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inferior working conditions are common business practices within private facilities.(3)

While costs appear to be lower, the public ultimately pays for this "savings." Documented escapes of rapists and murderers, rioting, and inmate abuse in prisons run by private companies have jeopardized the safety of communities and increased the bottom-line for taxpayers. Poor performance by a firm operating a prison can be devastating for a community. Underqualified staff and lax management resulted in a bloodbath in one prison in Ohio, and acknowledged but unreported drug use and weapons smuggling by employees within one privately owned facility in Tennessee. When prison management is tied to profit-making, cutting corners results in deadly consequences.(3)

I agree with Ms. Greene on several counts. As the AFSCME report points out, "Conflicts of interest and the rights and well-being of inmates are also at issue. When prisons exist in a quasi-judicial status with an emphasis upon savings and profits, due process may be undermined. A firm may benefit monetarily from extended sentences, and wardens who do not answer to the public may cast a blind eye toward excessive physical force against inmates."(5)

In her critique of the RPPI paper, Greene cited instances of riots, guard corruption, prisoner escapes and murder linked to improper management in private facilities. She also referenced data that indicates that on average there are higher rates of homicide, riots and escapes at private facilities nationwide. Though Greene acknowledged that in some instances privatization has produced lower-cost facilities, she said this often has been achieved at the expense of performance. For example, she referenced a study cited in the RPPI report, but which she believes did not receive a proper examination from Segal and Moore.(5)

The study, released last year by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, examined self-reported data from the private prison industry and the U.S. Department of Justice. In it, Justice Department analysts found a 50 percent higher rate of assaults by inmates on staff in private prisons, as well as a 65 percent higher rate of assaults on other inmates.

Greene said these security numbers alone, which are a "key indicator of performance," raise questions about the validity of RPPI's findings of equal or superior performance in private prisons. "I would never argue that our public prison system is free of these problems or anywhere near where it should be performing,"

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