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the last 12 months and a five year growth of 21.9% with a forward price to earnings ratio of 25. In other words, they're making money. And are projected to do so in the future. Taxpayer money. Our money.

RPPI, a proponent of private prisons issued a report in 2002. They say that privately run prisons produce results equal to or better than publicly run correctional institutions and at a lower cost. The report evaluates costs and benefits of privatization of prisons.(4)

"The addition of free-market dynamics into the traditionally government-run system has spurred public prison facilities to greater efficiency," the report contends, "The bottom line with any properly done privatization deal is that quality is not compromised, [it] usually is enhanced, and cost is at the very least usually contained, though typically the cost savings are great." Overall, the researchers estimated cost savings at between five and 15 percent over comparable public institutions. They also found that private correctional facilities fared well against government-run prisons "in almost every measure" of administrative quality, including independent accreditation, contract terminations and renewals, and the extent of court orders and litigation by prisoners. They concluded that there is "clear and significant evidence including a wide range of quality comparison studies that private facilities provide at least the level of service that government run facilities do." Moore and Segal, the researchers, do add the caveat, "However, there has to be a strong monitoring system interlaced with performance measures in place to make sure the government is getting its money's worth."(4)

Public Prison Advocates
Criminal justice policy analyst and privatization critic Judith Greene, however, said RPPI ignored significant data showing that private prisons are more dangerous for both inmates and prison workers. Though security dangers are endemic to the penal system, cost-cutting at private facilities aimed at maximizing profits can exacerbate these problems, she says.(5)

AFSCME, which represents public prisons, says in the executive summary of its report that the General Accounting Office, the congressional watchdog agency, recently stated that it "could not conclude whether privatization saves money." Other independent analyses show that in many cases, it costs more to incarcerate inmates in private facilities than in state prisons. Understaffing, low wages, less-qualified staff, poorer benefits, and

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