Excessively harsh conditions seem to make criminals more likely to re-offend. Are private prisons the answer? The main reason states contract with private jailers is to cut costs. Tony Grande, a vice-president at CCA, says his firm typically charges 5-15% less per prisoner than a state would spend. The firm has economies of scale—it guards more prisoners than any state bar California, Texas or Florida. It can assemble a jail quickly and cheaply using standardised parts. It lacks a state's cumbersome bureaucracy. It builds smart jails, where fewer staff can watch more prisoners, and it builds where land and labour are cheap. Private prisons are cheaper and at least as humane as public ones. But one way they curb costs is to take prisoners from any state that has more than it can handle and lock them up wherever they have spare capacity. |
Private Prisons - Privatisation
