Texas Prison Bid'ness

One might think that Idaho would have had its share of private prison woes thanks to Texas --- the escapes, the nationally-recognized squalor, the suicide of an Idaho prisoner, the embarrassment of praising a private prison mere days before the state health division announces a major mobilization to identify an illness there that has killed prisoners... but instead, Idaho is forming a committee to plan for private prison companies in their state to rake in millions (assuming they can avoid lawsuits).

The Boise Weekly has covered this story with a very thorough article, quoting a wide range of folks, including a marketing director from Corrections Corporation of America, a spokesperson from to Governor Otter's office, and our allies at the Private Corrections Institute and the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition. It's worth reading the whole article, but here's one point I must comment on:

"We have a critical need right now to do something immediately to address the [prison] population crisis that we're seeing," said Jon Hanian, Otter's press secretary. "When you're talking about a private prison vs. a state-run one, building one, you're talking about up to four years on the state-run side vs. 18 to 24 months. The private side is going to be a more immediate impact."

Want an even faster impact? How about if Idaho reduced "re-admissions" to their state prison system? Take a look at the numbers on the August 2007 prison admissions: of just over 200 people admitted to the Idaho prison system, less than 50 were new to the system. Three out of four people entering prison were revocations of probation, parole, or the rider program. Lowering the recidivism rate would reduce the demand for prison beds, which has been on the rise for a while. Is this news to anyone?

Idaho's prison population has been growing by roughly 6.5 percent annually, and Reinke estimates it will take an additional 2,000 to 3,000 beds to meet the state's short-term needs.

"What I'm concerned with right now is bed capacity," Reinke said. "This is not a new need."

No, it's not a new need for Idaho. In early 2006, IDOC released Understanding Growth, a one-pager that re-iterated key factors for recidivism: low educational achievement and addiction. But instead of forming a committee to figure out where to pump money into reducing recidivism, Idaho officials have formed a committee and invited "industry representatives" to sell their wares. Wow, how did this committee get the green light?

According to campaign finance reports filed with the state, both CCA and GEO Group, the two largest private prison operators, donated $5,000 to Otter's 2006 campaign for governor.

As one might expect, there is a stern rejection from the Governor's spokesperson that money could have any effect on the political process. I'm sure they're right, that money couldn't have any effect on any of this... although, wait a second, how much money are we talking? Well, by the end of the year, IDOC could easily have 1,500 prisoners in "contract" beds (1,000 in out-of-state private prisons, 500 in county jail beds), and director Rienke mentions needing 2,000 to 3,000 beds. Reinke's estimate of fees is $40-$50 per day per person. So let's take take a very low estimate of the money that might be involved in a private prison expansion into Idaho:

1,500 new prison beds x $45 per day per prisoner = $2 million per month

These millions for the companies will come with other things too, just for the state of Idaho. All anyone in Idaho has to do is glance at Texas: the scandals, the deaths, the lawsuits. As Ken Kopczynski of PCI asks, "Why does your governor think having a private prison in Idaho is going to be any different than the mess they had in Texas?"

Why indeed.