Republic gets it right on AZ private prisons

by David Safier

The Republic has a strong editorial about private prisons in Arizona. It doesn't like what it sees.

Frightening. Tragic. Inexcusable.

These words describe the escape of three dangerous convicts from a private prison near Kingman. The deaths of an Oklahoma couple, the sorrow of their family and the anxiety of countless others were the result of astonishing security lapses.

Here's another word: opportunity.

This is a chance for Arizona to look at the state's role and responsibility in punishing criminals.

It won't be easy. Questions about the future of corrections in Arizona require – dare we say it? – a rational examination. Not political. Not ideological. Rational.

The editorial decimates the argument that private prisons save the state money.

[Private prisons are] supposed to be a cost-effective option. Yet because the state maintains the highest-security prisoners and the sickest ones, it is difficult to make a direct cost comparison. After attempting to make the comparisons as fair as possible, it was found that it costs $3 to $8 more per day to house a medium-security inmate in a private prison, according to a DOC study released this year.

Factor in the safety concerns raised by the Kingman escape, and the costs go beyond dollars and cents.

That's the kind of stuff good editorials are made of — a mixture of strong opinions and important, often overlooked facts.

It's funny. Pima County is one of the few Democratic hot beds in Arizona, and Maricopa County is where Republicans win elections. Yet the Star falls all over itself trashing Obama, health care reform (or as the paper referred to it in a headline, Obamacare), the Democratic City Council, etc., while it sings the praises of McCain and tries to pretend Brewer has already won the governorship. Meanwhile, the Republic, while far from a liberal/progressive paper, often covers important stories because they're important, regardless of whether they make Republicans or Democrats look bad.

The Republic has done some excellent reporting on the Kingman 3 prison break and the deplorable security at the prison. The Star, meanwhile, thinks the most important part of the story is the grizzly death of two innocent people killed by the escapees, which it has covered multiple times in exquisite, gory detail.

When it's not being partisan, the Star is a crime rag. Sometime, count the number of stories and pages devoted to crime, especially bloody and/or sexual crime. If there's not enough carnage locally, the paper will cover a story from Nebraska. So long as it bleeds or tittilates, geography is of no importance.

If the Star were a store in the mall, it would be named "Murder, Mayhem and Rape r Us."