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FRIDAY 11 DECEMBER 2009
Arizona’s Prison Privatization Scheme Is a Comedy Gold Mine. The Joke's on Us
The comedy in the footage of the aforementioned correspondent standing on Rep. Kyrsten Sinema’s desk to test the quality of the drop ceiling in her office was eclipsed only by the tragedy of Rep. Linda Lopez's complete inability to answer the question that should have been first on the mind of every elected official in Arizona: "After you sell these buildings and have to pay rent on them, how will you balance the budget next year?"
But the "Daily Show" segment was only the beginning. What’s got the cable “fake news” programs and incredulous audiences worldwide rolling in the aisles now is even more far-fetched: Arizona’s gonna privatize death row. State leaders want to give out lucrative, long-term contracts to private, for-profit corporations to run entire state prison complexes, essentially putting rent-a-cops in charge of women inmates, sex offenders and supermax lockdown units. Brilliant! How come nobody ever thought of this before?
Because it’s a terrible idea. In 30-plus years of America’s experiment with prison privatization, never has a private company run entire state prison complexes with multiple security levels. Only one, Corrections Corporation of America, manages high-security prisoners, and only in very small numbers. Even Tennessee, home of CCA, wisely passed on the company’s offer to run the whole state system.
Private prison companies prefer to cherry-pick the prisoners that are already cheapest to house - low-security with no medical, disciplinary or mental health problems. That way, they can skimp on paying or training their staff and make a nice tidy profit.
Now, a story like that is a comedy gold mine! The New York Times, first nationally to report on the story, attempted to hide its smirk behind reassuring quotes from Rep. John Kavanagh, a backer of the proposal who just happens to be chair of Arizona's Joint Legislative Budget Committee, which happens to oversee the Department of Administration, which will be managing the contracts.
But there was no restraining Stephen Colbert, who took the Twainian opportunity to take this ridiculous idea to its most extreme conclusion: Let’s just privatize the entire criminal justice system and pay cops a commission for every arrest. Surely the profit motive will result in more efficient "justice." How could there be anything wrong with the idea of profiting from depriving other human beings of their freedom? Ha! Ha!
And now the joke is going global. On November 23, the Guardian UK featured a story whose incredulous author referred to the Arizona proposals as "bizarre" and "kooky." Resisting the urge to outright mock us, Mr. Abramsky did, however, soberly note that the joke is really on the people of Arizona. Citing the dismal track records of abuse, escapes and riots that have plagued the private prison industry for its entire existence, he warned that this "wacky" scheme could have dire consequences.
So, laugh it up, everybody. Arizona taxpayers appear only too happy to foot the bill for your amusement. And be sure to tune in for the next installment, chronicling a state in even deeper debt, on the hook for 20-year contract obligations it can’t afford, fending off lawsuits over shoddy prison medical care and prisoner abuse scandals and frantically searching for the next brilliant short-term scheme to get us out of this mess
Caroline Isaacs is the Program Director of the Arizona program of the American Friends Service Committee. She has spent the last 15 years working with the AFSC-Arizona in some capacity, focusing primarily on criminal justice issues. Caroline has a B.A. in political science from The College of Wooster and a master's degree in social work from Arizona State University. In addition to her 10 years of criminal justice reform, she worked for four years in the social services field with homeless teens and is currently an adjunct faculty member at the Arizona State University School of Social Work (Tucson component).
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