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Supporters of prison privatization contend that contractors can run prisons at less cost than the government can, without reducing the quality of service, and that private prisons can also help stem prison overcrowding. Critics of privatization say little valid evidence exists to support the argument that prison privatization is a cost-effective alternative to publicly run facilities, and also question other aspects of privatization.
- See also:
Corrections
Prison privatization
- Citizens Against Private Prisons. Citizens' initiative in Ontario, Canada.
- Prisons for Fun and Profit by Peri H. Pakroo at Nolo Press Self-Help Law Center, August 28, 1997, takes an incident of guard brutality at a private facility in Texas as a jumping-off point for a brief discussion of prison privatization, with links to other sites.
- Private and Public Prisons -- Studies Comparing Operational Costs and/or Quality of Service (text-only version) | Adobe Acrobat version. Report to the Subcommittee on Crime, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives. GAO/GGD-96-158. Washington, DC: Government Accounting Office, August 1996. This report (1) identifies studies, completed since 1991, comparing the operational costs and the quality of service of private and public correctional facilities; (2) determines what can be concluded about the operational costs and the quality of service of comparable private and public prisons; (3) assesses whether the reported results are generalizable to correctional systems in other jurisdictions; and (4) identifies lessons learned that could help guide future comparative studies of private and public correctional facilities. A text-only summary is also available.
- Private Prisons: The Prison Privatization Research Site at University of Connecticut offers links to studies and tables on correctional privatization.
- Privatization of Prison and Jail Operations: An Annotated Bibliography. by Linda L. Zupan. Marquette, MI: Department of Criminal Justice, Northern Michigan University, April 1996. This well-organized, thorough bibliography is divided into thirteen chapters on various issues surrounding prison privatization. Each chapter introduces the issue and gives detailed annotations of books and articles on privatization.
- "Privatizing Criminal Justice". By James Moran. CJ The Americas 8(3), Jun/Jul 1995. Introduces arguments about the privatization of corrections: "The Corrections Debate: Pro" by Charles W. Thomas and "The Corrections Debate: Con" by Russell Clemens.
Private prison operators
- Avalon Community Services: An Oklahoma-based corporation operating private correctional facilities in Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado.
- Cornell Corrections: Operates 55 facilities adult and juvenile facilities in 12 U.S. states.
- Correctional Services Corporation: A leading developer and manager of privatized correctional and detention facilities in the United States, with both adult and juvenile facilities in 22 states & Puerto Rico.
- Corrections Corporation of America: The fourth largest correctional system in the U.S., with over 73,000 beds in 82 facilities.
- Prison Realty Trust: Own 50 facilities in the U.S. and U.K.
- Wackenhut Corrections: Operates both adult and juvenile facilities in the U.S. and abroad; a facility list is available.