5 points against privatizing prisons
1. Threat to justice
The private prison industry has both incentive and necessary means to extend the
span of time that convicts will be held in prison. Private prisons are typically paid
based on the number of prisoners they hold and the duration of their stay
(http://mediafilter.org/mff/prison.html ). Given this, private prisons have a strong
incentive to prolong the stay of prisoners for as long as possible by obstructing the
parole-chances of prisoners with fabricated disciplinary misdemeanors.
2. Threat to safety
The incentive of private prisons to reduce costs and optimize profits poses a safety
threat to prisoners, staff, and the public
(http://www.capp.50megs.com/cusaposition.html). For instance, if private prisons
cut down costs by having fewer guards on duty, there could be a serious security
threat and a rise in the number of violent incidents behind the bars. The escape of
six prisoners (including 5 murderers) from a Youngstown Corrections Corporation is a
glaring example of deficiencies in staffing, security measures, and prisonermisclassification in private prisons
(http://archive.epinet.org/real_media/010111/materials/greene2.pdf).
3. Threat to legitimacy
Prison privatization makes it very difficult to distinguish between the functions of
courts and those of prisons. Prison staff for instance can determine how punitive a
sentence really is by exercising disciplinary controls such as yard privileges and
solitary confinement
(http://government.cce.cornell.edu/doc/html/PrisonsPrivatization.htm).
4. Threat to rehabilitation
The profit motive of private prisons discourages them from providing expensive
rehabilitative services to prisoners. The objective of curbing recidivism and helping
prisoners rejoin the society productively will be severely hit if prisons are privatized
(http://government.cce.cornell.edu/doc/html/PrisonsPrivatization.htm).
5. The Role of the state
The State should be the only entity with the power to administer justice by coercion.
Only the State has legitimacy in peoples’ eyes because they entrust jurisdiction and
coercion power with the State and not with private entities. Should the State
relinquish its responsibility of running private prisons, there will be a reduction in
public accountability as it applies to female-inmate abuse (Challenges in human
rights: a social work perspective By Elisabeth Reichert).
5 points for abolishing parole
1. Criminals don’t deserve to be placed on parole
Sexual predators for instance are 4 times more likely (when compared to other
criminals) to be repeat offenders
(http://www.house.gov/list/press/mt00_rehberg/062706_SexOffendersParole.html).
Criminals are given sentences for inflicting damage on peoples’ lives. To continue
with parole is to go soft on crime and undermine the suffering of people who’ve
faced the brunt of the crimes committed by criminals.
2. Recidivism
Habitual relapse into crime is a major concern because a high percentage of
criminals placed on parole commit crimes similar or different to the ones they’ve
committed before. Ever since Virginia abolished parole, there has been a drop in its
overall crime rate and recidivism (http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/laws/9329421.html).
3. Parole statistics
More than 50% of criminals placed on parole have been found committing crimes
within just a few months of their time outside prisons
(http://www.vickisportfolio.com/Academic%20Samples/Abolishing%20Parole.doc).
This overwhelming statistic is a clear indicator about how ineffective the parole
system really is.
4. Unfair towards parole board members
There is no fool-proof scientific test in place to confirm whether a criminal is likely to
commit an offense in the future or not (http://www.baystatebanner.com/Editorial512010-04-15). Parole board members are required to make decisions based on
assumptions about how criminals could behave in future. It is impossible to predict
with reasonable accuracy as to when criminals are actually rehabilitated.
5. Parole is a wrong solution to overcrowded prisons
Many criminals are given parole because of prison overcrowding
(http://hubpages.com/hub/Abolishing-Parole-Questioned ). To place criminals on parole is
to put the society at a greater risk of crime. Other solutions to overcrowded prisons
should be looked at. Cost concerns should never take precedence over safety needs.