For Profit Prison Essay

The Problem with For-Profit Prison Private or for profit prisons are facilities that are contracted with the local, state or federal government to operate correctional facilities. In the 1980’s President Reagan said that government was the problem and proposed privatizing many institutions (Selman & Leighton, 2010). According to the American Civil Liberties Union, currently about 6% of state prisoners and 16% of federal inmates are in a privatized institutions. The most common argument in favor of for-profit prisons is that private industry is far more efficient than government and thus can operate facilities more more cheaply than the government. This theory does not always prove to be true and in addition, privatized correctional institutions have other significant issues, including questions of propriety, quality, incentives for initial and continued incarceration and potential for corruption. …show more content…
Does a private institution have the right to hold an American Citizen against their will. This can be both a moral and a legal argument. The laws of the United States are established by elected officials and are to be enforced by government officials. Should those officials be able to turn over their authority for enforcing laws to a private institution. These for-profit corporations are normally operated by a board of directors and are not subject to the will of the voters as would be an elected official. Therefore, the private institutions are somewhat protected from the citizens who voted for those who make and enforce laws. While some may argue that it is legal to turn over the authority for incarceration, it is curious that the ability to carry out the death penalty is not allowed in any private institutions in the country. If the practice is morally and legally acceptable, why would private institutions be afforded all of the tools available to public