The Law Office of the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia has issued a report that is critical of private prison and private probation companies in the state because there is little transparency and the expected results that the companies promoted have not been met.
Roadblocks to Reform, Perils for Georgia’s Criminal Justice System provides an overview of the problems, along with recommendations to correct them:
Georgia has the highest rate of adults under correctional control of any state:
Georgia has the fourth-highest incarceration rate
Georgia is far ahead of any other state in adult probation rates
There are four private prisons in Georgia housing some 5,400 state prisoners
Two of these prisons opened in the last year. The other two were expanded in the last year
Private prison companies have a financial interest in sustained or increased incarceration rates
The two biggest private prison companies have poured lobbying resources and campaign contributions into the state in the last decade
The proposed state budget for FY 2013 includes $35 million for 2,650 new private prison beds
GDC (Georgia Department of Correction) cost analyses indicate that private prisons cost more per-inmate per-day than state-run prisons
There are 35 private probation companies in Georgia operating in over 600 courts
These companies enjoy minimal oversight because of a state stat¬ute providing confidentiality for all of their information
Many people are only placed on misdemeanor probation because they are too poor to pay fines at court
Common-sense reforms are possible:
Transparency is a prerequisite to accountability: cost and performance data should be made available and evaluated
Precise contract terms and enforceable monitoring mechanisms should be implemented to define the performance standards private companies must meet and to equip regulators to enforce those standards
State actors who interact with private companies in the performance of their duties should receive specialized training in order to increase consistency and fairness across the state
As Georgia streamlines its correctional expenditures to bring costs in line with best practices, it should phase out profit-seeking companies’ involvement in the criminal justice system because their business model is at odds with the goal of running effective and fair criminal justice and prison systems at the lowest reasonable cost
To learn more about the Southern Center for Human Rights click here to go to website
The full SCHR report can be read by clicking on the link below.
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