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Good. The incentives involved with private prisons are so obviously counter to the public good that it beggars belief that anyone would support them. Private pr

by jw_ 13y ago

Good. The incentives involved with private prisons are so obviously counter to the public good that it beggars belief that anyone would support them. Private prisons do not bear any costs of recidivism - they profit from it.

protomyth 13y ago
Yep, if we are going to have private prisons, they really need to pay on the basis of capacity and not actual inmate counts. That provides a direct incentive to keep inmate count down. The second part of this is that public prisons suffer from the same problem as private prisons. Look at the prison worker's union and what money it spends on politics in California. It basically backs every legislation that will increase prisoner counts. Its not a public or private issue, it is, as you pointed out, an incentive issue. Sadly, the public sector incentives are just as bad.
- hansjorg 13y ago
  > public sector incentives are just as bad That's not true. The amount of funds which goes in to this kind of lobbying matters. With a private prison system you get not just the funds from prison worker's unions, but also those from the owners.
  - protomyth 13y ago
    Take a look at the money spent by the unions, contractors, and then politicians repaying the favors in salary, pensions, and extended sentences in California. It is just as much money and worse from a public trust issue.
- boie0025 13y ago
  > Yep, if we are going to have private prisons, they really need to pay on the basis of capacity and not actual inmate counts. That provides a direct incentive to keep inmate count down. Woah, interesting concept, I had never even thought of that. That in mind, I am very opposed to private prisons for reasons found scattered throughout this thread.
  - protomyth 13y ago
    I don't see any real difference between public or private as neither is more noble in motives. Neither has been given the correct incentives, so I figure experiment with those we can fire (private) until we find the right incentive list. Paying for capacity is one way to incentivize a desire for fewer prisoners and won't work in a public setting.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
bobby1000 13y ago
The UK is already looking to save $738M over 6 years with its private prison contracts (450M pounds according to Wikipedia). Why would they do so if you claim that private prisons can't reduce costs?

by jw_ 13y ago

protomyth 13y ago

Yep, if we are going to have private prisons, they really need to pay on the basis of capacity and not actual inmate counts. That provides a direct incentive to keep inmate count down. The second part of this is that public prisons suffer from the same problem as private prisons. Look at the prison worker's union and what money it spends on politics in California. It basically backs every legislation that will increase prisoner counts. Its not a public or private issue, it is, as you pointed out, an incentive issue. Sadly, the public sector incentives are just as bad.

hansjorg 13y ago
> public sector incentives are just as bad That's not true. The amount of funds which goes in to this kind of lobbying matters. With a private prison system you get not just the funds from prison worker's unions, but also those from the owners.
- protomyth 13y ago
  Take a look at the money spent by the unions, contractors, and then politicians repaying the favors in salary, pensions, and extended sentences in California. It is just as much money and worse from a public trust issue.
boie0025 13y ago
> Yep, if we are going to have private prisons, they really need to pay on the basis of capacity and not actual inmate counts. That provides a direct incentive to keep inmate count down. Woah, interesting concept, I had never even thought of that. That in mind, I am very opposed to private prisons for reasons found scattered throughout this thread.
- protomyth 13y ago
  I don't see any real difference between public or private as neither is more noble in motives. Neither has been given the correct incentives, so I figure experiment with those we can fire (private) until we find the right incentive list. Paying for capacity is one way to incentivize a desire for fewer prisoners and won't work in a public setting.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

bobby1000 13y ago

The UK is already looking to save $738M over 6 years with its private prison contracts (450M pounds according to Wikipedia). Why would they do so if you claim that private prisons can't reduce costs?