jameskilton
5 hours ago
The entire concept of "for-profit incarceration/detention" should not exist. Such a system only incentivizes cruelty.
virissimo
5 hours ago
In practice, it doesn't seem to make much difference:
> Propensity score matching and regression analyses of the National Inmate Survey are used to examine individuals’ experiences and perceptions of environmental quality in public versus private prisons across key domains of prison life, with an emphasis on needs, behaviors, victimization, and attitudes. No differences are identified for women. Males in private prisons are more likely than men in public prisons to perceive there to be inadequate staffing and are less likely to report maintaining ties with people outside of prison. Men in private prisons are also less likely to report crowding to be an issue.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361439680_Private_V....
brenschluss
5 hours ago
We should zoom out in perspective. The question is not “is the experience in for-profit prisons better for incarcerated people”.
It is “for-profit prisons create a system with a financial incentive to increase the number of incarcerated people”.
jazzyjackson
3 hours ago
Tax funded prisons also have unions that vote for expanding prisons. The distinction doesn’t make much of a difference.
pirate787
5 hours ago
For-profit is the delivery system, which should save taxpayer money. Systems where the institutions are directly administered by taxpayer funds and their attendant public employee unions also have political/financial incentives.
xp84
4 hours ago
I'm inclined to believe that.
Either way - publicly-run or private contractor, if the government is a good steward of public funds, they'll monitor well to avoid waste and remove people who are trying to unjustly enrich themselves. And if the officials are incompetent or corrupt themselves, they'll fail to recognize when those things are happen, or participate themselves. I don't see a big difference in public vs. private unless I imagine a fantasy government run only by officials who are smart and highly ethical.
chaps
4 hours ago
Should private prisons have their own private prison guards that use paintball guns filled with pepper spray?
Should private prisons be FOIA'able just like public prisons?
bjourne
4 hours ago
Exactly why would one or more middle men trying to extract profit save taxpayer money? What's your evidence?
cucumber3732842
4 hours ago
Because the state prisons are trying to cut costs and/or profit the same way the private ones are. They just tend to invest in waste and expansion rather than pay $$ to owners/investors.
The whole thing is rotten. Changing the ownership of the mess doesn't make it not rotten.
pfannkuchen
4 hours ago
What we really need is a prison voucher program. The prisoners get to go to whatever prison they want to, and then the prison they go to gets paid. Incentives aligned!
TheCoelacanth
4 hours ago
I'm not really sold on the idea of private prisons in general, but if we're going to have them it should at least be the prisoner's choice. Unaccountable private prisons that are also a government enforced monopoly is just the worst of both worlds.
impish9208
2 hours ago
I know this is a joke, but if we just run with it, the prisons would start running targeted ads to previously incarcerated and “at-risk” people so that they choose them when the time comes. And when the voucher revenue growth is below some target for two consecutive quarters, they could maybe pay for more crimes…?
cwmoore
3 hours ago
I would like to see a menu please.
user
2 hours ago
moi2388
4 hours ago
Does it? The alternative is non-profit incarceration/detention, in which the incentive is to not put people in prison, leading to more crime, lower trust and more victims.
triceratops
3 hours ago
> non-profit incarceration/detention, in which the incentive is to not put people in prison
How do you figure? Is the "I'll save you money by being soft on crime" election platform popular in your country?
moi2388
3 hours ago
Yes. Prisons are overcrowded, criminals are released earlier or not put in prison at all, and judges punish lower because prisons are too full.
triceratops
3 hours ago
And private prisons don't get overcrowded?
moi2388
an hour ago
Since private prisons make a profit instead of costing millions, you can actually build more of them.
With the added benefit of not costing the taxpayer as much.
triceratops
an hour ago
Who do you think pays for private prisons? Where's the profit coming from?
moribvndvs
4 hours ago
Nice false dilemma you have here.
JohnTHaller
28 minutes ago
We could end the absurd war on drugs that conservatives are intent on waging and follow evidence-based solutions instead. About 20% of prisoners in the US are there for drug crimes. At the federal level it's 42.6%.