The Cost of Incarceration

By: Brian Flomer

Elizabeth Kent
English Comp II
4/21/2016

Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Graph of Private Prisons vs. Public
Prisons
3. Diary of an Inmate
4. Obituary of an Inmate
5. Letter to the State
6. Travel Brochure to Prison
7. Timeline of Private Prisons in the
United States
8. Speech to the Public
9. Annotated Bibliography

Introduction
What is the cost of a persons imprisonment? Is it morally acceptable to sell off
the responsibility of a human beings confinement? Private prisons have been an
issue in America, as well as in the rest of the world for a very long time. It is often
heavily debated about, and many protests have been organized to stop the
private prison system. Although many different types of people have addressed
the issue, and try to increase the publics knowledge of the prisons, many people
have no clue what the difference between private and public prisons, or why they
have been steadily becoming more and more popular. There are many different
viewpoints on private prisons, some are in favor of them, and others criticize the
entire private prison system. Whatever it is that you choose to believe on the
issue, it is important to at least use critical thinking and reason so that you make
an informed decision. Arguments against the private prison and the rapidness
that they are increasing in the United States have been around for over 40 years.
The issue has been around for a very long time, and even with protests and
debates, nothing has been done to stop or slow down at how the private prison
system works. The majority of people are uninformed on the issue of private
prisons, and how they affect the lives of prisoners, the prisoners family, and
everyday citizens.

Private Prisons vs. Public Prisons

Private Prisons
140,000
120,000
100,000
80,000

Number of Prisoners

60,000
40,000
20,000
0
1990

2009

Axis Title
Private

Public
1,800,000
1,600,000
1,400,000
1,200,000
1,000,000
800,000
600,000
400,000
200,000
0
1990

2009
Public

(Stephan) (West)

The graph above shows a massive increase in the population of both public and private prisons.
According to the information given by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, there has been a bigger
percent increase between the private prison population vs the private prison population.
(Stephan)(West). This is because there has been an increase in the amount of private prison
facilities in the United States, as well as an increase in total prison population, according to
Michael Brickner (p6). According to David Shapiro of the American Civil Liberties Union, with
the increase of population of prisoners, many states decided to invest in private prisons due to
lack of funds (pg 6). This graph help illustrates the current issue America faces concerning
private prison facilities. It also helps to show that the private prison system is becoming more
common than using public prisons. The graph gives the audience a visual aid so that it is easy to
see the difference between the increase of public prisoners, and the increase of private prisoners.

Diary of an Inmate
John Terra
4/20/2016
Dear Diary,
It has currently been three full years since I was first imprisoned to Montgomerys
private prison system for a misdemeanor drug charge. Apparently, many of the people
locked up in here with me are facing similar charges (Lippke p10). It sickens me to see
people who simply made one bad decision, have their whole life completely effected.
Looking back, I realize what I did was wrong, but it couldve just as well have been
anyone. Every year, I see these young boys, some just barely 18 years old with minor
charges, thrown in this harsh environment with murders and rapists. Its disgusting to
me to see the way that are state treats its citizens. Day after day, I see these innocent
people turn into animals and complete savages just because of the environment that
they are in. I just wish that people had a better understanding of how prison actually
changes people. Ultimately, I dont think that its necessarily their fault. I feel like if any
well-respected individual was thrown into such an animalistic environment he would do
the same. Ive come to realize that in prison, its either adapt or die. The worst part of it
is, my prison term shouldnt have lasted this long. Honestly, I dont think I should have
had as long of a term has originally sentenced. To me, it seems that being in a private
prison made my term longer than if I had been in a public one (Sanburn p1). Ive made
many friends and enemies throughout the time I have spent locked up. Some of those
enemies really seem violent, and it kind of scares me. Ive been trying my best to stay

out of trouble and just keep to myself, but in here conflict is sometimes unavoidable. I
just hope I can find a way to handle the situation without it escalating and someone
getting hurt. I am hoping to be able to write my mom a letter tomorrow night just to let
her know that I am alright and that Ive been really trying to become a better person
despite the situation that I am in. Somehow, if she has found a way to forgive me for my
mistakes, then others will be too. Its about to be lights out. Hopefully tomorrow will be
better.

Obituary of an Inmate
Inmate dies, John
Terra, age 25,
found dead

chaos of the riot, John Terra

convict. (Brickner p12). After

was repeatedly struck in the

many police investigations, no

head by several other inmates,

evidence to support the claim

whose names are still

was ever found and the

unknown. The warden says

allegations were dismissed.

that he and the guards did the

The death of John Terra has

best to handle the situation

much of the public in uproar

and followed all protocols in

regarding the conditions of

place (Brickner p18). Its

private prisons, especially as

unfortunate, said the Warden,

taxpayers (Brickner p23).

but death is almost inevitable

John Terras funeral will be on

in a prison riot.

Saturday, April 23 at

John Terra was a college

Montgomery Central Cemetery.

student prior to his conviction.

The visitation will be on

His trial was well-known and

Saturday at 3:00 P.M. at New

very controversial due to the

Church of Montgomery. All

amount of time he was

friends and family are welcome

sentenced, despite having no

to mourn the loss of this

priors. Many people feared

memorable young man.

John Terra, age 25, was found dead

on Thursday afternoon. Terra was a
prisoner at Montgomerys private
prison and was currently serving five
years for a drug possession charge.
Terra had currently completed three
of his five years the day before his
death. The cause of his death has
been attributed to blunt force trauma
to the head according to the
Montgomery Coroner. According to
reports from the Warden of the
prison, a riot broke out at
approximately 4:25 P.M. on Thursday
that the judge was paid by

-Brian Flomer

Afternoon. Among the

private prison officials to

4/22/2016

wrongfully

Letter to the State

April 25, 2016
To the State of Alabama:

My name is Isabella Terra. I am the mother of John Terra, the boy who was killed last
week in the Montgomery Private Prison. I am writing you today to urge you to eliminate
private prisons from the state. My son meant the world to me, and you took him away
from me. When he passed, I received his diary. In his last entry, a night before he died,
he wrote about how skeptical he was about the private prison system. Though he may
be gone from this world, I am hoping that his death will have some meaning and at least
start a change. I have decided to write this letter in hopes that you will hear me out.

After my sons death, I decided to learn more about the private prison system to see if
there could have been a difference if he was in a public one. I discovered many different
things. One, Most states hire private prisons to save money. However, While some
research supports such a view, numerous other studies and reports have indicated that
private prisons do not save money, cannot be demonstrated to save money in
meaningful amounts, or may even cost more than governmentally operated prisons
(Shapiro pg20). This really bothers me because from my research, it seems that there
really isnt a good reason to have private prisons to begin with. Two, I have found that
The results of the research addressing the quality of confinement are mixed. In some
studies the private prison faired worse in the domain, whereas in others it outperformed
the public prison (Perrone pg307).

Lastly, I plead to you to please open up a police investigation into the guards and the
Warden himself. It is their jobs to keep the inmates safe, and if there was a way my
sons death could have been avoided then I want to know.

Thank you for your time,

-Isabella Terra

Travel Brochure to Prison

Private Prisons: The Place to Go!

Reasons to come:
1. Usually in small towns that depend on us for employment! Help someone get a job (Anderson pg
14)
2. Employees here are better than public-funded ones! (Anderson pg 13)
3. More friends for you! COMING SOON! Still, such private facilities are growing at four times the
rate of state facilities (Lippke p1).

Speech to the Public

Dear Citizens of Montgomery,
It has been brought to my attention that the death of inmate John Terra from the
Montgomery Private Prison has outraged many of you. I wanted to ensure all of you that
myself, as well as the fine men and women of the Montgomery Police Department are
working vigorously to catch all of those involved. As Michael Brickner has once said, As
with any government function, there must be accountability to ensure nothing unethical
or illegal occurs (p26).
I am also aware that many of you are having doubts about the private prison
system in general, and have even started a petition to prohibit private prison facilities in
this state. I have currently signed this petition and agree with many of your points.
However, there is not much that I can do to change the current system that is in place. I
truly believe that although Public prisons also have their shortcomings, the very
nature of private prisons will lead to instability in prison facilities and further overincarceration (Brickner p23).
In the last fifteen years, we have witnessed an unprecedented increase in the
rate of incarceration in this country (Lippke p9). There needs to be a change in the
current way that our government operates or else the prison population will just continue
to rise. We, as citizens, need to use our right of free speech to address these issues in
a peaceful way so that hopefully we can make a difference for the young men and
women that are constantly being jailed for minor offenses.

In closing, I would suggest any of you that feels the same to visit the courthouse
to sign the petition. I wish you all the best, and thank you for your time.
-Mayor

Timeline of Private Prisons

1983: First
private prison
opens, holding
350 inmates
(Beiser p1)

1990: 7,771
prisoners in
private prisons
(Stephan)

2009: 129,336
prisoners in
private prisons
(West)

Early 2012: Corrections

Corporation of America, the
largest private prison
operator in the United States,
sent a letter to officials in 48
states announcing its $250million business plan to
purchase and manage local,
state and federal prisons

2010: Annual Revenues at

two top private prison
companies alone stood at
nearly $3 Billion (Shapiro pg
10)

The private prison system opened in 1983, holding only 350 inmates (Beiser p1). Fast
forward seven years to 1990, and now there are nearly 7,771 prisons incarcerated in
private prisons (Stephan). That is a 2,120% increase of private prisoners in only a small
amount of time. In 2009, there were 129,336 prisons incarcerated in private prisons
(West). This would be a 36,853% increase of prisons over the course of 26 years.

Annotated Bibliography
Anderson, George M. "Prisons for Profit." America 183.16 (2000): 12. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

Beiser, Vince. "Jailing For Dollars." New Leader 80.8 (1997): 10. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

Brickner, Michael, and Shakyra Diaz. "Prisons For Profit Incarceration For Sale."
Human Rights 38.3 (2011): 14-17. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Feb.
2016.

"Conflict of Interest." Editorial. America 07 Jan. 2013: Print.

Lippke, Richard L. "Thinking About Private Prisons." Criminal Justice Ethics 16.1
(1997): 26. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

Perrone, Dina, and Travis C. Pratt. "Comparing the quality of confinement and costeffectiveness of public versus private prisons: What we know, why we do not
know more, and where to go from here." The Prison Journal 83.3 (2003): 301322.

Sanburn, Josh. "Privately-Run Prisons Hold Inmates Longer, Study Finds. Time 19
June 2015: Print.

Shapiro, David. "Banking on Bondage: Private Prisons and Mass Incarceration." ACLU.
American Civil Liberties Union, 2 Nov. 2011. Web. 8 Mar. 2016.

Stephan, James J. Census of State and Federal Correctional Facilities, 1995.

Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1997. Print.

West, Heather C. Prisoners at Yearend 2009 Advance Counts. Washington, DC: U.S.
Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2010.
Print.