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PRISON PRIVATIZATION.   Term Paper ID:22175 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Pros & cons, economic & human aspects, background, reasons for, prisoner rights, corporate issues, public safety.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Pros & cons, economic & human aspects, background, reasons for, prisoner rights, corporate issues, public safety. Paper Introduction: The purpose of this research is to examine the issues surrounding prison privatization in the modern period. The plan of the research will be to set forth the context in which the practice of running prisons for profit has arisen from the 1980s to the current period and then to discuss such related matters as corporate takeovers of prison systems and key implications of the sharing of public- and private-sector jurisdiction over incarceration of criminals. The modern American penal system took shape because of reformist efforts of Philadelphia Quakers: "Before there were prisons, serious crimes were almost always redressed by corporal or capital punishment. . . . Jails existed, but primarily for pretrial detention. The closest thing to the modern prison was the workhouse a place of hard labor almost exclusively for minor Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Meanwhile, Ring (1987, p. This view is echoed by others.Seligman (1992, p. As a side issue, Lemov cautions against the potential for theentrenchment of monopolistic private prison-facilities managementcontractors and raises the specter of uncertainty regarding where ultimateresponsibility for prisoner/public security and personal liability claimsmight lie. Butmanagement of "relatively high-security facilities," such as juveniledetention centers in Pennsylvania and Florida, has been turned over toprivate concerns (Brakel, 1989, p. of America in Tennessee in 1985. F1). . (1992a, December). Financial Times, p. BritishJournal of Criminology, 35, pp. 113) reviews what he calls the "corporate context" ofprison privatization, noting that private management of hitherto publicpenal institutions has emerged with reference to management companies, bothprivately held and publicly traded, that have been formed for the expresspurpose of engaging in the enterprise of penal management. E. Forbes,154, 82-3. R. New Republic, 192, 1 -12.----------------------- 1 16 Hard cell. Controversy surrounds the privatization of prison management that hasoccurred in recent years, from a variety of sources. (1992, June 29). [On-line]. (1992, November 13). Solitaryconfinement on one hand and confinement of all prisoners in common and ill-maintained living spaces on the other produced squalid, overcrowdedconditions. C. Immigration and NaturalizationService starts deporting Romanian stowaways. Making crime pay. (1995b, March 8). C. 92).Philadelphia's Walnut Street Prison, established in 179 , was America'sfirst prison as the term is commonly understood today and became the modelfor prisons throughout the country and around the world. Wall Street Journal, p. Davidson, M. The plan of the research will beto set forth the context in which the practice of running prisons forprofit has arisen from the 198 s to the current period and then to discusssuch related matters as corporate takeovers of prison systems and keyimplications of the sharing of public- and private-sector jurisdiction overincarceration of criminals. Issues andanswers: prison administrators' responses to controversies surroundingprivatization. Tumim's criticisms unlikely to delayprison privatisation. McDonald (1994) says that the key issues involved in transferringprison management from the public to the private sector include the need toprotect prisoners' rights, ensuring an adequately competitive playing fieldbetween well-established and prospective contractors, and enforcement ofimpartial procurement-bid procedures. Actual management of prisonsfor the most part remains in public hands" (Ring, 1987, p. The purpose of this research is to examine the issues surroundingprison privatization in the modern period. Nearly 48 percent say that private-sectormanagement would lead to public-sector innovation, while nearly 23 percentdisagree. This idearepresents a return to the 19th-century form of private participation inprison administration, when "inmate labor was often leased to privatecontractors. The 197 s and 198 s saw reformist efforts to improveovercrowding, curb inmate violence, and prevent official policies ofphysical abuse of inmates. 2 ). Theview is that the electorate simply will not support the amplification ofpublicly (i.e., tax) funded prison construction, improvements, ormanagement even though, absent privatization, one key alternative to prisonfacilities maintenance is early release of convicted criminals. As events have unfolded since the mid-198 s, the tone and emphasis ofthe debate has changed. McDonald, D. (1994, August 14). Shichor's view (1993, passim), which is ultimately in the nature of acautionary tale, is that the management and organizational structure ofprivatized punishment institutions should be closely scrutinized, not onlyfrom the standpoint of the integrity of the relevant corporate cultures butalso from the legal and ethical points of view. (1987, May 8). The principal public-policy aspect of the debate turns on whether economic benefits of privatelyadministered prisons either can or should outweigh issues of whetherprivate management contractors can provide sufficient security for publicsafety on one hand and fair and equitable treatment of inmates on theother. Platt (1994) contends that, in the 199 s, attitudes toward thepolitics of law-and-order issues, including a generalized preoccupationwith the criminal justice system, have had the effect of altering the veryfoundation of prison-system debate. The closest thing to themodern prison was the workhouse a place of hard labor almost exclusivelyfor minor offenders, derelicts, and vagrants" (Pray, 1987, p. A24), who callsthe record of privately managed prisons "good" and who says that prisoner-rights and liability issues are embedded into any management contract.However, Lelyveld (1994) cites a case brought by the American CivilLiberties Union, which argued that Romanian stowaways held and thendeported by the United States Immigration & Naturalization Service inSnyder County Prison, Pennsylvania, were denied due process because theprison was managed not by the United States or the state of Pennsylvaniabut by Sea-Land, a private company. T., & Leone, M. D., & McConville, S. (1994, Fall). Thomas, C. Prison privatization proves a profitable toolfor locking up prisoners. Ring, C. A24). That argument is rejected by Brakel (1989, p. For example, Walzer (1985)questioned with suspicion the moral and ethical integrity of a criminaljustice system in which the legal status of prisoners was framed in termsof economics. A surefire growth business. of Coral Gables, Florida, is a privately heldcorrections-management subsidiary of publicly traded Wackenhut Corp., basedin the same city. Journal of Social, Political and Economic Studies, 19, 2 7-44. NCM'sannual sales are reportedly $1.5 million as of March 1993 (IAC, 1993).Wackenhut Corrections Corp. . (1995). Its low price meant a valuable competitive advantage, and theawarding of contracts for it unavoidably invited graft and corruption. 82, 83) says that the California Prison Authority loses more money thanits private-sector counterparts, owing to so-called hidden costs ofadministration, on convict-labor programs for which it has guaranteedmarkets and for which it pays below minimum wage. The parent company, reportedly grossing $747.6 millionannually, was founded in 1954 as a security guard service and food-serviceprovider to jails and prisons; the subsidiary was founded in the 198 s andgrosses $37. Seligman, D. Dunn, A. Privatizing America's prisons, slowly.New York Times, 143, F1. (1994, Annual). (1994, December 29). Pray explains thatconditions at Walnut deteriorated between 179 and 182 . O. (1993, June 22). Similarly, Thomas (1992,p. As of the mid-199 s, some data suggestthat risks as well as rewards are associated with privatization. In the mid-198 s, some corporate proposals for privately fundedconstruction and management of maximum-security prisons went down todefeat, one in Pennsylvania by Buckingham Security Co. The American Civil Liberties Union'ssuit against the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Pennsylvaniagoes to issues of constitutional guarantees mandated by government butincreasingly administered by private institutions, and how the protectionsof due process are to be construed. Available Internet:USC Gopher. However, sources disagree on the proper emphases of analysis as wellas on the proper conclusions to be drawn regarding prison privatization. American City& County, 11 , 26. W. Lemov, P. Somestates began to restrict the use of inmate labor by the mid-184 s" (Pray,1987, p. . National Corrections Management, a facilities management firm basedin Wellington, Florida, is a privately held subsidiary of RMS Technology,an engineering software developer with $15 million in annual sales. Inthe mid-198 s, when a number of private corrections-management corporationswere formed, the debate over prison privatization was largely framed interms of threats to the civil rights of inmates. (1993, March). (1993, September). (1987). Los Angeles Times, p. Nadel, B. 29) reviews the emergence in the 198 s in theUnited Kingdom, Australia, and the United States of what he refers to as aprison-management industry, owing chiefly to the need of governments tosave money, make prisons function more efficiently, and ease the problemsof overcrowded prisons. (1995, Jan.). . . Munk (1994,pp. That point appears to have been confirmedby the corporate history of a variety of private-sector organizationsengaging in prison management. Government Union Review, 15, 1-55. ChristianScience Monitor, 87, 1. At this writing, the direction andscope of civil-liberties cases involving private management of prisons isunclear. Using the private sector to detercrime. Walzer, M.(1985, April 8). Meanwhile, Dallos reports that prison-industry insiders seesprivatization of prison management as a cost-saving strategy of publicadministration at local, state, and federal levels (1991, p. . Gottfredson, S. Writing in 1989, Brakel notes that many smaller, decentralized jailfacilities have been managed by private-sector firms since the early 198 s.He cites a number of major correctional facilities under privatemanagement, arguing that private-sector management practices are more cost-efficient than their public-sector counterparts. In July 1994, it reported an annualgross revenue figure of $14 million (IAC, 1995). This summary is consistent with otheranalyses that identify key policy issues of privatized prison management. Accordingly, reformist efforts became directed at improvementof standards and practices affecting prisoners' nutritional, disciplinary,and hygienic well-being. (1995, March 21). Reynolds, M. But the currenttrend is toward privatization, with issues of public policy far more anaspect of business opportunity and profit potential than the other wayaround. Privatization gets a new chance withcash-short governments. Along the same lines,Lemov (1993, p. Corporate context of private prisons.Crime Law and Social Change, 2 , 113-138. Robinson and Wilson (1994)analyze corrections-related service contracts in Massachusetts, noting thedifficulty of enforcing appropriate standards and practices in regard tosuch peripheral services as hospital care, nutrition and diet, and housing,and suggesting that there is some risk in turning public-sector servicesover to private-sector management. At McPrison and Burglar King, it's . The risk of such discretion is also implied inDavidson's (1994) report of prison riots at facilities in Eloy, Arizona,apparently caused in part by poor staff training and excessive cost cuttingon the part of prison management. McDonald (1994, p. 2 . Prison Journal, 72, 57-77. Schuman, M. Do private prisons work? Shichor, D. Economist, 329, 64-5. Robinson, M., & Wilson, S. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. By 1993, Ferguson would argue that privatization ofpublic services, including prison management, is essential, because public-service resources are so strained that public safety is threatened. AvailableInternet:USC Gopher. (1989, March 21). million. Standard & Poor's Corporate Register. Munk, N. British Journal of Criminology, 34, 29-48. More recently, a riot by illegalimmigrants at a New York jail managed privately made news in part becauseof the management's private-sector status (Dunn, 1995, p. Brakel, S. For example, the 1 most frequentlycontracted services are medical and mental health, community treatmentcenters, construction, education, drug treatment, college programs, stafftraining, vocational training and counseling. Private prisons need a fair trial. Ramirez, A. 2 8-9, et passim), declaring that the Americancriminal justice system has failed to lessen the incidence of crime, arguesthat privatized contracting of prison-related services can effect such anoutcome. [On-line]. Putting a lock on prison costs. in 1984, andanother by Corrections Corp. (1993, May). Kinkade, P. While as a group such administrators favor private-companyinvolvement in prison management, they are less unanimous in the publicbenefit of such involvement. Some are stand-alone headquarters companies, while others are subsidiaries of parentcompanies. 34-62. Containing prison costs throughprivatization. Jailhouse, Inc. (1995a, February 1). AvailableCompuServe: Knowledge Index: 12 75. (1993, November 2 ). (1993, March 8). Moyle, P. A24. (1995, Winter). Company chairman says length of stayscaused revolt at immigration jail. In particular, Reynolds argues a connection between penalefficiency and privatization of traditionally public services, suggestingthat private security firms could be used for nonemergency policefunctions, that prison labor could be diverted to the private sector, andthat prison construction contracts could be entirely privatized. American City & County, 1 8, 32-3. America'scorrectional crisis: prison populations and public policy. 34; 5 -55) cites the weak collectivebargaining and policy-making position of support staff at privately managedfacilities in Australia as a source of corporate-culture tension. C. (1993, September). (1994, Winter). Adonis(1995a, p. . However, public dismay over brutality towardprisoners, which had spurred creation of the Walnut Street Prison, had beentransformed into "a get-tough backlash . in the 196 s" (Pray, 1987, p.1 1). Nashville, Tennessee-basedCorrections Corp of America, started in 1983, is publicly traded on theNASDAQ and reported $12 .71 million in sales of prison and detentionfacilities construction and management support services (Standard & Poor's,1995). D3. WallStreet Journal, p. M. Adonis, A. Vath, S. Jailsexisted, but primarily for pretrial detention. (1994, September 29). Governing, 6, 44-9. Undoubtedly, the size of the American prison-management industry,which increased dramatically in the 198 s and persists into the 199 s.Shichor (1993, p. A15. (1992a, Winter-Spring). Ferguson, T. In the mid-198 s, performance data and issues of accountability andcost savings were just emerging. D3).Constraints on public-sector budgets, particularly at local governmentlevels, are cited as a major factor of prison-management privatization.Ring (1987) and Brakel (1989) cite cost controls as a significant positivereason for contracting out larger as well as smaller federal, state, andlocal corrections facilities and services to prison-management companies.Ring observes that, by and large, private-sector contracting services havehistorically been "peripheral. 26) suggests that privatization is a critical featureof economic planning and prison administration in the current period,partly as a feature of public-sector cost cutting and partly as a featureof demand and capacity. K., & Shichor, D. Captive labor, captive markets. IAC company profile. Journal of Commerce andCommercial, 4 1, 1A. In two separate articles, Kinkade and Leone (1992a & 1992b) discuss asurvey of more than 6 American prison administrators, they report thatthe administrators agree that the principal benefit of privatized prisonsis economic but that opinion is divided on the issue of public-policybenefits. 111-112) says that private prison managers could buildand staff prisons less expensively than government entities. IAC company profile. Privatization ofprisons: The wardens' views. The modern American penal system took shape because of reformistefforts of Philadelphia Quakers: "Before there were prisons, serious crimeswere almost always redressed by corporal or capital punishment. Platt, A. Give private firms a greater role.Wall Street Journal, p. hold thejustice. J. This view argues thatthe anticipated strain on budgets essentially obliges local governments toconsider the cost-related benefits of public-private partnerships in thematter of corrections management. Kinkade, P. From the 184 s to the 196 s, rehabilitation, probation, and paroleprograms found their way into the penal system and dominated penalphilosophy. Reynolds (1994, pp. Nadel (1995, p. He notes that the number of prisoners held inAmerican jails and prisons reached approximately one million in the mid-199 s and is expected to increase as time goes on, and he says that prisonadministration costs more than $31 billion a year. (1995, June 21). 64-5). W. 985) says privatization of corrections facilities management could saveup to 25 percent of capital investment costs and up to 15 percent inoperating costs; enabling legislation is the only significant obstacle toimplementation of cost-efficient practices in states where privatization offacilities management has not occurred. 8. 1 . 81-2). T., & Leone, M. Moyle (1995, p. Pray, R. Privatization inMassachusetts: getting results. The principal difficulty inMassachusetts appears to have been that private managers had a good deal ofdiscretion in determining what constituted adequate nutrition, recreation,and health care for inmates. Dallos, R. The steady increase in the prison population, together with publicdemands for incarceration of criminals, has been confirmed by other sources(Vath, 1993). New York Times, A15. 7-9). (Eds.). 45) cites figures showing that, between 1973 and 1993,spending by state prison administrative bodies has exceeded the rate ofinflation. [On-line]. More generally, McDonald makes the point thatmanagement practices presumed to be more efficient in the private than thepublic sector have served as the basis for transferring a whole range ofpublic services to private firms. Labour vows to halt prisonsprivatisation. As the New York Times puts it: "despite a checkered past, thefuture is looking brighter for the private prison industry" (Ramirez, 1994,p. Another subsidiary, founded in 1965, is WackenhutServices Inc., in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is a federal and municipalcontractor of emergency public services such as firefighting, armored cartransport, and security-guard services. Corrections goespublic (and private) in California. Forbes,155, 81-2. A15). (1991, June 16). Lelyveld, M. 8) gives an account of a scandal over lax enforcement ofsuitable living and working conditions in the privately administeredBritish prison Blakenhurst, while noting the British Labour Party'sintention to make prison privatization a political issue. (1994, August 29). Public safety poses danger totaxpayers. Financial Times, p. (1994, Summer). 96). T. Public imprisonment by private means:The emergence of private prisons and jails in the United States, the UnitedKingdom, and Australia. Thus, the issue ofpenal administration, which has come more strongly to the fore over thesame period, has become politicized in various ways. 2 ) rejected arguments bemoaning "aDickensesque picture of institutions in which criminals are locked up andthen forgotten" as "overwrought." As well, according to Ring, privatizedcorrectional services could respond "more easily" than their publiccounterparts to the "changing needs" of prison capacity or service levels.As to the issue of inmate abuse, Ring's view is that "private prisonoperators will be held accountable to the same constitutional standards astheir public counterparts" (p. For example, Esmor Correctional Services Inc., based inMelville, New York, is a NASDAQ-traded stand-alone company founded in 1994,with annual revenues of $23 million from its eight private detentionfacilities (Schuman, 1995, pp. Fortune, 125, 111-12. In theUnited Kingdom, where prison privatization parallels that of the UnitedStates, corporate labor disputes have the potential to conflict with publicfunding of prison budgets (Shichor, 1993, pp. 125-6, et passim; Hard cell,1993, pp. Politics of law and order. References Adonis, A. CQ Researcher, 2, 985. In the prison industry's bright future, it seems the fate of the fateof the prisoners themselves to be overlooked, at least in the near term. This suggests that private-sector involvement in the prisonindustry does not by itself guarantee industry success. Aslong as the principal focus of discussion is the prison business as abusiness, the vicissitudes of prison life appear far more likely to bediscussed in terms of corporate culture, profit-and-loss statements, andbottom lines than in traditional prison-culture terms. Federal Probation, 56, 58-65. 2 ). Sechrest, D. (1995, January 16). Federal Probation, 57, 3-8. Additionally, charges of racial and economic discriminationin the disposition of criminal cases by the traditional prisonestablishment have increased (Platt, 1994, pp. Platt takes the position that, althoughthe overall crime rate declined from 197 to 199 , the prison populationover the same period increased. (1987, July/August) How did our prisons get that way?American Heritage, 38, 92-1 1. Social Justice,21, 3-13. Private prison research in Queensland,Australia--a case-study of Borallon Correctional Center, 1991. 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