October 4, 2011
Another academic questions prison privatization
The prison privatization debate again has ascended into prominence in Florida, with some policymakers advocating for privatizing 29 prison facilities and others arguing against it. The debate is likely to continue — recent circuit court decisions notwithstanding — and so it makes sense to step back and examine the debate and the opportunities it provides.
Prison privatization is literally a growth industry. From 2000 to 2009, the latest year for which national data exist, the number of inmates held in state and federal private prisons grew 48 percent, from 87,369 to 129,336. Florida ranks among the top contributors, along with California and Texas, to this growth. (All three belong to the exclusive group of states that house more than 100,000 inmates.) In 2009, Florida housed 9,812 inmates in private prisons, or approximately 10 percent of all inmates held in state-contracted private prisons...
LINK - Tallahassee.com
