Via: In The Public Interest:
Shar Habibi looks at the rise of “lockup quotas” in private
prisons; quotas where states guarantee that prisons will be filled at
rates of 90 percent or even higher. She argues that these quotas mean
that even if communities realize their objective of lower crime rates,
taxpayers will see no benefit, as they have to pay for prisons as if
they were filled to capacity.
In 2012, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), the largest
for-profit prison company in the United States, sent a letter to 48
state governors offering to buy their public prisons. CCA offered to
operate state prisons in exchange for a 20-year contract that included a
guarantee from the governors that the prisons would be at least 90
percent filled for the entire term. In other words, taxpayers had to
agree to a 90 percent “lockup quota” or else have to pay for empty
prison beds.
Thankfully, no governor took CCA up on this particular
offer. But unfortunately for U.S. taxpayers, and for the very idea of
justice, “lockup quotas” are already a very common occurrence in
contracts between state and local governments and private prison
companies. According to a new study from In the Public Interest (ITPI),
a comprehensive resource center on the outsourcing of public services
to for-profit corporations, 65 percent of private prison contracts that
we studied contain these quotas…
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