Should Not Privatize Prisons
Should Not Privatize Prisons
Amanda Clayton
Rasmussen College
Author Note
This assignment is for Ms. Sally DePreist’s English Composition Class G124 and is being submitted on December 14, 2014
Should Not Privatize Prisons
Prisons should not be privatized because punishing criminal activity should not be a profit business. It is not the place of private prisons to administer punishments. It is the State or government that decides who is a prisoner so they should remain responsible for them until rehabilitated. It is wrong to put a private company that makes a profit off a being in charge of prison operations because their goal is profit not punishment or rehabilitation. Private prisons that cut costs may risk security problems because cutting costs often means cutting corners.
Prison should not be privatized because the path to profit is to treat human beings badly. Prisons are based on two things custody and care. No one wants to cut corners on the custody aspects of a prison. Care is the only part of a budget that has room to be cut. "One way for-profit prisons to minimize costs is by skimping on provisions, including food. “ A psychiatrist who investigated a privately run prison in Mississippi found that the inmates were severely underfed and looked “almost emaciated.” During their incarceration, prisoners lost anywhere from 10 to 60 pounds." Citation Steven Starkey
Additionally, there is a financial incentive to do a bad job. The more effective a correctional facility is, the less need of its services. If the inmates have educational, work release programs, medical care such as anger management or mental health while locked up its less likely for them to return to a prison after being released. There will never be a point of not needing prisons; if there is better correctional policies and administration could result in a reduction of need. Privatized prisons are disastrous from the point of view of a profit organization.
Finally, the most important reason Prison should not be privatized is the right to punish belongs only to the state. The criminal justice system is the process by which legally deprive human beings of their guaranteed rights. When someone other than the state tries to deprive someone of these freedoms and rights, charge them with crimes so if it is a privatized prison doing no different than one that committed the crime.
Prisons should not be privatized because punishing criminal activity should not be a "for profit" business. It is not the place of private prisons to administer prisoner punishments because it is the State government that determine who is a prisoner and they should remain responsible for them until time has been served. Private prisons that cut costs may risk security problems because cutting costs often means cutting corners which is less