Private prisons: Less safe, less effective with questionable savings
When the U.S. Justice Department announced its plan to phase out the use of private prisons, it confirmed what critics have long known and many states are just beginning to comprehend: It doesn't pay to put this vital government function into the hands of profit-making ventures.
Private prisons "compare poorly" to those operated by the federal Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department said in a recent memo. "They simply do not provide the same level of correctional services, programs, and resources; they do not save substantially on costs; and … they do not maintain the same level of safety and security."
Less safe, less effective and questionable savings.
That's hardly a winning slogan for an industry. But there's a solid body of research to back up the Justice Department's assertion.
