Since the Reagan presidency, the Republican’s answer to everything has been privatization. They privatized part of the military using Haliburton, KBR, and Blackwater and the result was abuse of power, fraud, shoddy work, and even murder.
Some 30 states have already privatized some of their state prisons under the assumption that it would save money. How do private prisons cut costs? They pay their employees less. A lot less. And with the lower pay comes poorly trained guards and abuse. Private prisons have a much higher rates of escapes than public prisons and the savings hasn’t gone to the states. It’s gone to the private prison companies such as Corrections Corporation of America as profits.
But ideologies die hard. Now Arizona is going to privatize their state prisons.
(Arizona) state officials will soon seek bids from private companies for 9 of the state’s 10 prison complexes that house roughly 40,000 inmates, including the 127 here on death row. It is the first effort by a state to put its entire prison system under private control.
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For advocates of prison privatization, the push here breathes a bit of life into a movement that has been on the decline across the country as cost savings from prison privatizations have often failed to materialize, corrections officers unions have resisted the efforts and high-profile problems in privately run facilities have drawn unwanted publicity
