Increased incarceration rates in the United States especially starting from the 1980s contributed to overcrowding in jails. The justice system embraced stricter criminal justice measures, which led to an explosion in the number of people who were put behind bars (Aiken, 2017). Jails held people facing different charges; hence they held individuals temporarily as well as those who sentenced to serve long jail terms. As a consequence of increased incarceration and stricter criminal justice measures, some county jails are overcrowded, ushering in the use of private jails or renting jail space in other counties. Private jails are currently similar to private businesses and their use has both advantages and disadvantages.
The most prominent advantage to the leasing jail is increased revenue because renting out space is a business similar to any other. Instead of the space lying idle, the leasing jail can accommodate prisoners from other counties, and consequently lower its average cost. On the part of the sending jail, overcrowding is reduced and subsequently, problems that arise out of overcrowding (Mumford, Schanzenbach, & Nunn, 2016). When jails are filled with excess prisoners, they present logistical problems; prison authorities find it difficult to account for every prisoner. For instance, limited bed space may lead to poor living conditions on the part of prisoners. In some cases, prisoners may scramble for the limited resources and in the process, resort to the use of violence. In fact, most overcrowded prisons have led to the emergence of gangs, which have compromised the rehabilitation efforts.
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Advocates of private prisons or renting of prison space posit that increased competition will likely reduce the cost of taking care of prisoners while improving the quality of prison facilities. The argument is that public prisons are more costly and have poor services because of the lack of competition (Aiken, 2017). In this case, when prisons rent spaces, they trigger the creation of more prison facilities, which could lead to low costs because of the increased competition. Since the private prisons are businesses, each private prison will compete for contracts by trying to offer the best services. Consequently, jails will treat prisoners better and even lower costs.
However, there are various disadvantages both to the receiving and sending jails. Regarding the receiving jails, carelessness or improper treatment of prisoners may cause undesirable consequences. For instance, if authorities fail to monitor some prisoners closely and the prisoners escape, it could be a costly affair, especially if it is established there was negligence. On the part of the sending jail, sometimes private prisons choose the type of prisoners they want to keep as well as the duration (Mumford, Schanzenbach, & Nunn, 2016). Such choices may provide logistical challenges to the sending jails.
Generally, renting of jail space presently is turning out to be a moral issue. Critics argue that jails are supposed to rehabilitate prisoners and not to be used in money minting practices. There is skepticism that if renting of jail space is allowed to persist unabated, private jail owners may become powerful, and consequently use their power to lobby for stricter criminal justice measures (Aiken, 2017). The objective will be to increase the rate of incarceration so that jails are overcrowded and eventually the high number of prisoners transferred to the private facilities.
Therefore, it is best for stakeholders to evaluate the factors that contribute to high incarceration rates, and consequently conduct reforms in the justice system. On the same note, I would not encourage my county to build private prisons to benefit from the overcrowding crisis because doing so will undermine any meaningful justice reforms. In particular, poor people, who have committed minor crimes and cannot afford bail, will fill these jails. The objective of the justice system needs to solely be rehabilitation of prisoners and not profiteering.
References
Aiken, J. (2017). Era of Mass Expansion: Why State Officials Should Fight Jail Growth. Prison Policy Initiative . https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/jailsovertime.html
Mumford, M., Schanzenbach, D. W., & Nunn, R. (2016). The economics of private prisons. London: The Hamilton Project .
