Private Prison Profiteers

One Response

1. F. Douglas Stephenson,LCSW,LMFT,BCD September 2, 2015

   A growing number of American county jail facilities are now contracted out as for-profit businesses to for-profit companies. The companies are paid by local or state government, and their profit depends on spending as little as possible on the prisoners and the jails. It’s hard to imagine any greater disconnect between public good and private profit: the interest of private jails lies not in the obvious social good of having the minimum necessary number of inmates but in having as many as possible, housed as cheaply as possible. No more chilling document exists in recent American life than the 2005 annual report of the biggest of these firms, the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). Here the company (which spends millions lobbying legislators) is obliged to caution its investors about the risk that somehow, somewhere, someone might turn off the spigot of convicted men:
   From the CCA 2005 Annual Corporate Report:
   “Our growth is generally dependent upon our ability to obtain new contracts to develop and manage new correctional and detention facilities. . . . The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by the relaxation of enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction and sentencing practices or through the decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by our criminal laws. For instance, any changes with respect to drugs and controlled substances or illegal immigration could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them”.

   No better example exists of a private capitalist enterprise that feeds on the misery of man trying as hard as it can to be sure that nothing is done to decrease that misery.

   Fortunately some local and state governments are learning that adding a profiteering middleman to manage jail services has added costs, not lowered them. Without evidence, private prison corporations always claim that their program will save the county and state millions annually. Despite many promises that jail and prison privatization will lead to big cost savings, such savings — as a comprehensive study by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, part of the U.S. Department of Justice, concluded — “have simply not materialized.” To the extent that private prison and jail operators do manage to save money, they do so through “reductions in staffing patterns, fringe benefits, and other labor-related costs.”

   The standard technique of privatization: defund government services to make sure things don’t work and people get angry, then hand it over to private capital. By continuing to defund local jail services, the County Commission allows the for-profit, private CCA to appear to “rescue” the county jail program via self-serving profit-driven programs. It’s not long until privatization falls short in quality service when private jail program saves money by employing fewer guards and other workers and pay them badly. Frequently, horror stories often accompany how these jails are run .

   We should demand that private corporate prisons and jails be removed from the administration of our local and state public prison programs . Privatization of jail services increases costs without any corresponding increase in quality or access to care.

   As long as the general population remains passive, apathetic and seemingly unable to advocate for its best interests, the powerful in county commissions and their corporate partners will continue privatizing as they please — and laugh all the way to the bank.
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   F. Douglas Stephenson, LCSW, BCD
   Former President
   The Florida Society for Clinical Social Work
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   A growing number of American county jail facilities are now contracted out as for-profit businesses to for-profit companies. The companies are paid by local or state government, and their profit depends on spending as little as possible on the prisoners and the jails. It’s hard to imagine any greater disconnect between public good and private profit: the interest of private jails lies not in the obvious social good of having the minimum necessary number of inmates but in having as many as possible, housed as cheaply as possible. No more chilling document exists in recent American life than the 2005 annual report of the biggest of these firms, the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). Here the company (which spends millions lobbying legislators) is obliged to caution its investors about the risk that somehow, somewhere, someone might turn off the spigot of convicted men: From the CCA 2005 Annual Corporate Report: "Our growth is generally dependent upon our ability to obtain new contracts to develop and manage new correctional and detention facilities. . . . The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by the relaxation of enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction and sentencing practices or through the decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by our criminal laws. For instance, any changes with respect to drugs and controlled substances or illegal immigration could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them". No better example exists of a private capitalist enterprise that feeds on the misery of man trying as hard as it can to be sure that nothing is done to decrease that misery. Fortunately some local and state governments are learning that adding a profiteering middleman to manage jail services has added costs, not lowered them. Without evidence, private prison corporations always claim that their program will save the county and state millions annually. Despite many promises that jail and prison privatization will lead to big cost savings, such savings — as a comprehensive study by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, part of the U.S. Department of Justice, concluded — “have simply not materialized.” To the extent that private prison and jail operators do manage to save money, they do so through “reductions in staffing patterns, fringe benefits, and other labor-related costs.” The standard technique of privatization: defund government services to make sure things don’t work and people get angry, then hand it over to private capital. By continuing to defund local jail services, the County Commission allows the for-profit, private CCA to appear to “rescue” the county jail program via self-serving profit-driven programs. It's not long until privatization falls short in quality service when private jail program saves money by employing fewer guards and other workers and pay them badly. Frequently, horror stories often accompany how these jails are run . We should demand that private corporate prisons and jails be removed from the administration of our local and state public prison programs . Privatization of jail services increases costs without any corresponding increase in quality or access to care. As long as the general population remains passive, apathetic and seemingly unable to advocate for its best interests, the powerful in county commissions and their corporate partners will continue privatizing as they please — and laugh all the way to the bank. ******************************************************* F. Douglas Stephenson, LCSW, BCD Former President The Florida Society for Clinical Social Work ***************************************************************************** ************************************************************************************

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