Private Prison

Privatized Prison

Gordon Holt

Leon Tran

Anh Le

Clicker Question

Are Private Prisons acceptable in the U.S. Justice System?

Background

States With Private Prisons

What is it?

History

Currently, there are around 150 Private Prisons Facilities total in 33 States.

Private Prison (for-profit prison) - private facilities run by private prison corporations whose services and beds are contracted out by state government or the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Opened in July 1852, the first private prison in the U.S. was San Quentin.

However, it wasn't until the 1980s, when private prisons became more prevalent in the U.S. due to high incarceration and prisons overcrowding.

CON

PRO

Private Prison Corporations

Private Prisons in Arizona

CCA (Corrections Corporation of America): The first modern private prison company. Owns more than 65 facilities and houses over 100,000 inmates.

GEO Group: The second largest private prison company. Owns more than 55 private facilities. In 2011, their total revenue was $1.5 billion.

Some Useful Info To Know

Why is the US government switching

to the use of private prisons

~$23,882 per inmate annually

federal prisons are at 140% capacity

• AZ DOC budget has increased by $15 million
• Many political officials campaigns are funded by private prison companies
• In the last 20 years private prisons have become one of the most profitable investments.

http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/ol1mvi/the-word---the-green-mile

The rise of private prisons cannot be discussed without first recognizing that it was fueled by the explosion of "tough on crime" policies such as the failed War on Drugs that have left the United States with the largest prison population in the world ( Brickner, et al). Policies such as mandatory minimum sentencing, three strikes laws, and a de-emphasis on diversion, probation, and parole meant that more people were incarcerated for crimes that would have led to rehabilitation or community control only a few years earlier (Brickner, et al).

Recap

Pros:

• Cost-efficient (lower cost per inmate annually)
• Solution to current overcrowding prison situation
• Better improve post release performance

Cons:

• Reduced spending on necessities for inmates
• mass incarceration
• Extensive lobbying
• Occupancy requirements 80-100%

Money & Politics

How Private Prisons Make Money

Funding politician election campaigns

• Extensive lobbying
• Increasing sentencing

Three Strikes Law and Truth-in-Sentencing

cutting costs

• under staffing
• charging state government for unused beds
• skimping on medical necessities
• diabetes patients ignored

Anything to drive up prison populations!

In Support Of Private Prisons

Sources

Cons of private prisons

Recidivism

• The goal of prison is to preserving human rights in prison because it is valuable both as a distinct goal and as it relates to reducing recidivism, improving public health, and providing meaningful opportunities for former prisoners to reintegrate (Tartaglia).
• Many state governments have responded to mounting calls for austerity and efficiency by privatizing core government functions, including correctional services (Tartaglia).
• Farabee and Knight (2002) point out that Florida’s private prisons have higher rates of academic, vocational, and substance abuse program enrollment and completion, which could lead to better postrelease performance (Spivak, et al).
• Women in the private prison group were 25% less likely to reoffend and 34% less likely to be reincarcerated than were those in the public prison group (Spivak, et al).

• Access to programs that can provide education, life skills, and mechanisms for coping with trauma or addiction can have many positive impacts on individual prisoner outcomes and crime rates overall (Tartaglia).
• To the private prison industry's credit, the last comprehensive national figures indicate that the industry widely offers educational, vocational, and drug treatment programs, and prisoners in private facilities may have greater access to such benefits than their counterparts in government prisons (Tartaglia).
• One recent study, comparing public and private facilities in Minnesota and their effects on recidivism, found that the public prisons offered fewer of these types of programs and services to prisoners (Tartaglia)

Brickner, M., & Diaz, S. (2011). Prisons for Profit Incarceration for Sale. Human Rights, 38(3), 14-17.

Spivak, A. L., & Sharp, S. F. (2008). Inmate Recidivism as a Measure of Private Prison Performance. Crime & Delinquency,54(3), 482-508.

http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tdtp&tid=1

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/astounding-facts-about-private-prison-industry

http://civilrights.findlaw.com/other-constitutional-rights/private-jails-in-the-united-states.html

http://sedonaeye.com/private-prisons-not-good-for-arizona

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona/politics/2015/01/31/arpaio-ducey-ariz-need-another-private-prison/22682031/

http://www.salon.com/2013/09/23/6_shocking_revelations_about_how_private_prisons_make_money_partner/

http://rt.com/usa/private-america-cca-prison-050/

Definition: the tendency of a criminal to return to criminal behavior

• Inmate recidivism from private prisons vs government controlled prisons is statistically significant.
• What is the point of making prisons cheaper when it fails to serve its purpose?

• Occupancy requirements 80-100%
• Civil Rights violations
• Under Staffing
• Medical service neglect
• High percent recidivism
• Overreaching control of the legal system
• Responsible for mass incarceration