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Merchandizing Prisoners Who Really Pays for Prison Privatization?

Byron Eugene Price

ISBN: 0-275-98738-8

ISBN-13: 978-0-275-98738-1

DOI:

212 pages

Praeger Publishers

Publication: 3/30/2006

List Price: $44.95 (UK Sterling Price: £31.95)

Discount Price: $22.48 Sale Price for U.S. Customers Only. Save 50%. Ends 12/31/2009.

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Media Type: Hardcover

Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4

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Reviews:

[U]nderscores how for-profit private prison companies have gone public and are trading on the stock exchanges, and the inimical impact of prisons being publicly traded.
—Houston Business Connections Monthly April 6, 2006
[E]xamines the steady growth of private, for-profit prison firms and the correctional-commercial complex that has developed tangentially with the private prison industry. The book details the strange bedfellows that have been brought together to expand this industry. Price underscores how these for-profit private prison companies have gone public and are trading on the stock exchanges and the inimical impact of prisons being publicly traded. He debunks many of the claims as to why states seek prison privatization and demonstrates that incarceration is the new form of slavery....This work sets the record straight about the decision to privatize state prisons, revealing the political bias that often drives these policy choices.
—National Union of Public and General Employees April 23, 2006

Description: Beginning in the mid 1980s, the privatization of jails and prisons burgeoned in the United States. Not only has there been a steady growth of private, for-profit operation of federal, state and county correctional facilities, but private firms have also become more involved in other aspects of the prison industry, such as the financing and construction of new prisons and the renovation of existing ones. Moreover, many of these private companies have gone public and are trading on the stock exchanges. Perhaps more than with other service industries in this country, the privatization of prisons has become a growth industry. Yet, prison privatization continues to be one of the most controversial issues in public policy. Although sold to the public as a cost-saving measure, the privatization of prisons has not only led to significant changes in policy making and the management of prisons, but has also generated widespread concern that incarceration has become a profit-making industry. That, in turn, strengthens calls for policies on mandatory-minimum sentencing that keep the prison industry growing. After all, in order to be successful business enterprises, prisons will need occupants.

What compels state policy makers to privatize their prisons? The conventional response by political and appointed policy leaders has consistently and unequivocally been that they wish to save costs. But the truth may be otherwise. Eugene Price illustrates that fiscal issues are often trumped by political factors when it comes to the decision to privatize. He examines the potential reasons why a state might choose to privatize its prisons, and considers financial and political aspects in depth. Ultimately he concludes that the desire to save costs is not the primary reason for state prison privatization. Rather, the more plausible explanations revolve around political and ideological factors such as the party of the governor and the overall political and ideological culture of the state. This work sets the record straight about the decision to privatize state prisons, revealing the political bias that often drives these policy choices.

Table of Contents:

Introduction
Organization
States and the Prison Privatization Debate
Historical Overview of Prison Privatization
Privatization Climate
The Meaning of Privatization
The Case for Prison Privatization
The Case against Prison Privatization
Privatization Summary
Explaining Prison Privatization: A View from the States
Efficiency, Effectiveness and Quality Arguments: More for Your Money
Cost Savings Studies
Effectiveness Arguments: Getting the Job Done
Quality Arguments: Improving Services for the Incarcerated
Summary
Debunking the Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Quality Arguments
Critique of Economic/Efficiency Argument
Hidden Costs
Cost Incurred To Export Prisoners
Tax Implications
Liability Costs
Critique of Effectiveness Argument
Critique of the Quality Argument
Does Competition Exist in the For-Profit Prison Environment?
A Framework for Prison Privatization
Economic Explanations
Per Capita Income
Tax Capacity
Tax Effort
Ideological Explanations
Control of Legislature
Governor's Party
Political Ideology
Political Explanations
Crime Rates
Neighboring States Privatization Behavior
Political Culture
Prison Capacity
What's the Real Reason behind Prison Privatization from the State's Perspective?
Speculative Prisons
History of Speculative Prisons
Speculative Prisons, Issues, and Inter-Jurisdictional Concerns
Summary
Private Prisons: A Vested Interests to Incarcerate
The Political Economy of Prison Privatization
Private Prisons and the Stock Market
Prison Labor
Prison Industries in American Corrections
Contemporary Models
Private Prisons as Economic Development
Campaign Financing and Lobbying
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)
Corrections Commercial Complex
The Census and Prisoners Equals Dollars and Representation for Rural Communities
Felony Disenfranchisement
The Higher Education Act
Summary
State of Prison Privatization and Conclusions
Are States Still Pursuing Prison Privatization?
What Issues or Problems Exist With Prison Priivatization?
Health Care
Human Rights
State Fiscal Problems
Safety
Recurring Issues and Questions about Prison Privatization
Concluding Remarks
Endnotes
Bibliography

About the Author: Byron Eugene Price is Assistant Professor of Public Administration at Rutgers University, Newark. He is the Associate Director of the National Center for Public Productivity, Rutgers University, Newark, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Public Management and Social Policy, and Case Study Editor, Public Productivity and Management Review. Dr. Price has co-authored two book chapters on Mississippi politics, co-authored one book chapter on privatization, and contributed three entries to the Malcolm X Encyclopedia. He has published in the American Review of Public Administration, the International Review of Public Administration, Public Productivity and Management Review, and the PA Times.

LCC Class: HV9469

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