Weston Marcusen

Criminal Justice 1010

Craig Watson

The Problems with Private Prisons

 Problems with For-Profit Prison System
The for-profit prison system appears to be beneficial on paper, however there are many

issues with the private prison system. Private systems can be selective in the inmates they

choose to house, allowing them to typically pick the healthiest and easiest to care for. This

leaves the state and federal systems with the burden of caring for inmates with more costly

health conditions. Federal and state systems are also left with more dangerous inmates, which

will also likely increase costs. Many private prisons have decreased funding from their training

programs, leaving their staff members’ training below the standards of most states (Lotke,

2015). A nationwide study found that assaults on guards by inmates were 49 percent more

frequent in private prisons than in government-run prisons. The same study revealed that

assaults on fellow inmates were 65 percent more frequent in private prison (Smith, 2012).

There is a higher incidence of rape in private prisons. Additionally, many private prisons are

overcrowded. Most cells are double bunked, and inmates are given very little space. Many of

them have bug and rodent infestations and high numbers of suicide attempts. Some of them

house their juvenile population with their general adult population (Filipovic, 2013). Most of

the prisoners are under fed and malnourished (Mathews, 2013). Almost all the private prisons

have made deals with presiding government agencies which guarantees a 90% or higher

occupancy (Mathews, 2013). This illustrates potential for corruption and may increase the

number of lesser offenders being sent to prison in cases where they typically would not. “The

top three largest for profit prison owners have spent more than 45 million dollars on campaign

donations and lobbyists”(Mathews, 2013). Some of this corruption has led to new ideas like

housing Illegal immigrants in private prisons for jurisdictions to meet their quotas with private
prisons. As you can see, there are many drawbacks with privatized prisons in comparison to

public prisons.

The appeal of private prisons

One of the largest reasons for the rise of private prisons is cost. Prisons cost a large sum

of money to build. Typically, a new public prison to be built is presented as a bond to voters.

Many voters do not want to put their hard earned tax dollars toward a new prison. When a

public prison is close to capacity and the approval of the voters is needed for a new prison, an

investor steps in with a proposal to build a private prison to meet the needs. This becomes an

easy decision for the state legislature—they get what they need, it doesn’t cost the government

any money up front to build the prison, and it does not rely on approval from voters.

Increased prison population

Since 1980, the US prison population has grown by 790% (Filipovic, 2013). Many cite

the war on drugs being the root cause of this, and I would have to agree. There is more than

just a correlation here and I believe the numbers show it. There were less than 2 million people

in the correctional system in 1980. At its peek in 2007 it hit over 7 million “Fig 1”
(www.bjs.gov). In 1982 the drug related arrest for the country was around 0.6 million people.

At its peak in 2007 it was nearly 2 million arrests “Fig 2” (Enforcement, 2018). As you can see

there is a significant relation between the two. Of course, drug use alone isn’t the main reason

for these increases. The main factor was the announcement of the war on drugs during the

1980s. This brought harsher punishment and mandatory minimum sentences.

One of the other factors that contribute to the need for more prison space is immigration.

With Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detaining more Illegal immigrants, there is a

need for detention space until they are either incarcerated, released, or deported. In 2016 ICE

was looking to expand the number of beds they have available by 5000 (Neuhauser, 2016).

Because of this there has been a resurgence in the use of private prisons, despite the fact the

Justice Department announced it was going to start withdrawing from the use of private

prisons (Neuhauser, 2016).

Solutions

Some of the solutions to closing private prisons are obvious. The main one being ending

the war on drugs. Ending the war on drugs would drastically lower the amount of people

incarcerated, which would dramatically lower the demand for prison space. This idea is very

controversial however, I feel the pros out weigh the cons. The most relevant being that this

would decrease the amount of people incarcerated which means lower costs for the tax payers.

This would potentially be a large source of tax revenue which could be used for treatment

rather than court and incarceration costs. Most people who use drugs will do so regardless of

their legality. Imprisoning people who are only harming themselves in most cases seems
counterintuitive. One of the counter arguments to this argument is that addicts will commit

crimes against society, such as theft and violent offenses. I would argue that these problems

exist already, and these offenses would still be punishable. Minor drug offenses that are non-

violent should either be left alone or given a fine, but not jail or prison time. The sale of,

manufacturing of, or the transportation of large amounts of drugs that have not already been

made legal in some states should still be taken seriously. It should be handled by local police.

The war on drugs has proven to be a huge failure, as it has cost the United States over 1 trillion

dollars or roughly 58 billion dollars each year on average (Drug War Statistics).

We need to educate our public better. They need to know and understand where and

how their tax dollars are spent. They need to know that typically it costs more to operate a

private prison compared to a public prison. If their tax dollars are being wasted, or the tax

money is not being used effectively they should know about it. Part of that is obviously part of

the public’s responsibility. If they have the information they need, then they will be able to

make an informed decision the next time they have to vote on whether they should or

shouldn’t build a new prison. Maybe they will better understand the pros and cons of voting or

not voting for a bond to build a new public prison. They should know the conditions that

prisoners live under in the private system compared to the public system. They should know

that the correctional staff in the private system are not being proficiently trained to do their

jobs safely.

Offering illegal immigrants, a pathway to legal residency or citizenship versus deporting

all. This is another controversial issue, however there are again many benefits. If we had a

better pathway to residency there would be less demand on the amount of prison space
needed. This would again save the tax payers money. There are good reasons to deport illegal

immigrants but it recently it has been taken too far. Non violent offenders should be given an

opportunity to apply for a green card and stay in the US. Most immigrants are hardworking

people and contribute much to the economy. Recent data has shown that Illegal immigrants

contribute over 11 billion dollars a year to the US economy each year (Chen, 2016).

With private prisons being a factor during the sentencing process, it unfortunately must

be considered when giving judgement. Because state or local governments have made deals

with private prisons to keep their capacity at 90 percent or higher, some judges may feel

pressured to incarcerate people rather than giving probation. Police departments might be

pressured into cracking down on criminal behaviors as well. There have even been incidents of

judges being bribed by private prisons to incarcerate more people (Yankovich, 2017).

If private prisons are going to be allowed to operate, there needs to be better

regulations over them. Regarding solitary confinement, currently there are no restrictions on

how often it is used, and private prisons are not required to report it. Private systems are

taking new prisoners in when there is not room for them in general population but placing

them in solitary confinement if beds are available there (Thompson, 2016). There should be

standards required on the training for new officers, as well as ongoing training programs.

Cost benefits

Most of the plans I have presented wouldn’t cost the tax payers much. The savings in

ending the drug war would more than make up for any of the new cost accrued. As stated

earlier, there may be an increase in theft or drug related violence, but only decriminalizing
drugs and time would tell that for certain. The most difficult part would be convincing the

public that these ideas benefit society. Many members of the public already have their minds

made up. Some of the cost that I can see are putting together information for the public about

private prisons. Instituting new regulations over private prisons could also be costly. There

would probably have to be an expansion of immigration workers to keep up with new green

card applications. This would have to include expanding immigration agents to follow up with a

surge of new applicants to make sure they are staying within regulations.

Conclusion

There are many issues with the private prison system. They are appealing and appear to

be an easy solution however, they come with many extra costs attached. Society could make

major improvements on how we run our justice system so that we keep more people out of

prisons, negating the need for private prisons. Locking people up in most cases is a burden on

society, the inmates don’t contribute much, they typically are worse off after incarceration, and

it costs the tax payers large amounts of money. Even though these prisoners have done

something wrong in their life, they are still human being and deserve to be treated as such.

Treating others inhumanely takes away our own humanity. Private prisons are only concerned

about one thing, which is profit. They have shown this with how they treat the prison

population as well as their own employees. They are not the answer.
 Citations Page

Bureau of Justice Statistics Home page. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2018, from

https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=kfdetail&iid=487

Chen, M. (2016, March 14). Undocumented Immigrants Contribute Over $11 Billion to Our Economy

Each Year. Retrieved November 4, 2018, from

https://www.thenation.com/article/undocumented-immigrants-contribute-over-11-billion-to-

our-economy-each-year/

Drug War Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved November 2, 2018, from http://www.drugpolicy.org/issues/drug-

war-statistics

Enforcement. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2018, from https://www.bjs.gov/content/dcf/enforce.cfm

Filipovic, J. (2013, June 13). America's private prison system is a national disgrace | Jill Filipovic.

Retrieved November 8, 2018, from

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/13/aclu-lawsuit-east-mississippi-

correctional-facility

Lotke, E. (2016, October 12). The Real Problem with Private Prisons. Retrieved from

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-lotke/the-real-problem-with-pri_b_8279488.html

Mathews, K. (2013, December 27). For-Profit Prisons: Eight Statistics That Show the Problems. Retrieved

from https://truthout.org/articles/for-profit-prisons-eight-statistics-that-show-the-problems/

Neuhauser, A. (2016, October 25). ICE Seeks to Use Private Prisons Shuttered by DOJ. Retrieved from

https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-10-25/ice-seeks-to-reopen-private-prisons-

shuttered-by-justice-department
Smith, A. (2012, June 11). Private vs. Public Facilities, Is it cost effective and safe? Retrieved November

12, 2018, from http://www.corrections.com/news/article/30903-private-vs-public-facilities-is-it-

cost-effective-and-safe-

Thompson, C. (2016, November 16). Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Private Prisons...

Retrieved November 4, 2018, from

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2014/12/18/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-

private-prisons

Yankovich, D. (2017, December 07). Private Prisons Embrace Corruption to Boost Profits. Retrieved

November 8, 2018, from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-yankovich/be-careful-private-

prison_b_8144860.html