http://vorige.nrc.nl/international/article2246821.ece/Netherlands_to_close_prisons_for_lack_of_criminals

Imagine the dilema of not enough prisoners to fill your countries' prisons.

A real problem when your prisons take in as much money as ours.

A real problem when your prisons take in as much money as ours.


Where, exactly, is this comment coming from, may I ask? While there are some privately operated prisons in this country, the majority are state run and are not for profit. State budgets almost always are looking for ways to trim Corrections' annual allotments, leading to reductions in both programming (educational, vocational and treatment) and staffing at many institutions.

I should also point out that there have been agreements like the one mentioned in the article in the U.S. for quite some time, with Federal prisoners being housed in state institutions, and states "renting" cell space from adjoining states. Minnesota as far back as the early 80's was housing Wisconsin inmates due to Wisconsin's lack of cell space.
The monies received helped reduce the impact of state budget cuts.

From the list of major political donors opposing any lightening of drug related sentencing, which is, at the very least, a serious conflict of interest.

We passed some 2 million people incarcerated in 2001 or so, of which about 5% were privately held at the time, but that number has gone up. At ~45,000 a year to keep people locked up, that's not chump change.

I should also point out that there have been agreements like the one mentioned in the article in the U.S. for quite some time, with Federal prisoners being housed in state institutions, and states "renting" cell space from adjoining states. Minnesota as far back as the early 80's was housing Wisconsin inmates due to Wisconsin's lack of cell space.
The monies received helped reduce the impact of state budget cuts.

Making a business out of something doesn't necessarily require privatization.