Private Prisons Are A Bad Idea

Last year – the state of Ohio sold one if its state prisons to the Corrections Corporation of America – the largest private prison corporation in the nation. But a new audit released this week by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction reveals that under private management – the prison is being woefully mismanaged. The audit revealed that the prison is failing to meet state standards when it comes to sanitation, food quality, hygiene, and several other areas. Also according to the audit, inmates were not notified what to do in case of a fire emergency, laundry and cell cleaning services were unavailable, inmates in the infirmary were neglected, and many prison cells were over-occupied. But the Corrections Corporation of America is still making a lot of dough – as it gets paid every time it receives a new inmate to lock up. Meanwhile taxpayers who were told that selling off state prisons would save them money are starting to see that it was a bad deal as studies show that private prisons actually cost taxpayers more than state prisons.