NCJ Number
115511
Journal
Barrister Volume: 13 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1986) Pages: 12-15,46
Date Published
1986
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Across America, executives are going into the business of running correctional facilities.
Abstract
More than a dozen adult correctional facilities now are privately operated, and numerous juvenile facilities and U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) detention centers are operated by private vendors. Many say that privatization in corrections is an idea whose time has come because it translates into greater efficiency and less cost to Government. Others argue that it is a concept doomed to failure, and that it will lead to myriad social and legal problems. CCI operates the Nation's only private Federal prison (for juvenile felons) as well as halfway houses for probation departments and the INS. RCA Corporation runs three juvenile facilities and will open two more in the future. Corrections Corporation of America is the largest prisons-for-profit firm, with approximately 1,400 beds in 5 facilities and 2 prisons under construction. Administrators for such firms feel privatization offers greater flexibility and adaptability, a 9 to 13 percent profit, and a 25 to 50 percent cost savings to Government. However, there are problems, including heavy Government scrutiny of operations and a lack of immunity that necessitates heavy liability insurance.