Public Gives Private Prisons Bad Review
The public is getting our message: private prisons are a bad idea.
An AFSCME-commissioned poll of 800 likely voters — conducted at random over three days in August — reveals that 51 percent oppose privately run prisons, and only 28 percent favor them.
“Simply put, private prisons don’t work, and the American people know it,” AFSCME Pres. Gerald W. McEntee declared at a Capitol Hill news conference Sept. 22.
Celinda Lake, of the polling firm Lake Snell Perry & Associates, said it is significant that less than one-third of the voters questioned support the idea of private prisons. Another 21 percent had no opinion.
“What is most noticeable is the intensity” of the public’s opposition to private prisons, Lake said. Thirty-four percent said they are “strongly opposed” to private prisons, while only 22 percent are strongly opposed to privatization of government services generally.
That opposition cuts across party lines. “Democrats, Independents and Republicans all oppose privatization,” Lake said.
The public seems to believe there is only one significant advantage to private prisons: money. Asked whether public or private prisons are more likely to cost less money to run, 43 percent of those questioned said private prisons would be cheaper, while 28 percent said government-run prisons would cost less.
But that advantage is “far outweighed by the disadvantages,” said Lake. More people believe public prisons will prevent inmate violence, protect public safety, be accountable to the public, rehabilitate inmates, have well-trained employees, control prison gangs and provide good-paying jobs.
At the same time, more people believe private companies are more likely to cut corners, make careless mistakes and be understaffed.
“What really undermines voters’ confidence in private companies running prisons is the profit motive,” said Lake. “The single strongest sentiment they have is that private companies will cut corners, putting profit ahead of public safety.”
For instance, more people believe private prisons employ workers with less experience and training, pay them less than those working at government-run prisons and provide them with fewer benefits.
“You don’t win this issue on budgets or money,” said McEntee. “But if the argument is one of accountability, if the issue is one of securing the community ... that’s where you win the issue.”
Recent well-publicized riots and escapes at private prisons are persuading the public that AFSCME is right. “No wonder the public agrees crime shouldn’t pay,” said McEntee. “They have seen time and time again that they are the ones that are put at risk” and left holding the bag when the time comes to pay the bill for recapturing escaped inmates.
“The American people know government-run prisons are more accountable to them, as citizens, and that private prisons are accountable to only one thing — the almighty dollar,” McEntee added. “We must take the profit margin out of public safety.”
The polling data can be viewed at AFSCME’s Web site.
