The Reality of Private Prisons
![Picture](/uploads/9/1/2/9/91298796/736717562.jpg?406)
A new industry has recently started to boom in the business world: private prisons. This type of prison is a facility that confines individuals by a third party that is contracted by a government agency, opposed to public prisons that are operated by a state or federal government. Many say that private prisons will be great for the economy. This might be true, but there are risks that should be factored in to the decisions to keep these for-profit businesses running. The different perspectives that are presented on this digital forum might spur the question: “why should we care?”
With these relentless cost reductions, comes some consequences. Less money spent on things such as maintenance of the prison could negatively affect the inmates. Low quality living situations can cause higher levels of violence to occur and prisoners that are exposed to higher levels of violence are more likely to “relapse” or commit more crimes once they are released. So each of these dangerous prisoner’s releases poses a threat to public safety. Private prisons are also altering decisions the criminal justice choses to take in regards to how they deal with potential inmates. Specifically, private prisons are serving as a safety net when the criminal justice system as to deal with their policies of sentencing and release policies. These prisons have the potential to corrupt the entire justice system by acting as an incentive for law enforcement or even judges to misuse the system.
An opposing opinion is that there are many benefits to private prison systems, which include obtaining a faster and cheaper bed capacity, lower operation costs, and an improved quality of service. Private prisons have the capability of improving some aspects of communities as well. It creates jobs and revenue that could improve schools and businesses in the communities adjacent to private prisons. The motivation is to develop an improved living environment for those who are unfortunate enough to be behind the walls of the prison.
So the answer to the question “why should we care” will be found within this digital forum. There are three positions presented: a California resident's perspective on the benefits of increasing private prisons, an educated man challenging the views of the Department of Justice, and the perspective from inside a prison through the eyes of an undercover reporter.
Here you will find one of the many televised debates on private prisons. This debate involves State Republican Senator John Kavenaugh, who is for private prisons, and state democratic Senator Martin Quezada, who is against private prisons.
This site will explore three different perspectives of private prisons.