my comment is just that most prisons in the world are brutal, and most prisons are run by governments. Any evidence that having public/private prison systems makes any meaningful difference? I’d be happy to see it. Simply pointing out that private prisons are aweful places isn’t exactly the best comparison, since the baseline is that prisons are aweful places.

There is in fact an argument for having a cheaply run prison system (apart from the deterrent one). This being that the cheapest way of dealing with crime is to stop it in the first place. If you spend a huge amount on prisons, then you are not spending that money on people who may be far more amenable to help than those inside. Of course, there are levels of this argument — you obviously don’t want people coming out worse than they come in and becoming more of menance when let out, and there are some people inside that certainly would be and are amenable to help.

I should say here that this argument mainly applies to some proportion of the male population. I think in countries like Australia, 90% of females are in for drug crimes, as are a smaller proportion of the male population. The simple solution here would be to let them out and forget about the war on drugs, in which case you wouldn’t have a public/private problem at all with this group.

Public prisons are answerable to the minister, who is answerable to parliament which is answerable to the people.

Given that private prisons are paid for by the government on a fee for service basis I would think they are also answerable to the minister.

Jacques comment that the system does not work as perfectly as one might believe from law 101 does not get us very far. On this argument, we would abolish the police.

Whaaaaaaat?

Jacques comment that the system does not work as perfectly as one might believe from law 101 does not get us very far. On this argument, we would abolish the police. It doesnt need to be perfect. But at least stuff ups of the order of Cornelia Rau get brought to light and embarrass the government. The ministers involved paid a heavy political price. Brutality in prisons does get revealed, those who run the prisons do know that the public look over their shoulder from time to time, and they cannot hide behind commercial in confidence clauses.

If we are trying to find a governance system that truly fails to live up to its ideal, we cannot go past corporate governance. Personal ambition and greed, immersed in a culture of secrecy and deal making. And the humble share holder has virtually no power to change things, despite what one might learn in Corporate Governance 101 Jacques.

I must say that I could not make head or tails of Nicks comment.

Bearing in mind Jacques’ thoroughly sensible comment.

Public prisons are answerable to the minister, who is answerable to parliament which is answerable to the people.

I learnt this in Law 101 also. Too bad it’s essentially a myth these days. One way or the other, Ministerial Accountability is dead.

* Minimising taxes and therefore the salaries of those on the public payroll
* Keeping out of the daily paper – at least in a bad way
* Helping the Minister hang onto marginal seats

And so it goes.

You could probably build incentives into private prison contracts, for instance by paying them $x per year after the prisoner is released and giving them y% of the prisoners tax. But ultimately, private prisons are answerable to the bottom line. They would have to be so heavily regulated and inspected, it is not worth the trouble.

Try substituting “public” with “private” and see if it makes any difference to the truth value of that sentence.