Privatization of the Justice System

Omar Hill
DeVry University

Privatization of the Justice System

It is a major epidemic which is spreading through the cities, yet time and time again
government officials claim it is safe, efficient, and saves taxpayers money. The topic is the turning
public serves into private business. The taxpayer becomes the client, the product is people, each one
worth a certain amount in which a business is given the authority over. This is the privatization of the
Justice System. The leasing out its responsibility in doing by the government in a way to lower the
costs. This paper will review several articles in order to determine if the costs are significantly lower
and if the care is the equivalent to those by the government. It is not the goal of this paper to question
the morality of the state placing corporations in charge of its citizens.
One of the first considerations is the cost. This is not to say cost is more important than the
treatment of others. It is due to the fact that cost impacts how inmates in the prison system are treated.
As such we will begin with establishing the costs for private prisons and move to the subject of the
costs of private prisons. Fundamentally the private and public are of a difference of opinions on this
subject. The private sector desires to reduce its operational costs to increase its profits. The public
sector desires to lower its costs. The two statements seem similar, however each side attempts to shift
the costs of running a prison to the other. The public hires the private sector to lower its costs while the
private sector shifts the costs of operations to the public to lower its costs.
One article Apples-to-Fish: Public and Private Prison Comparisons. while analyzing costs it
seeks to define what the term savings means by stating, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA),
made $300.8 million in net profit on gross revenue of $1.69 billion.1 Thus, the company achieved
$300.8 million in savings over operational expenses at its prisons, jails, and other detention facilities.
(Fieldman, 2014, pg 504) This establishes that private prisons are paid a great deal of money and are
profitable. This is to be expected as they are a business their purpose is to create a profit. This by itself

Privatization of the Justice System

is not improper, however it is reasonable to say if a structure allows the savings of a little more than
300 million dollars than a publicly owned prison with the same structure could have saved tax payers
that amount of money rather than being paid into the pockets of the shareholders.
Further complicating the matter are several studies which question if the States with Private
Prisons actually saved money at all. a 2010 report by Arizonas Office of the Auditor General, based
on data from the Department of Corrections, noted that privately-operated prisons were actually more
expensive than their public counterparts (page 508) and Policy Matters Ohio estimated that for the
2006-2007 biennium, prison privatization actually cost the state between $380,000 and $700,000 per
year... (pg 515) Even acknowledging that different States have different savings requirements, saving
1.2% fails to meet any saving requirements, and increasing the cost is not the stated purpose of
privatizing prisons.
The reports mentioned above does not go into detail of a mention of the costs involved. As
mentioned previously in the article there is a shift of cost between the State and the Prisons they
contract. It is possible that some of these shifts in costs between State and Corporation results in the
miscalculations of prison costs. Costs which are shifted to the burden of the State are medical expenses,
prisoners being paid for doing work within the prisons.
While cost of running correctional facilities are important, in the discussion, the results of those
who move through the prison system are equally important. The purpose of the prison system is not
vengeance, but to assist those who break the law into becoming productive members of society. The
ultimate goal is not to punish, but to rehabilitate. In the article Organizing Prions Through Public
Private Partnerships examines this by focusing on (a) recidivism rates; (b) safety and order indicators
(deaths, assaults, escapes, riots, etc.); (c) services offered to inmates (food, medical and legal

Privatization of the Justice System

assistance, rehabilitation services, etc.) (S. Cabral, S. Saussier, n.d., pg 106). These are the factors
that determine the care for prisoners along with the success of sentences. If an inmate ceases to
commit crimes once released than it is reasonable to state that they are rehabilitated.
In the State of Florida research was done on the topic of cost and if prisoners will return to the
system once they have served their times the report stated for-profit facilities led to cost reduction and
a statistically significant increase in recidivism. (pg 106). This is a failure of the private prison system
as the goal of the prison system is not to house prisoners, release prisoners, and then house them again.
This would be a success for the private corporations having returning business, yet it is not the
continuing goal of taxpayers to pay for the inefficient methods of private prisons. The previous
statement may be made due to the comparison of private prisons recidivism rates against those of the
public.
A reason for this may be found in the services offered within the prisons. The authors of the
article seem to be in agreement with this line of thought stating, ...public prisons seemed more
efficient in preventing escapes and providing a broader range of treatment, recreation, social services
and other services to inmates. (pg 105). It is these services and programs in which define the prison
system. If the prison system exists simply to hold prisoners until release then the consequences are
prisoners are more likely to return to the prison system costing taxpayers more money. On the other
hand when inmates are given the chance to improve there is far less chance for them to return to prison.
Cost and care are the most important components of the correctional process. While there are
some reports which report a slight decrease in cost there are others which correct the errors in the
projected cost savings results in costing the state more. In addition to this the overall goal of prisoners
reintegrating into society is not achieved. Privately owned prisons have a greater recidivism rate

Privatization of the Justice System

resulting in a failure of the correction system.

Privatization of the Justice System

Reference List
Friedmann, Alex. (2014).Apples-to-Fish: Public and Private Prison Comparisons. Fordham Urban Law
Journal, Vol. 42 Issue 2, p503-568.
Sandro Cabral; Stphane Saussier. (2013). In: BAR : Brazilian Administration Review, Vol. 10, Issue 1,
p.100