If Gov. Bobby Jindal thinks private prisons are in any way a good idea, we need to lock him up and throw away the key.
Taking the control of prisons away from the state is a cheap move to make the government seem like it’s doing more than it actually is to reduce the budget deficit.
Proving even worse, the move would compromise Louisiana’s ethics — or what’s left of them.
Back in 2001, Louisiana — along with a few other states — placed a moratorium on the privatization of prisons at a time when the public, faced with a slew of scandals, effectively turned against the industry.
A conflict of interest is immediately apparent when state duties are outsourced to for-profit businesses. While state governments are (optimally) looking to act in the best interests of their constituencies, private industries are looking to make money.
Shocking, I know.
In the case of private prisons, the way to rake in a decent profit is to keep beds full, preferably by a majority of 95 percent or more.
So how do you make that happen?
By lobbying for tougher laws that result in more prisoners and longer sentences, for one.
And the private prison industry, as it turns out, is fantastic at lobbying.
Businesses such as the Corrections Corporation of America and the GEO Group have stakes in the American Legislative
Exchange Council, a “non-partisan” public policy organization that has effectively helped to implement many tough-on-crime state laws.
In addition to dealing with legislation, the industry is wracked with scandals and glaring inefficiencies. State-run prisons aren’t exactly bastions of virtuosity, either.
The businesses significantly lower the ratio of guards-to-prisoners to pay fewer salaries. Paired with poor job training, this factor may contribute to the high amount of escapees from private prisons.
On July 30, for example, three convicted murderers escaped from a private prison in Kingsman, Ariz.
GEO (formerly known as Wackenhut), one of the corporations making a bid to house Louisiana’s prisoners, has a dark history in Louisiana, where it previously ran a juvenile rehabilitation center in Jena that spun out of control, resulting in lawsuits and the suicide of a sexually abused female inmate.
In 2008, Mid-Atlantic Youth Services Corp. was found guilty of paying two judges in Pennsylvania $2.6 million to send 2,000 children to its prisons. The atrocity has been dubbed by the media as the “kids-for-cash” scandal.
Despite the fact that grand-scale corruption is overwhelming, some seem to think we can legitimize the scheme because of our financial straits.
Maybe we’re in a bit of a bind here, Jindal, but that doesn’t mean we have to sink so low.
Or be so stupid.
As it turns out, any financial benefits are felt only by the
corporations, not the taxpayers.
A 2005 study by researchers of Private Corrections Institute Inc. showed the Arizona state budget for prisons actually
increased because of the introduction of private prisons. In 1999, an evaluation made of other studies conducted by the University of Utah showed the cost-benefit is nil.
As of right now, the only possible thing privatization could bring to the table is a quick influx of cash — about $100 million for the two prisons on sale, according to the Times-Picayune.
But the long-term cost of privatizing prisons is risky at best and could outweigh the short-term benefits. The transition from paying $31.51 per capita daily (the current state expenditure) to paying $33.55 (the lowest price offered as of press time) for the next 20 years (the time limit for the contract) has the real possibility of becoming a burden.
If conditions remain the same, the overall profit at the end of the contract ($21 million) would be a fraction of the original value.
But that’s incredibly unlikely. Recently, the Department of Justice issued a study saying prison populations in Louisiana are growing. The trend is clear — in the past 20 years, they’ve grown by an incredible 130 percent.
To completely eradicate the profit, the prison population only needs to grow by 28 percent, or 1,418 people.
Suddenly, the whole business is looking less promising by the second.
As such, any chances of the initiative raking in any financial benefits are looking slim — but who’s to say some company won’t come along with a slimier smile and a cheaper price tag?
Whether the numbers turn in our favor or not, privatization of prisons shouldn’t be an option.
Compromising Louisiana’s ethics is not the solution to fixing our money problems.
Macy Linton is a 19-year-old international studies freshman from Memphis, Tenn. Follow her on Twitter @TDR_Mlinton.