When a private prison fails to prevent a riot or a breakout, local authorities must come in and clean up the mess. This is one of the reasons why recent studies, including one conducted by the General Accounting Office, cannot find any significant cost savings in the privatization of prisons. Other studies have suggested that private prisons are even more expensive. Unfortunately, although taxpayers unwittingly subsidize some of the corporation's expenses, they often have little say about where a private prison is built. The bottom line is that private prisons neither improve prison operations nor save taxpayers money.
Private prisons jeopardize public safety.
I urge you to cosponsor the Public Safety Act and keep the operation of prisons a public responsibility. Please contact Farhana Khera in Senator Feingold's office at 45323 to cosponsor S. 2927.