Prison Privatization

Natalie Holbrook

Natalie Holbrook directs AFSC's Criminal Justice Program in Michigan.

Privatizing prisons carries a high cost for prisoners and society, says Natalie Holbrook, who directs AFSC's Criminal Justice Program in Michigan.

Listen here to this recent radio interview in which Natalie explains why the humane treatment of prisoners is important and why releasing eligible people is the best way to cut prison costs.

Prisoner profit

PHOENIX, AZ — A pioneering survey has revealed strong support for significant change in Arizona's criminal justice funding and incarceration policies. The data indicate that, while public safety is a very important issue, voters in Arizona believe criminal justice policies should be cost effective, and they are open to alternative approaches as a means of reducing the state budget.

Corporations and Prisons

The analysis of proposals by for-profit prison companies has prompted the state of New Hampshire to cancel the privatization process. Now, a coalition of organizations opposing prison privatization is calling for passage of a new law prohibiting prison privatization altogether.

Corporations and Prisons

While New Hampshire’s corrections department reviews proposals from private companies seeking to build and operate its prisons, the state’s residents are learning how prison privatization has played out elsewhere—namely, in Arizona.

Caroline Isaacs at KSC

Caroline Isaacs spoke to 75 people at Keene State College during her 3-day New Hampshire speaking tour.

A Warning for New Hampshire

Don’t follow Arizona down the path of prison privatization, New Hampshire residents were warned last week by Caroline Isaacs, an activist and researcher from the American Friends Service Committee’s office in Tucson.

Speaking September 4 to 6 at public events in Concord, Keene, Nashua, and Lancaster, Isaacs described the actual cost and performance of eleven Arizona prisons owned and run by three corporations that have each submitted proposals to build and operate a major new prison facility in New Hampshire.