Foundation Briefs

160 Pages·2014·1.37 MB·English

Foundation Briefs
December 2014 PF Brief

Resolved: For-profit prisons in the United States
should be banned.

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Table of Contents
Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................................... 1
A note .................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Definitions............................................................................................................................................................... 8
Private prison as a service contractor. DAT ............................................................................................... 8
History..................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Backgrounder on the public-private shift. DAT ......................................................................................... 9
Current incarceration demographic data. DAT ......................................................................................... 10
Topic Analysis One ............................................................................................................................................... 11
Topic Analysis Two .............................................................................................................................................. 15
Pro Evidence ......................................................................................................................................................... 24
Private Prisons’ Conditions Encourage Recidivism ......................................................................................... 25
Basic rehabilitation services are often unavailable. DAT ......................................................................... 25
Strategies to prevent recidivism. DAT ...................................................................................................... 26
Private prison are sorely lacking rehabilitation curriculum. DAT ............................................................ 27
Private Prisons and Shocking Truths on their Conditions. PSM .............................................................. 28
Gang Rules Private Prisons. PSM ............................................................................................................. 29
The Perverse Incentives of Private Prisons and Inmate Behavior. PSM .................................................. 30
Poor Incentives Neglect Rehabilitation, Encourage Recidivism AMS .................................................... 31
The impacts of public prisons’ superior training programs. DAT ............................................................ 32
The economic impacts of discouraging recidivism. DAT ........................................................................ 33
Corporations fully admit their profits depend on recidivism. DAT .......................................................... 34
Private prisons internally lengthen sentence times. ...................................................................................... 35
Private prisons are encouraged to increase sentence times on a per-inmate basis. DAT ......................... 35
Profit-driven practices can deter inmates from getting paroled. DAT ...................................................... 36
Private Prisons are Legally Unrestrained .......................................................................................................... 37
Federal prisoners cannot bring civil rights suits against private prisons. DAT ........................................ 37
Family Blames Private Prison for Death of Inmate. PSM ........................................................................ 38
Private contractors aren’t held accountable by the government or market forces. DAT .......................... 39
Private prisons’ inmates have unacceptably narrow constitutional rights. DAT ...................................... 40
Case study: Eighth Amendment violations in private prisons. DAT ........................................................ 41

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Public prison officials have more legal leeway on whistleblowing. DAT ............................................... 42
Overreliance on Private Contractors is Dangerous ........................................................................................... 43
Too many agencies are reliant on the same contractor. DAT ................................................................... 43
States use private system more rapidly than federal system. ASF ........................................................... 44
The Federal Government relies more on private prisons than State systems. ASF .................................. 44
Gladiator School and Idaho Correctional Centers Contracts. PSM .......................................................... 45
Prison Privatization and Criticisms of Profiteering from Asylum Reforms. PSM ................................... 46
Private Prisons and Patronage by Governments. PSM ............................................................................. 47
Outsourcing of Prison Health Care to Private Companies. PSM .............................................................. 48
Quotas Hurt Inmates and Taxpayers ................................................................................................................. 49
Lockup Quotas AMS ................................................................................................................................ 49
Occupancy Requirements Hurt Economies AMS ..................................................................................... 50
Private Prisons Oppose the Public Interest ....................................................................................................... 51
Private contractors have a vested interest in retaining their own importance. DAT ................................ 51
Private Prison Contracts and Mass Incarcerations. PSM .......................................................................... 52
Criticism of Corrections Corporation of America. PSM .......................................................................... 53
Prison Industry and Big Businesses or New Form of Slavery. PSM ........................................................ 54
Profitability of Halfway Houses and Prisons. PSM .................................................................................. 56
Larger Inmate Prison is Boon to Private Prisons. PSM ............................................................................ 57
Jailing Americans for Profit. PSM ............................................................................................................ 58
Prisons are the Problem Not the Solution and Criticisms by ACLU. PSM .............................................. 60
Wrongful Imprisonment in California AMS ............................................................................................. 61
Private Prison Industry Opposes Taxpayer Interests AMS ....................................................................... 61
Economic Strain of CCA AMS................................................................................................................. 62
Growth of Private Prisons Despite Critics ........................................................................................................ 63
Growth of Private Prisons Despite Criticisms. PSM ................................................................................ 63
Private Prisons Underperform Against Public Prisons ..................................................................................... 64
Statistical Data on Performance of Private Prisons in Britain. PSM ........................................................ 64
Exploring the Purported Cost Efficiency of Private Prisons. PSM .......................................................... 65
Failed Instances of Private Prisons ................................................................................................................... 66
Failing Private Prisons in England. PSM .................................................................................................. 66
No More Privatization of Ohio Prisons. PSM .......................................................................................... 67
CCA Profits from California Taxpayers, Hurts California AMS ............................................................. 68

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Youth Service's International Fails AMS ................................................................................................. 69
Prisons Strive to Cut Costs at Inmates' Expense AMS ............................................................................. 70
Florida's Private Prisons Scandal AMS .................................................................................................... 70
Money Spent on Lobbying for Private Prisons ................................................................................................. 71
Prison Economics and Immigration Laws. PSM ...................................................................................... 71
Private Prison Spend Millions on Lobbying to Increase Prison Population. PSM ................................... 72
Private Prisons Lobby for Harsher Sentences. PSM ................................................................................. 73
Prison for Profit May Indicate More Time Behind Bars. PSM ................................................................ 74
Corruption in Private Prisons AMS .......................................................................................................... 75
Private Prisons Sway Lobbyists AMS ...................................................................................................... 75
Private prison companies use economic leverage in smaller elections. DAT .......................................... 76
Private Prisons Hurt Non-Citizens .................................................................................................................... 77
Prisons designed to hold non-citizens (CARs) are sub-par. ASF ............................................................. 77
Public prisons have stricter regulation, leading to worse conditions in CARs. ASF ................................ 78
The BOP renews sup-par contracts. ASF ................................................................................................. 79
Undertrained personnel are a liability in private detention centers. DAT ................................................ 80
Private Prisons Block Need for Systematic Reform ......................................................................................... 81
Private Prisons Block Need for Systematic Change AMS ....................................................................... 81
The financial costs of continued mass incarceration. DAT ...................................................................... 82
The opportunity cost of investing in private prisons. DAT ...................................................................... 83
Private prison quotas run counter to federal incarceration-easing initiatives. DAT ................................. 84
States are already implementing cost-effective measures. DAT .............................................................. 85
Investing in more prisons is counterproductive, legally and economically. DAT .................................... 86
Horrifying Conditions in Private Prisons .......................................................................................................... 87
James Slattery's Corrupt Private System AMS ......................................................................................... 87
Private Prisons Have Worse Conditions AMS ......................................................................................... 88
Private Prisons Hurt Youth AMS ............................................................................................................. 88
Scandals in Youth Prisons AMS ............................................................................................................... 89
Dockery v. Epps Case Documents Poor Conditions of Private Prison AMS ........................................... 89
Human Rights Violations .................................................................................................................................. 90
Private contractors’ operational paradigms push human rights under the rug. DAT ............................... 90
Private prisons skirt basic services for their inmates. DAT ...................................................................... 91
Private prison operations are contingent on limiting freedom. DAT ........................................................ 92

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Basic medical care in private prisons isn’t legally guaranteed. DAT ....................................................... 93
Con Evidence ........................................................................................................................................................ 94
Private Prisons Don’t Provide Worse Services ................................................................................................. 95
Recidivism data has yet to link private management with increased relapses. DAT ............................... 95
Research is unlikely to prove private prisons empirically worse. DAT ................................................... 96
The Case for Private Prisons by CCA Employee. PSM ........................................................................... 97
Private Prisons are Cost Effective. PSM ................................................................................................... 98
Private Prisons are More Cost-Efficiently Run. PSM .............................................................................. 99
Private Prisons are Cheaper for Taxpayers. PSM ................................................................................... 100
Experts from Temple University say Prison Privatization Provide Real Benefits. PSM ....................... 102
All Prisons Should Have Competitive Neutrality ........................................................................................... 104
Adding public management to private competitions improves quality. DAT ........................................ 104
With competitive neutrality, there is effectively no public-private divide. DAT ................................... 105
Private prisons are not definitively more or less cost-effective. DAT .................................................... 106
Overhead operating costs need to be determined on a case-by-case basis. DAT ................................... 107
The best solution is Success-Oriented Funding. DAT ............................................................................ 108
Private Prisons Have Untapped Innovation Potential ..................................................................................... 109
Private prison contracts can be used to efficiently reform the American prison system. DAT .............. 109
Private prisons are a superior setting for rehabilitation. DAT ................................................................ 110
Private Prisons Succeed in Private Operations. PSM ............................................................................. 111
Private Prisons Implement Beneficial Changes AMS ............................................................................ 112
Better Service of Private Prisons AMS ................................................................................................... 112
Private Prisons Outscore Public AMS .................................................................................................... 113
Private prisons can still enhance savings by penetrating union-dominated markets. DAT .................... 114
Private Prison Benefits from Lower Costs and Higher Efficiency AMS ............................................... 115
Private Prisons Reduce Operational Costs AMS .................................................................................... 116
Private Prisons are More Efficient .................................................................................................................. 117
Private Prison Benefits from Lower Costs and Higher Efficiency AMS ............................................... 117
Case study: Texas prison savings contracts. DAT .................................................................................. 118
An economic projection of cost savings. DAT ....................................................................................... 119
Private prisons often provide superior services at lower prices. DAT ................................................... 120
Private Incarceration is Safer .......................................................................................................................... 122
Private prisons have a higher rate of accreditation. DAT ....................................................................... 122

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Public and Private Prisons Have Identical Deficiencies ................................................................................. 123
Neither public nor private prisons meet democratic standards. DAT ..................................................... 123
The systemic problems of public and private prisons are identical. DAT .............................................. 124
Pro Counters........................................................................................................................................................ 125
Private Prisons Are More Costly .................................................................................................................... 126
Private prisons rely on the same funding mechanisms and encourage further spending. DAT ............. 126
Private Prisons Dispute Criticisms on Efficiency. PSM ......................................................................... 127
Private corporations face costly lawsuits which suck taxpayer money. DAT ........................................ 128
Private prison contracts can financially wreck rural communities. DAT ............................................... 129
Prison development fails to boost local economies. DAT ...................................................................... 130
The promised savings from private prisons are empty. DAT ................................................................. 131
Market competition doesn’t make private prisons more efficient. DAT ................................................ 132
Private Prisons Make Prison System Worse ................................................................................................... 133
California's Private Prisons AMS ........................................................................................................... 133
System Needs Reform AMS ................................................................................................................... 134
Needless Prisoners AMS ......................................................................................................................... 134
Working in private prisons is demoralizing for prison staff. DAT ......................................................... 135
The turnover rate at private prisons is too high to maintain security in the system. DAT ..................... 136
Prison contracts incentivize recidivism and mass incarceration. DAT ................................................... 137
Corrupt Collaboration ..................................................................................................................................... 138
CCA Prisons Maintain Relevance through Congressional Influence AMS ........................................... 138
Union and Private Prisons Alliance AMS .............................................................................................. 139
Private prisons undermine the democratic principles of the criminal justice system. DAT ................... 140
Faulty Reporting on Private Prison System .................................................................................................... 141
Reality of Private Prisons Exposed AMS ............................................................................................... 141
Public Prisons Staff are not Paid Large Salaries ............................................................................................. 142
Costs in Prison System not a Result of Prison Staffing Salaries AMS ................................................... 142
Private prison staff are relatively underpaid and inexperienced, with disastrous results. DAT ............. 143
Private Prison Accreditation Is Meaningless .................................................................................................. 144
Even if a prison is accredited, it doesn’t necessarily follow procedures. DAT ...................................... 144
Con Counters ...................................................................................................................................................... 145
Private Prisons Do Not Promote Overcrowding ............................................................................................. 146
Private Prisons Do Not Cause Incarceration AMS ................................................................................. 146

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2011 Case Declares Need for Private Prisons AMS ............................................................................... 146
The Economic Savings Are Indisputable ........................................................................................................ 147
A decade’s worth of studies have a unanimous conclusion. DAT ......................................................... 147
Case study: Rural economic benefits from private prisons. DAT .......................................................... 148
Private Prison Conditions Aren’t Worse ........................................................................................................ 149
Overcrowding isn’t an issue. DAT ......................................................................................................... 149
The state ties the hands of private contractor. DAT ............................................................................... 150
Prisons’ Problems Trace Back to the Justice System ..................................................................................... 151
American incarceration rates are too high for prisons to keep up. DAT ................................................ 151
The state fails to set minimum standards for private prisons. DAT ....................................................... 152
Private Prisons and Legal Constraints ............................................................................................................ 153
Public and private prisoners alike have identical legal protections. DAT .............................................. 153
Private prisons’ lobbies do not dictate prison legislation. DAT ............................................................. 154
Contentions ......................................................................................................................................................... 155
Pro Case .......................................................................................................................................................... 156
Introduction: ................................................................................................................................................ 156
Contention One: Private Prisons Encourage Recidivism ............................................................................ 156
Contention Two: Costs ............................................................................................................................... 157
Contention Three: For-Profit Prisons Block Need for Reform ................................................................... 157
Con Case ......................................................................................................................................................... 158
Introduction: ................................................................................................................................................ 158
Contention 1: Private prisons aren’t deficient ............................................................................................ 158
Contention 2: Private prisons are an asset to the criminal justice system .................................................. 159
Contention 3: Private prisons enable reform .............................................................................................. 159

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December 2014 Note
A note
The abbreviations after our taglines (DAT, AMS, etc) are the initials of our authors.

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December 2014 Definitions
Definitions
Private prison as a service contractor. DAT
Lundahl, Brad et al. “Prison Privatization: A Meta-Analysis of Cost Effectiveness and
Quality of Confinement Indicators.” Utah Criminal Justice Center. University of
Utah. 26 April 2007. Accessed 11/10/2014. Web. http://ucjc.utah.edu/wp-
content/uploads/861.pdf
Brad Lundahl is an associate professor at the University of Utah’s College of Social Work.
Prison privatization involves a business contracting with a branch of the government to operate a prison facility.
Many of the large businesses operating prisons today are publicly traded companies (Chang & Thompkins,
2002). Private companies generally charge the government a daily rate per inmate to cover investment,
operating costs, and profit. Under this rate, private companies supply many or most of the services needed to
operate a prison system, including guards, staff, food, program costs, medical care (partial), and other services.
Private companies may also build new facilities without direct tax expenditures or public bonds (Lanza-Kaduce
et al., 1999).
This is different from what is technically considered privatization, wherein a business or industry dictates
the rules of their operation, in addition to building and managing the facilities.

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December 2014 History
History
Backgrounder on the public-private shift. DAT
Mitchell, Matthew. “The Pros of Privately-Housed Cons: New Evidence on the Cost
Savings of Private Prisons.” heartland.org. Rio Grande Foundation. March 2003.
Accessed 11/10/2014. Web.
http://heartland.org/sites/all/modules/custom/heartland_migration/files/pdfs/12247.
pdf
The Rio Grande Foundation is a New-Mexico-based research institute.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, public backlash against soft-on-crime policies delivered a generation of
tougher judges to the bench. Levitt noted in 1996 that “the incarceration rate in the United States has more than
tripled in the last two decades.”1 Federal and state criminal statutes—particularly those dealing with
drugs—were also strengthened and law enforcement budgets redoubled. Between 1982 and 1999, the
federal government increased its police expenditure by 485 percent ($35 to $40 billion dollars a year go to
the War on Drugs alone).2 Over the same period, states increased their police expenditures by 239
percent.3 Both trends out-paced inflation and overall growth in government spending by a wide margin.
The inevitable result was an explosion in the prison population. Between 1980 and 1999, the U.S. prison
population grew fifteen times faster than the population at large.4 By 1986, “all but seven states were operating
their prisons in excess of 95 percent capacity.”5
The overcrowded prisons begat quality lapses. In 1983, “Only about one-fifth of all state and federal prisons
were accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Corrections.”6 More seriously, courts began to
intervene, asserting that states’ old and crowded facilities violated the Constitution.
When in the early 1980s Tennessee’s entire correctional system was found unconstitutional, the state
considered contracting with a private firm. The firm, the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA),
had been incorporated in 1983 to contract with the Federal Immigration and Naturalization Service to
detain illegal immigrants pending hearings or deportation.7 Tennessee refused CCA’s offer. But not long
after, prison privatization began in earnest.
In 1985, Florida’s Bay County contracted with CCA to operate its jail. The next year, CCA contracted with
Santa Fe County, New Mexico to run its jail. By 1987, there were about 3,000 people held in private prisons
nationwide. This represented little over one half of one percent of the entire prison population.8 By 2001,
the private prison population had soared to over 91,000 inmates. Despite such rapid growth, only about
seven percent of all prisoners were in private custody in 2001.

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