Why Are Private Prisons Inherently Unjust

3) The argument that private prisons are inherently unjust, regardless of the cost savings they may provide to taxpayers, rests on several key concerns. Some reasons to agree that private prisons are inherently unjust are the lack of accountability. Private prisons may operate with less transparency and accountability compared to public institutions. Profit-driven companies may prioritize their bottom line over compliance with safety or ethical standards, and oversight can be weaker. It can also have an incentive to increase incarceration. The profit model of private prisons may encourage policies that lead to more incarcerations. This could promote lobbying for harsher sentencing laws or higher detention rates, which could disproportionately
Several factors contribute to this, like increased capacity leads to increased incarceration. Known as the “build it, they will fit it” phenomenon, when more jail space becomes available, there's a tendency for the system to incarcerate more people, including for minor offenses that might not otherwise have led to jail time. The increased capacity could become a justification for tougher sentencing or reduced efforts to divert offenders into alternative programs. It can also slow the justice process. Delays in court proceedings and case backlogs mean that people are often held in jail longer than necessary. Expanding jail capacity doesn't speed up the judicial process. It can also cause pretrial detention. A significant portion of jail populations are awaiting trial, often because they cannot afford bail. Building new jails doesn’t change these policies or address alternatives like bail reform, which could reduce the number of people held in pretrial detention. Therefore, simply building more jails doesn’t address the systemic issues contributing to overcrowding, such as policy decisions, social inequities, and criminal justice