NCJ Number
201090
Date Published
2003
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This document discusses prison privatization developments in various countries.
Abstract
In Australia, security breaches have led to the discovery of weapons in inmates’ cells. It has also raised concerns about the imbalance of power in the contracts between the government and Victoria’s two private prison operators. Nurses formerly employed by the Australasian Correctional Management (ACM) in South Australia have launched a class action lawsuit against the company for pain and suffering and loss of pay. One claimant alleges she suffered psychiatric injury as a result of being exposed to intimidation, verbal abuse, and victimization. In the United Kingdom, wages and benefits for most staff in private prisons lag behind their public sector counterparts. A survey found that at private prisons opened since 1998, staff turnover is around 35 percent. In the United States, radical proposals for expanding prison privatization in Texas have been stymied both by intense opposition and lack of legislative time. The Presbyterian Church, as well as Southern Catholic Bishops, has acted to abolish private prisons. In Iraq, the Utah-based Management and Training Corporation’s director of corrections business development has joined a criminal justice reconstruction team in Iraq. The tendering process for a semi-private prison at Be'er Sheva, in Israel, is continuing. Israeli human rights organizations are concerned that a combination of government austerity measures and the private sector’s preference for full privatization will lead to custodial services also being contracted out. In South Africa, four "new generation" prisons are to be commissioned. The decision about any extent of private sector involvement has not been made. A feasibility study on comparative costs will take between 3 and 6 months to carry out, after which a decision will be made.