Blog #6: Privatization of Prisons

There are many pros and cons regarding the topic of prison privatization. The tough times our economy has been and is currently facing is at the center of this debate, but rising incarceration rates play a role as well. Some believe that the issue of space and overcrowding within state prisons would be resolved by transferring more inmates to private prisons. This could save state funding that goes to supporting the current inmate population. The threat of violence within prisons may also be reduced if overall living tension were to be eased. However, there is the possibility of violent, dangerous inmates being prematurely released if the private company were to go bankrupt and shut down the prison. Another factor in the argument has to do with budget predictions. The cooperation between the state and private prison facilities could allow for capping the amount of inmates in state-run facilities, and the estimated cost of supporting each inmate per day could be made more accurate. This increased accuracy would benefit during budget predictions and analysis or when applying for grants. However, it would be possible for private prisons to increase overall fees or claim that costs are increasing for other reasons, and the state would have the same financial strain or even more. Private prison facilities have the money and ability to expand building sizes and structure buildings specifically as the inmate population grows and requires different things. The con to having privately-run prisons is that these prisons would have freedom in the regulation and restriction placed upon the types of inmates they would accept, taking more inmates with lesser offenses compared to more serious ones. Job creation within local communities is one benefit that privatizing prisons could offer; this would strengthen local economies. It may be difficult getting approval, however, to build those prisons near communities or in outlying rural areas because of overall financial fears of ongoing costs to run the facility. In addition, the fact that conditions in private prisons would not be able to be regulated as much as in state prisons and that the procedures of private prisons in notifying the community of an escape may be less rigid is a concern to many. I do not support this privatization for all the cons I have discussed and also because I believe that private prisons would be run even more like businesses, with money at the center of everything. Everything would be done with the object of saving money in mind, and as a result conditions would be worse than in state prisons.