Public or Private Prisons

Public or Private Prisons

What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of prison privatization?

The discussion of Public or Private Prisons is one that has not caught the attention of mass media or the public because it is a part of the criminal justice system that most do not see because much of the attention is focused on investigations, enforcement, and prosecution. Within this discussion, there has been argument both for and against usage of privatized prisons identified by pros and cons for such practice. Privatization occurs when state or federal governments contract with private organizations to manage a prison. Some argue one of the pros to the use of private prisons is the overall reduced cost of housing inmates both at the State and Federal levels, which in turn save tax payers money. This cost is argued to be significantly lower than that of a government run prison, given factors such as employment salary, employment benefits, government restrictions and regulations, and simplification of third party contracting. These factors I would opine are the top reasons as to why governments chose to privatize and continue to do so, as the expansion of this practice occurs across the United States and within the Federal system. It has provided the ability for governments to respond to the rapid growth of inmate population by contracting third party private organizations who have the ability to provide the needs for such demand.

Some cons to the privatization of prisons is the agenda of these third party private organizations is the bottom dollar as they are a for profit and becomes a breeding ground for shifted focus of keeping inmate populations adequate for their ability to earn a profit. As addressed in the pros, the employees at the operational level are not as fairly compensated for their duties and further adds to the potential for corruption and other misconduct within the facility, as the facts are, prisons are dangerous and breed ground for further crime. To top these issues off, the lack of transparency further fuels these issues because private organization do not have to follow government regulations as government run prisons would.

What impact does the privatization of prisons have on providing rehabilitative services that would help prisoners rejoin society productively and curb recidivism?

As discussed above regarding transparency, the fact that private prisons have a bottom line goal, which is maximizing profits, I would opine that these private prisons have zero incentive to focus on reduction in prison populations by providing rehabilitation services to inmates that can develop inmate’s interpersonal skills and contribute to reduction in recidivism rates, which should be the overall intent of correctional facilities.

What impact does contracting with a private firm have on governmental liability for the violation of inmates’ constitutional rights?

The Supreme Court Case, Correctional Service Corporation v. Malesko, the courts held that Bivens’ limited holding may not be extended to confer a right of action for damages against private entities acting under color of federal law (Cornell University Law School, 2001). However, individuals of these entities can be sued under Bivins, as well as the court reasoning in this case that these private entities should be held liable for providing remedies to violations of inmate’s constitutional rights (Cornell University Law School, 2001). I would argue that if the ruling of the inability for inmates to sue these private prisons, the State Penal Systems or the Department of Corrections should be able to have Bivins and Tort claims failed against them regarding Constitution rights violations within their contracted privately run prisons.

Some would argue that for-profit private prisons have no place in a democratic society. Do you agree?

I agree that private prions have no place is our democratic society because of the many arguments discussed above. Firstly, these organizations are billion-dollar organizations who make profit from incarcerating American citizens. This to me is an unethical approach and is a slippery slop when it comes to the continuum of compromise to weigh the need of governments to house prison inmates and quickly resolve the rapid growing issue of prison overcrowding. The purpose of our correctional systems is to hold our citizens accountable for their wrongs against our society and governments owe it to the tax payers who fund these systems to attempt to reach the root of these issues by providing these inmates with rehabilitation services to ensure these inmates are being equipped with the tools to remain out of the criminal justice system and to reenter these citizens back into our communities in a better state in which they were sentenced to these institutions. I do not believe that private prisons are equipped with providing these needs as they are driven by profits and bottom lines and find no motive for reducing their cash crop, which is inmate populations.