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    Debate Opening Statement

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    Liza George
    The document discusses the debate around privatizing prisons. It argues that while privatization is believed to increase efficiency, the evidence is mixed. Specifically, two reports found that privatized prisons in Ohio and Arizona actually cost more than state-run facilities due to fees charged to the state and higher per-inmate costs. Additionally, private prisons may select healthier inmates, increasing costs for the state. Privatization also negatively impacts state workers and can increase unemployment and incarceration rates.

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    Debate Opening Statement

    Uploaded by

    Liza George
    76 views1 page
    The document discusses the debate around privatizing prisons. It argues that while privatization is believed to increase efficiency, the evidence is mixed. Specifically, two reports found that privatized prisons in Ohio and Arizona actually cost more than state-run facilities due to fees charged to the state and higher per-inmate costs. Additionally, private prisons may select healthier inmates, increasing costs for the state. Privatization also negatively impacts state workers and can increase unemployment and incarceration rates.

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    Debate opening statement

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    The document discusses the debate around privatizing prisons. It argues that while privatization is believed to increase efficiency, the evidence is mixed. Specifically, two reports found that privatized prisons in Ohio and Arizona actually cost more than state-run facilities due to fees charged to the state and higher per-inmate costs. Additionally, private prisons may select healthier inmates, increasing costs for the state. Privatization also negatively impacts state workers and can increase unemployment and incarceration rates.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    76 views1 page

    Debate Opening Statement

    Uploaded by

    Liza George
    The document discusses the debate around privatizing prisons. It argues that while privatization is believed to increase efficiency, the evidence is mixed. Specifically, two reports found that privatized prisons in Ohio and Arizona actually cost more than state-run facilities due to fees charged to the state and higher per-inmate costs. Additionally, private prisons may select healthier inmates, increasing costs for the state. Privatization also negatively impacts state workers and can increase unemployment and incarceration rates.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
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    Debate opening statement

    There is a popular, if unexamined, belief that privatizing government functions is a good


    idea. People think that private companies with a profit motive will be less wasteful and
    more efficient, without sacrificing quality of services. The empirical evidence on
    privatization of any government function is mixed at best. According to the Huffington
    Post,” State officials have argued that selling and outsourcing the prison will generate $3
    million in cost savings each year. But a report from Policy Matters Ohio calculated that
    selling the Lake Erie prison would actually cost more in the long term than if the state
    continued to own the property and pay off the construction bonds. That's because the
    state has to pay Corrections Corporation of America a $3.8 million annual ownership fee
    for housing state prisoners, in addition to the prisoner per-diem costs laid out in the
    contract. According to the report, the prison sale would cost taxpayers $11 million more
    over the next 20 years than if the state would have continued to own the prison.”
    (Kirkham, 2012) A 2010 report from the auditor general found that Arizona paid more
    for inmates in private prisons than for those in state facilities. The cost of an inmate in a
    state prison is $48.13 per day, compared to the cost of $55.89 per day in a private
    prison, according to the report. (Lambert, 2011) The statistical data only shows half the
    picture. It fails to take into account that some private institutions cherry pick their
    inmate population and leave refuse to house the inmates with severe health problems.
    So the state is left with the inmates racking up the higher medical bills. Another point
    which is not being represented in the data is the effect to society as a whole. It also fails
    to take into account the affect on society as a whole. What happens to the state workers
    and their benefits? Ultimately they are displaced or can stay making a lower wage and
    without their state benefits. There is a direct correlation between unemployment and
    the amount of people incarcerated. As unemployment rises, jail populations increase.
    When there is less unemployment, there are less people incarcerated as well. Raising
    the unemployment rate or lowering employee’s wages will only degrade society further
    and crate even more inmates. If we remember that the people who privatize are
    generally wealthy, this reminds us of an old story where the rich get richer and the poor
    get poorer -- where the hard earned tax money from each of us is funneled into the
    hands of the wealthy few for their own personal gain. While we each like to think we
    don't live in a society like that, today this is justified to us through the myth that "free
    markets" are the same thing as democracy; that if everything is privatized and ruled by
    the law of the dollar then democracy will be ensured. With privatization they are will be
    held less accountable and their records will not be public as they are in government
    owned facilities. Lastly, we are moving towards a longitudinal health record. Private
    companies will have their own, sometimes even proprietary system of records
    management. It is just one more hurdle in being able to have all facilities and
    communicate electronically.

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