America's prisons hold 1.9 million prisoners, far more than they were designed to incarcerate. Yet, government agencies (both state and federal) lack the funding required to build new prisons. Some states (such as New York and California) have circumvented the will of the voters and built costly new prisons, leaving a huge burden for taxpayers. Other states (such as Texas) have turned to private companies, which have stepped into that vacuum by building and operating prisons around the nation, though not without controversy.
Operators of private prisons claim they are cheaper, more efficient, and better at rehabilitation than public prisons. Many opponents challenge these assertions, arguing that the cost savings are illusory. Critics claim that any cost savings that are achieved result from cutting corners, which puts public safety at risk. Indeed, the prison industry has been plagued by several celebrated incidents that have prompted some states to re-examine the use of private facilities.
Nowhere has this battle been more heated than in California, which sports the largest annual corrections budget ($4.7 billion). Only a handful of small, private prisons operate in the state. The prison industry has its sights set on claiming more of that huge budget by building and operating larger prisons. So far, however, California's powerful prison guards union has thwarted the industry's attempts to carve a bigger niche in the Golden State. As it stands, the prison industry has little chance of making inroads in the state, unless a Republican wins the statehouse in 2002.
The United States has experienced an explosion in the number of people incarcerated during the past 20 years. More people are spending more time behind bars because of the nation's war on drugs and because of public support for harsher penalties (as evidenced by ôThree Strikesö laws). The convict population quickly outstripped the capacity of the nation'...