(Update) Pimps for Private Prisons and Profit

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Aahhh, so sad. It looks like our shadow governor, Chuck Coughlin and his lobbyist firm HighGround, Inc. won't be getting that Christmas bonus from their private prison clients.

Two breaking stories today from the Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required). First, the long-awaited cost-benefit analysis that the Department of Corrections is required to do by law, but has never done until now, has been released. According to the DOC, private prisons are comparable in cost and quality to state run prisons — so much for the "blind faith" belief that privatization always leads to better and less costly service. It does not. Study: Private and state-run prisons comparable in cost and quality – Arizona Capitol Times:

Most of Arizona’s private prisons are comparable in cost and quality of service to state-run prisons, a biennial study issued Wednesday by the Arizona Department of Corrections found.

According to the study, which was done for the first time despite being a requirement for over a decade, only one private prison provides a lower quality of service.

Department of Corrections Director Charles Ryan wrote in a letter to lawmakers that it is nearly impossible to make exact comparisons between state and private prisons.

“. . .(I)t is important to recognize that exact private prison unit versus state prison unit comparisons are not possible due to inherent complexities resulting from the many differences in operating structure and requirements,” Ryan wrote. “This is equally true when comparing facilities and when comparing cost.”

The cost-benefit analysis comes as bids for the construction of private prisons to house 5,000 inmates are pending.

Yeah, well not any longer. The DOC has decided to cancel bids to build 5,000 private prison beds in Arizona, it claims due to declining prisoner population (damn that the law of supply and demand!) Corrections ends plans for private prisons to house 5,000 inmates – Arizona Capitol Times:

The Arizona Department of Corrections has scrapped plans to build private prisons to house 5,000 minimum and medium security inmates.

Bill Lamoreaux, a department spokesman, said today that a decline in the inmate population in recent years led the agency to stop seeking bids from private companies and instead restart bidding for housing just 2,000 inmates.

The department is also going to ask the Legislature for funding to provide housing for an additional 500 maximum security inmates. Private prisons don’t incarcerate maximum security inmates.

* * *

Lamoreaux said the inmate population grew by only 65 inmates in fiscal year 2010 and declined by 296 inmates in fiscal year 2011, the lowest growth rates in the state since 1973.

Kudos to the Quaker group American Friends Service Commitee and their attorney Vince Rabago for suing to prevent the award of this private prison contract until the study required by law was completed. It turned out we didn't need those additional prison beds after all. The Quakers just saved taxpayers an unnecessary expense that would have unjustly enriched our shadow governor's private prison clients.

The Quakers will be back in court on the appeal of their case now that the DOC report has been issued. Maybe they can save taxpayers some more money.

UPDATE: Press release from the American Friends Service Commitee:

Private prison opponents applaud Arizona DOC decision to drop RFP for private prison beds; opponents criticize state's private prison report along with state's new proposal for 2,000 prison beds

(Dec. 23 2011 – Tucson, AZ) Today, The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) expressed appreciation to the Arizona Department of Corrections for issuing its long overdue report on private prison performance and for dropping plans for 5,000 new private prison beds. The group also points to flaws in the DOC report, and pledged to continue to challenge any proposals for new private prison beds.

On Wednesday, the Arizona Department of Corrections (DOC) issued its first-ever legally mandated report after more than 2 decades of failing to comply with state law by evaluating the quality of private prisons and comparing their performance to public prisons. DOC also dropped its plan to issue a contract for 5,000 new private prison beds, at a potential cost to taxpayers of over $500 million, citing the decline in crime and prison admissions.

In September 2011, AFSC sued Governor Jan Brewer and the Arizona Department of Corrections because of their failure to comply with state law for more than 2 decades by not reviewing private prisons as required by state law. While the suit was initially denied on procedural grounds regarding legal standing, AFSC appealed, and effectively forced the DOC to begin the required study.

AFSC Arizona Director Caroline Isaacs said the report issued Wednesday by the state about private prisons appears to have methodological flaws and problems in comparability of prisons.

Isaacs urged the public and legislators to examine AFSC's own "shadow" report on private prisons in Arizona for which the group issued preliminary findings(http://afsc.org/arizona-prison-report. ) in advance of the state's report. "Now that the state has issued its report, we will continue our work educating the public and contesting the state's wrong and entrenched view that private prisons are as good a deal for taxpayers or as safe as state-run prisons. All of the evidence and competent research in Arizona and across the country shows the opposite." The group plans to issue its full report in January when the Arizona legislature is in session.

AFSC's lead attorney in the case, Vince Rabago, stated "It is clear that our legal challenge effectively forced DOC to delay bids until the report was issued, and forced compliance with state law after decades of non-compliance." Rabago, a former state prosecutor, continued: "It's unfortunate that we had to sue to enforce Arizona law, to make DOC do their job. We will continue to make sure that the public knows that private prisons are simply bad public policy that do not save taxpayers any money and they put the public at a greater risk."