Stock prices have plummeted as criticism and problems have mounted. National incarceration rates have slowed. Many states have built as many prisons as they need, at least temporarily. Supporters and critics alike predict that private prisons will survive alongside public ones, but few believe that for-profit penal institutions will own a major share of the nation's lockups. Industry executives and corrections officials predict that their future is likely to include low-security institutions and facilities for the elderly, drug addicts and the mentally ill.
Similar lawsuits are pending in the state.
Meanwhile, the Oklahoma Corrections Department , which spends 25 percent of its budget on private incarceration, has calculated that private prison beds cost slightly more than public ones. But the evidence to date does not support either end of the claim. I've debated the morality of it, but the bottom line is that if it doesn't save money, the politicians won't push it. State governments are moving more slowly to employ private prison firms. Many have overcome their capital shortage and are constructing their own prisons.