-->

Friday, March 09, 2012

"If you promise to keep it mostly full"

Prisoners are the new cash crop
The nation's largest private prison company made an enticing offer to 48 states that went something like this: We will buy your prison now if you agree to keep it mostly full and promise to pay us for running it over the next two decades. Despite a need for cash, several states immediately slammed the door on the offer, a sign that privatizing prisons might not be as popular as it once was.


I'm not so sure we can draw the conclusion that the privatization movement is dying out simply because it's been slightly harder to do than proponents first thought it would be. That AP article notes that Bobby Jindal's plan to sell off three Louisiana prisons under terms similar to those described above failed last year. But Jindal is still the Governor having been reelected by a huge margin and selling prisons is right back on his legislative agenda for this year.

No comments: