Privatization Pros And Cons

Once outlawed in the beginning of the 20th Century Vickers (1991), private corporations have made a come back with possessing and operating prisons for profit. Privatization is a controversial issue that can be dated all the way back to the days of the civil war. The corrections industry analyzes its re-appearance today amidst globalization and the most impressive growth of prisons in all of modern history, painting an analyzable portrait of what few are calling the "prison industrial complex." Whenever a state wanted to build a new prison, they traditionally would ask the voters to approve the cost through a bond issue. But, voters throughout the country began to say no. Originally tax dollars had to pay for prisoners stay while they were

Private prison industries claim that it can save the states money on corrections expenses and better the standards of the facilities. However, many citizens are concerned that private prisons should not run facilities that house inmates. This paper will discuss the history of privatization and different debates about privatization.

History and Key Debates of Privatization
Private enterprise in the United States has a large history of involvement in the provision of correctional services. According to Feeler (1991), the first English colonists arrived in Virginia in 1607. The colonists were followed by roughly a handful of convicted felons, who were shipped by private entrepreneurs to America to be sold into servitude. These trips to America were organized by private entrepreneurs. Convicts were transported in order to sell them as indentured servants. Transporting convicts to America was an innovation that radically changed the administration of criminal justice. This innovation enlarged the power of the state without the need to increase its administrative structure. During the 18th century, privately operated facilities became popular. The United States copied the English custom,

There have been a few problems with comparing costs between private prisons and public prisons. One problem that was encountered while doing this research was that it was hard to find two prisons that were alike enough to make comparisons to. The most important problem has been incompatibilities in determining what counts as a cost in both the public and private sectors. Cost comparisons have been very difficult according to Douglas McDonald who is a senior social scientist in the Law and Public Policy Division Associates Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (2015) Even though the government has public records for citizens to see the statistics was outdated, the Federal Bureau of Prisons showed statistics for 2013. McDonald (2015) stated that the government had some deficiencies in the treatment of capital spending. Showing problems with accurate cost is important but there have been a number of studies to determine if private prison are cheaper than public prisons. According to community officials in jurisdictions which house local prisons, cost could be seen as a major advantage. A court judge in Beattyville, Kentucky, stated that the average cost to house a prisoner in a public prison would be about 40 dollars a day, while the cost to house that same prisoners in a private prison is only 26 dollars (Ammons, et al, 1992 pg 38). According to the General Accounting Office (1996) comparing a private prison to a public prison