private prisons

Opposing mass incarceration means opposing private prison growth opportunities

Scott Henson
March 15, 2012 17:27

Several headlines about the private-prison industry caught Grits' eye and merit readers' attention. First, apparently most states, including Texas, are rejecting Correction Corporation of America's offer (see Grits' discussion) to purchase state-owned prisons if the states would guarantee 90%...

Texas, other states should decline Corrections Corporation of America's offer to buy prisons

Scott Henson
March 09, 2012 17:45

According to the Houston Chronicle's Patti Hart and other reports, the letter Corrections Corporation of America (CXW on the stock exchange) sent to 48 states last month offering to buy their old facilities included a perverse and unconscionable set of proposed conditions: CXW would only buy the...

Can regional health providers replace UTMB prisoner healthcare?

Scott Henson
October 17, 2011 12:44

If Mike Ward at the Austin Statesman ever retires or is laid off, there won't be a single professional journalist in the state closely monitoring the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Most recently he reported on Saturday that:In a surprise move, state prison officials revealed Friday that they...

Odds and ends: Crooked cops, cheering death, and Rick Perry's soft side

Scott Henson
September 09, 2011 16:39

I don't have time for much writing this morning, but here are several items that merit Grits readers' attention and would probably warrant longer posts if the Forensic Science Commission didn't start up first thing this morning. Anyway:Reactions to Rick Perry's soft sideNumerous reactions around...

Private prisons and "faux privatization"

Scott Henson
September 04, 2011 12:44

At Forbes, E.D. Kain provides a poignant analysis of why "faux privatization" of prisons really isn't privatization at all, but merely a way to transfer monopoly rents from public coffers to private ones. In a post last week he posited:Here’s the problem with faux privatization: If all you do is...