Arizona has had more than a few problems since turning over a dozen of its prisons to private corporations. Security problems increased, most famously allowing two convicted killers to escape from a private prison in 2010 and wreak murder and havoc.
Even worse, the annual review of the private prisons shows that in many cases, they cost more than the publicly operated prisons they replaced.
So what is the solution? Arizona is going to defund the previously required annual quality and cost review of private prison contracts.
I guess that will keep those big campaign contributions from the prison industry pouring in.
One Comment
One of the student groups in my Race and Ethnic Relations class focused on this in their project. I admit that I was not fully aware of CCA’s (the private prison corporation) involvement in drafting and passing SB 1070. Apparently ALEC was also heavily involved, which is not surprising.