Woofenburger, Hominy (10/21/2009 9:22:54 AM)

I've been telling you people that the State does it cheaper than the privates. This is true even though the State has to keep all the chronically ill offenders and high maintenance offenders that require a lot of transportation and extra staff to supervise them. The privates for the most part won't take those guys.

Ryanoceros, Tulsa (10/21/2009 10:26:20 AM)

Inmates should be working for the people, paying for their crime with both time and money. They are able bodied, they can work like the rest of us for food, clothing, and shelter.

Penologist, (10/21/2009 12:22:40 PM)

The only place the "cost savings" by the for-profits exist is in their sales pitches.

Their prisons are dangerous, escape ridden, low paying, high turnover, subject to frequent riots, involved in multi-million dollar overcharges (GEO and CCA overcharged Florida by $12.5 million), tax avoidant, and corruptive.

GEO and CCA spend many millions yearly in DC and the states, both on lobbying and campaign contributions. Oklahoma Candidates from both parties, but mostly Republicans, rake in tens of thousands in donations from wardens, lobbyists, PACs, even vice presidents and corporate directors from Tennessee or Florida.

They have contractors such as Barry Switzer collecting on favors for them at the capitol and in towns where they want to build.

Retired CCA director Henry Wedell from Memphis, TN, for instance, with his wife Marsha, gave over $28,000 to Oklahoma candidates between 2002 and 2004.

That buys a lot of clout in Oklahoma City.

Arizona commissioned a study a few years ago that showed the for-profits cost the state 8.5% to 13.5% MORE than did public prisons.

Tulsa has experienced more than its share of difficulties from these outfits. Murders by escapees, mistaken releases, sexual abuse of prisoners, murders inside its for-profit prisons. The cost of prosecution of these offenses committed inside the for-profits and the subsequent incarceration costs are astronomical. Cornell escapees from Hinton were captured in a local chase.

Who do they hire? A CCA program manager at Tulsa had done 17 years for murder and was hired straight out of the pen. He was convicted of sodomizing a prisoner, did a few years, but has yet to register as a sex offender. An Avalon Vice President went to GEO's Lawton prison as an assistant warden before he was finally busted for trafficing in kiddie porn. He also only did a few years.

Oklahoma never should have allowed these disreputable outfits to build in the state.

SADE2009, Tulsa (10/21/2009 1:06:20 PM)

Oh and lets not forget why they have never investigated the fact that more than 10 thousand inmates from 1991 till 2001, the money that they earned from doing their time in orison from their jobs in there well some of their money is supposed to be sent to whatever county they received their sentence from and fines that money is supposed to go there but that money never made it there so basically the prison was pocketing that money that was supposed to be paying the inmates fines etc., then if for example an inmate does ten years in prison and they have a job for at least 9 of those ten years well you would think that the majority of their fines would have been paid with very little left over but nope not here in OK, these guys are getting out of prison and finding out that there fines were never paid on, the prison game is a very lucrative and corrupt business.

Tony G, Tulsa (10/21/2009 3:37:16 PM)

I always believed the state could do a better job.

AnaBannanna's, east of T town (10/22/2009 11:13:13 PM)

I think it is dangerous to privatize prisons... For when it becomes Money based it is real incentive to keep them full.. and keep the share holders happy.. Soon prison time will be given for jay walking or disagreement with the powers in the government.. who then take the pay from the prison company for filling their facilities..

Just sayin... It's occurred in other countries before.

Equal, fair, just, (10/23/2009 9:52:32 PM)

Ryano, your knowledge of the system seems rather limited or your would know that the majority of inmates do work. Are paid about $18 a month. Hardball. It is much more expensive to enforce the death penalty than life without parole. And with the number of mistakes made within our judicial system I cannot imagine a fairminded person being in favor of the death penalty. Think of your own family being falsely accused. Remember John Grisham's "An Innocent Man".

With all this talk of how much it costs to house inmates in any way shape or form. With budget cuts all over the place, I am amazed no one is calling on the governor about his role in this.
Currently there are approximately 500 packets that the Pardon and Parole Board have approved waiting for the governors signature. He is supposed to address each one submitted within 30 days. Some have languished for nearly a year. Last month he "got around to" signing off on 8. Eight. Of 500! So what does that mean in dollars and "sense". It means that if, IF, all 500 that have gone through the rigorous review process by the board and were approved, were signed. The state would be "saving" $8,101,000 a year on just those inmates. That is assuming the lower end of the scale of expense per inmate. Even if only half were signed off by the governor that still adds up to $4,051,000. Seems to me since most states figure the need for prison beds on the high school drop out rate, perhaps putting some of that money back into the education system to prevent the problem makes the most sense, cents.