From David Shapiro, ACLU National Prison Project on the ACLU Blog of Rights:
Maine faces budget challenges like the rest of the country. But unlike many states, our Department of Corrections has started taking meaningful steps toward reform. Solitary confinement rates are dropping and clear guidelines have been established on moving prisoners in and out the state. If we are to keep moving forward, we must continue to send the message that private prisons have no place in Maine.Sure, at first blush, an injection of CCA money into government coffers might seem attractive to cash-strapped states. But here's the rub: states would be paying CCA for this short-term cash infusion with the liberties and freedoms of its citizens. See, for the corporation to buy a prison, a state would have to agree to keep it 90 percent full and CCA-operated for at least 20 years.
Committing to full prisons and heavy prison spending for 20 years is a terrible idea. The United States imprisons far more people – both per capita and in absolute terms – than any other nation in the world, including Russia, China and Iran. Over the past four decades, imprisonment in the United States has increased explosively, spurred by criminal laws that impose steep sentences and curtail opportunities for probation and parole. The current incarceration rate deprives record numbers of individuals of their liberty, disproportionately affects people of color, and has at best a minimal effect on public safety. The crippling cost of imprisoning increasing numbers of Americans saddles government budgets with rising debt and exacerbates the current fiscal crisis confronting states.
Meanwhile, the private prison industry reaps lucrative rewards from this incarceration epidemic.
