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| Private prisons? A sweet deal for some |
| By presstelegram.com |
| Published: 01/08/2010 |
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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is bullish on private prisons. And no one could be happier than the executives at Corrections Corp. of America. It has been a mutually beneficial relationship for the governor and this private prison corporation, and it also offers the side benefit of distracting one of the governor's main foils - California's prison guard union. In his final State of the State on Wednesday, the governor grabbed attention by announcing plans for a constitutional amendment that would require California to spend more on universities than on prisons. One way to slash billions from prison spending would be to privatize prisons, the governor said, rather optimistically. Californians who value higher education will find some appeal in the governor's proposal. But they should know that such a shift would also benefit Corrections Corp. of America. The Tennesee-based company has forged a particularly close bond with the Schwarzenegger administration, and is profiting handsomely from California's prison crisis. Facing prison crowding, inmates' lawsuits, and demands by judges that the state provide better health and mental health care to prisoners, Schwarzenegger declared an emergency in 2006 and began shipping inmates to private prisons outside the state. These are criminals who are rightly paying for their bad acts. But under this emergency order, the inmates clearly have become a commodity. Their value is on the rise. The state inked its first deal to house inmates at Corrections Corp. prisons on Oct. 19, 2006. It began modestly enough: 900 inmates at four lock-ups, $63 per head per day, at a cost of over $20 million. Three years and three months later, the Corrections Corp. contract has been amended multiple times. The state now has authority to house 10,000 inmates in Corrections Corp. lock-ups, at costs of as much as $72 per inmate per day. The overall contract amount has ballooned to $632 million. Of course, that's a fraction of the overall prison budget of $8.2 billion. But $632 million is a lot of money in anybody's world, especially for Corrections Corp. The company disclosed last year that revenue derived from states seeking beds for their inmates increased 15.6 percent, to $831 million in 2008. The company's filing explains why: "We remain optimistic that the state of California will continue to utilize out-of-state beds to alleviate its severe overcrowding situation." Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate, watched Schwarzenegger deliver his speech in the Assembly chambers and noted the line: "Competition and choice are always good." "How ironic," De La Torre said. As it happens, De La Torre is planning to hold a hearing later this month focused on the contract with Corrections Corp. He noted that no other private prison company has managed to get a significant slice of the California market. "The size of the contract jumped out at me. There is no evidence of any competitive bidding," De La Torre said. If the administration's goal is to save money on prison costs, perhaps it should consider lower cost alternatives. De La Torre's staff has found several entities willing to charge less, including the state of Michigan, which is charging a daily rate of $62 per inmate to house prisoners from Pennsylvania. Without a doubt, the state saves money by using private prisons. A recent state audit estimated that the cost of housing an inmate in private lock-up is between $3,200 and $7,800 less per year than in a state prison. One reason is that private companies pay guards far less than the state pays prison officers, many of whom earn in excess of $100,000 with overtime and other bonuses. Therein lies perhaps the largest obstacle to any expansion of private prisons. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association, the union that represents state prison officers, fiercely opposes private prisons, and regularly spends millions on state campaigns. The union was particularly close to Schwarzenegger's predecessor, Gray Davis. Indeed, the union donated $251,000 to Davis on a single day in 2002, shortly after the Democratic governor signed a labor contract intended to give prison officers pay raises of 37 percent over five years. Davis further cemented his relationship with the guards by moving to shutter five private prisons. The $251,000 was the largest single donation he had received up to that time. Schwarzenegger unseated Davis in the 2003 recall in part by pointing to a fundamental problem with Sacramento politicians: Campaign money comes in, favors go out, he repeatedly said. Yet Schwarzenegger is finding that his relationship with Corrections Corp. offers its own benefits. Most notably, the company contributed $100,000 to a committee controlled by Schwarzenegger that pushed for his ballot measures last year. Read More. |
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