Privatization of Prisons is Wrong

In a day and time when budgets are tight due to lowering revenues, it is understandable that governmental institutions are looking to reduce operations. Along this line of thinking, Sheriff Clarke of Milwaukee County is seeking to privatize (outsource) inmate medical care. It is difficult to find anyone who would argue that efficiency and lower costs are “bad” by themselves.

However, I would argue that prisons are an exception to this rule.

Prisons should be expensive and publicly owned for a myriad of reasons.

First of all, the interests of private enterprise and the public good should not be at odds when privatizing a public function. The goal of any private company is to grow profitability. Generally, this is achieved by increasing product sales or services and lowering costs. In prisons, the product is inmates. Increasing inmates is counterproductive to the public good, yet will be the goal of the entrepreneurial-minded owners. Not only is the cost of serving the prisoners an unproductive use of resources, it also takes away valuable resources from the workforce. With a limited population in metro-Milwaukee, we need as many citizens participating in industry, arts, and social progress.

Secondly, there should be a heavy price paid to house prisoners to encourage our society to prevent incarceration in the first place. Generally, well educated individuals do not end up in prison. Focusing on youth education, sports, clubs, and other investing activities is a much more long-term approach and seemingly unpopular. However, haven’t we learned that short-term thinking leads to long-term pain?

Does privatizing inmate healthcare necessarily fall under privatizing entire prisons? Not necessarily. However, in the wake of the current climate, we should, at a minimum, examine the idea of education, prisons, and privatization.

There is an old adage; “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” In this economy, I think the cure is severely undervalued.