the actual figures from the private prison to those of a regular prison. We are not able to accurately determine if there are any cost advantages when outsourcing to a private prison. Now, if we are to play devils advocate for a second. Let us assume that they do manage to save some money. Wouldn’t that make you question how they can save that money? What exactly are they cutting corners on. We already know that they do not train their staff to the same standards that the traditional public prisons do. So, if they are willing to cut corners on training the very people who must handle the inmates. Wouldn’t you question how they treat the prisoners when it comes to their living conditions? For example, a private juvenile facility in Texas had auditors report that the “[c]ells were filthy, [and] smelled of feces and urine" (Shapiro). With that being said, one must think if the money saved is worth the cost of the corners that are being cut in order to make that profit.
With all of this new insight, it is becoming apparent that the private prison industry is mainly focused on opening up their new prisons faster and having them return a stable profit each quarter.
Rather than making sure the inmates are cared for properly, and that the staff is properly trained to handle the prisoners. That is why I believe they need to implement stricter guidelines for private prisons to follow. For example, all employees should have the same amount of training hours their public counterparts do. In addition to the training hours, they should also put a limit on the number of private prisons that are allowed to open each year. Finally, in an attempt to lower the amount of violence that occurs in the private prisons. They should make sure that there are more rehabilitation programs implemented in order to decrease the aggression inside the prison and increase the chances of the prisoner not returning to a facility. If these three simple guidelines do not happen, and they decide to continue with their current strategy. Then I feel it would be necessary to shut down they entire industry and transfer the inmates to a publicly run prison. Where we at least know that the inmates are not only being kept there in order to make the facility more
money.