TheDanold
Unimatrix
"Some states, including California, are finding that they can save money by making more use of private prisons.
This is controversial. But contrasting St Clair with a prison operated by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) suggests that it may not be a bad idea. Their facility in Tutwiler, Mississippi, is light and air-conditioned where St Clair is dark and steaming. It is less crowded and has a freshly-painted feel; St Clair is shabby and peeling. The sports facilities are better. “We try to wear them out so they go to sleep—like you do with your kids,” says the warden, Robert Adams.
Inmates who have tasted both public and private lock-ups say they prefer the latter. “You've more things in CCA. More programmes. Better rec[reational facilities],” says Anthony Palabay, the sex offender in charge of in-jail movies. (Films with too much sex or racial tension are barred.)
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. Mr Adams, for example, guards a crowd of Hawaiians and is expecting an influx of Californians soon. This matches supply with demand."
http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9546217
Great idea to push to your local elected officials for saving money, less taxes and less debt.
This is controversial. But contrasting St Clair with a prison operated by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) suggests that it may not be a bad idea. Their facility in Tutwiler, Mississippi, is light and air-conditioned where St Clair is dark and steaming. It is less crowded and has a freshly-painted feel; St Clair is shabby and peeling. The sports facilities are better. “We try to wear them out so they go to sleep—like you do with your kids,” says the warden, Robert Adams.
Inmates who have tasted both public and private lock-ups say they prefer the latter. “You've more things in CCA. More programmes. Better rec[reational facilities],” says Anthony Palabay, the sex offender in charge of in-jail movies. (Films with too much sex or racial tension are barred.)
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. Mr Adams, for example, guards a crowd of Hawaiians and is expecting an influx of Californians soon. This matches supply with demand."
http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9546217
Great idea to push to your local elected officials for saving money, less taxes and less debt.
