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Friday, September 21, 2007
Magic of the Market, Private Prisons Edition
A recent study by University of Utah professors found no clear advantage to privatizing prisons, in terms of either cost or benefits. The Desert Morning News has the story (via the AFSCME privatization blog):
Privatizing Utah's prison system would have no clear cost advantages, according to an independent study that was presented to lawmakers on Wednesday.
The study by the University of Utah's School of Social Work and Criminal Justice Center compared existing studies conducted in other states that have both private and public prisons and found "no clear empirical advantage or disadvantage to privatize."
Study co-author Brad Lundahl told members of the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee that the majority of private prison facilities are medium- to minimum-security facilities. Arguments for privatization, he said, would be reducing costs while maintaining quality of service. Arguments against the issue would be ethical concerns and risks that security would be compromised.
Posted by Matt Lewis
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