Wouldn't Privatized Prisons Work Better Than State/Government Prisons?

[AGRP]

Wouldn't they do their best to do what it took to make sure their re-offender rate was the lowest possible?

This assumes the state actually wants a low re-offender rate.

Edit: The lowest repeat offender rate would get the contract.

 

[goldencane]

I don't think so. More people in prison means more money.

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

I don't think so. More people in prison means more money.

BINGO!

People sentenced to private prisons are pushed to break rules to extend their term - the motive is profit!

They basically have a slave that will keep making them money - why would they want to loose that?

 

[TheNcredibleEgg]

Edit: The lowest repeat offender rate would get the contract.

In our crony system, that wouldn't be the reality. The prison which makes the largest campaign donation would get the contract - possibly a no bid contract.

And that prison would want lots and lots of inmates - in order to have more money to give even larger donations next campaign cycle.

 

[nayjevin]

Presumably reputation keeps the system in check. The court/judge/arbiter doesn't want to be known to send people to rehabilitation facilities which do not actually rehabilitate, for then no one would choose that court/judge/arbiter. In the hybrid system we have in America, this is the importance of state sovereignty, county sovereignty, township sovereignty. We can evade tyrannical court systems if we choose, or lobby and participate in activism to mend the apparatus.

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

I have heard that PA has lots of this type problems w/ juvenile offenders. A judge got busted for corruption....

 

[VIDEODROME]

It depends on how much authority they have. I guess it would be like contracting out the prison to a private entity and just paying them to contain all these inmates. They should have nothing to do with evaluating things like parole.

It might work but it could just as easily turn into something really stupid. Like a private prison site being developed as the latest reality TV show.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Then you get prisons like the one in Arizona where they get bologna sandwiches every day and tents to sleep in (in 120 degrees!) curtesy of Joe Aprio.

. http://articles.cnn.com/1999-07-27/...ff_1_prison-guards-inmate-joe-arpaio?_s=PM:US

MARICOPA COUNTY, Arizona CNN

The tent city looks like a military camp in the desert, with thick canvas sleeping quarters spreading out in a remote area of Arizona.

The inhabitants, however, are not soldiers, but residents of an unusual, some say brutal, prison run by legendary lawman Joe Arpaio, called the toughest sheriff in the West.

For the Maricopa County sheriff, who opened the nations largest tent prison in 1993, saving taxpayer pennies matters more than comforting convicted felons.

We took away coffee, that saved 150,000 a year. Why do you need coffee in jail says Arpaio, patrolling the dusty, barren grounds. Switched to bologna sandwiches, that saved half a million dollars a year.

Arpaio makes inmates pay for their meals, which some say are worse than those for the guard dogs. Canines eat 1.10 worth of food a day, the inmate 90 cents, the sheriff says. Im very proud of that too.

Critics rail against harsh conditions in the prison, where temperatures can top 100 degrees.
We still have rights, but they act like were scum, one inmate complains.

Adds Eleanor Eisenberg of the ACLU Sheriff Arpaio has conditions in his jail that are inhumane, and hes proud of it.

Arpaio boasts of his chain gangs for men and women, which contribute thousands of dollars of free labor to taxpayers each month, according to his Web site.

Pink underwear and bedtime stories

Inmates follow strict fashion and lifestyle guidelines. They are forced to wear oldfashioned prison stripes and pink underwear. Prohibited items include cigarettes, adult magazines, hot lunches and television except for his bedtime story reading, a selfstyled literacy program broadcast nightly to the inmates.

 

[BamaAla]

Not in that movie "Death Race!"

I'm with a few of the other posters; a system that profits from locking people up will probably seek to lock more people up.

 

[TheNcredibleEgg]

Then you get prisons like the one in Arizona where they get bologna sandwiches every day and tents to sleep in (in 120 degrees!) curtesy of Joe Aprio.

Correct me if I'm wrong - but that's a gov't run jail, not a private one.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Then you get prisons like the one in Arizona where they get bologna sandwiches every day and tents to sleep in (in 120 degrees!) curtesy of Joe Aprio.

. http://articles.cnn.com/1999-07-27/...ff_1_prison-guards-inmate-joe-arpaio?_s=PM:US

Joe's prisons aren't privatized, if that's what you are getting at. Joe is just another elected politician, and a pretty scummy one at that.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Correct me if I'm wrong - but that's a gov't run jail, not a private one.

You are correct.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Not in that movie "Death Race!"

I'm with a few of the other posters; a system that profits from locking people up will probably seek to lock more people up.

The problem here is that the prison managers do not (and would not in the thread hypothetical) set sentences. The thread seems to assume that the sentence is set by a DRO or some other private arbiter of justice.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

I don't think so. More people in prison means more money.

In a state run system, yes. However, in a privatized system, the unoccupied space would not be an eternal liability. The unused resources would be allocated in some other way-likely storage or something similar.

 

[specialK]

The problem here is that the prison managers do not (and would not in the thread hypothetical) set sentences. The thread seems to assume that the sentence is set by a DRO or some other private arbiter of justice.

Those who do set sentences can be easily motivated to set longer sentences by those who stand to profit.

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

In a state run system, yes. However, in a privatized system, the unoccupied space would not be an eternal liability. The unused resources would be allocated in some other way-likely storage or something similar.

WRONG! - unused space will be used to extend sentences for minor violations in order to extend profits.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Those who do set sentences can be easily motivated to set longer sentences by those who stand to profit.

You mean prison owners could hypothetically bribe DROs? The problem I see with that is that DROs, unlike government courts, are accountable for their actions. They thus have a motive for being just in sentencing-losing customers and potentially going out of business. Remember, DRO operators aren't life appointees or political figures.

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

You need to do more research - this happens daily!

 

[heavenlyboy34]

WRONG! - unused space will be used to extend sentences for minor violations in order to extend profits.

False. The prison doesn't set sentences in the scenario we're discussing. They have no ability to extend sentences. The sentencing is done by the DRO.

ETA: In no way does a private prison benefit from having more prisoners. More prisoners means more costs in terms of food, clothing, utilities, employees, etc. Unlike the state-system which passes the cost to taxpayers, the private system would be forced to economize, preventing excessive/unnecessary sentencing.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

You need to do more research - this happens daily!

In the current system, yes. But that is not what we're discussing.