Friday, April 9, 2010

Study Shows Privatization Doesn't Actually Save Money

A recent study looking into the prison industry in Florida has essentially concluded that private prisons do not offer any significant cost savings over government-run institutions.  Though the two types are hard to compare, since private prisons typically house only low-level offenders (which cost way less to house than violent offenders), but this is especially damming information considering there is a law on the books in Florida mandating that private prisons provide the state with at least 7% savings over government-run facilities.  It also mentions how programming, such as education and anger management, are almost completely ineffective in private prisons.  I'm shocked.

2 comments:

  1. These laws are often just a sop to get the for-profits' feet in the door.

    They have a similar law in Arizona, I think. There a state study by Maximus found that for-profits cost 8.5% TO 13.5% MORE than state pens.

    They use bogus statistics conflated for them by outfits like the Reason Foundation and the Iowa Public Interest Institute to confuse the issue. It's like the whores who produce "data" for energy corporations that contend there's no such thing as anthropogenic global warming.

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  2. I know what you mean. There is so much cronyism in the legislatures that allows for-profit companies to come in and conduct essential governmental services.

    I remember seeing a report about Arizona's private prisons stating that they only saved the state about 1% over government-run institutions, but I don't believe I've seen one stating they cost more. Do you have a link to that report? I'd be happy to post it here.

    Thanks also for letting me know about these front groups. Do you know in what capacity they work with CCA or GEO? It's always tricky to try to uncover links with those sorts of groups and the lobbying firms these companies often contract with. I just saw an interesting article today that details a Florida political candidate's campaign contributions, and found CCA giving to this guy through multiple front groups and lobbying firms. So not only are these groups used to promote false and misleading information, they also serve as funnels for political contributions.

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