Should Prisons be Privatized?

Clear and convincing evidence from the United States and elsewhere shows that privatizing criminal correctional facilities results in better public service at a lower cost than government operation. When the modern correctional privatization movement started, it was widely believed that any private role would be limited to small facilities housing low-security prisoners. Today, however, it is common to see contract awards for facilities with rated capacities of between 1,000 and 2,000 prisoners and for prisoners requiring medium or high security.
A growing body of research finds that contr…