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PA Lawmakers Should Encourage Prison Health Competition, Not Ban It
January 20, 2012, 1:03pmWith Pennsylvania facing at least a $500 million budget deficit next year, the last thing fiscally responsible policymakers should be doing is protecting sacred cows in government. Unfortunately, those trying to advance legislation to protect the jobs of Commonwealth prison nurses are attempting just that.
Lawmakers Should Encourage Prison Health Competition, Not Ban It
Attempt to ban privatization of prison nurses is misguided
January 19, 2012With Pennsylvania facing at least a $500 million budget deficit next year, the last thing fiscally responsible policymakers should be doing is protecting sacred cows in government. Unfortunately, those trying to advance legislation to protect the jobs of Commonwealth prison nurses are attempting just that.
Embrace Competition to Lower Costs, Improve Performance in Prisons
Private sector can drive efficiency, improve offender rehabilitation and save taxpayer money
October 12, 2011Since the private corrections industry emerged in the 1980s, over 30 states — including California, Texas, Florida and Colorado — have embraced public-private partnerships. Today approximately 9 percent of federal and state inmates are held in privately-operated prisons. One reason is clear: The private sector is saving governments, and thus taxpayers, money.
Uncertainty Looms As California Corrections “Realignment” Plan Begins Saturday
September 26, 2011, 12:44pmOn the heels of the Supreme Court's Brown v. Plata ruling that deemed California's publicly-operated prisons provide unconstitutional medical and mental health care, the Golden State is about to gamble on an untried realignment plan that would transfer the responsibility for punishing and rehabilitating thousands of nonviolent felons from the state prison system to local communities.
Your Lying Eyes
How fallible memories send innocent people to prison
August 31, 2011Three-quarters of the defendants who are cleared by DNA evidence were convicted based on sincere yet inaccurate eyewitness testimony. The New Jersey Supreme Court highlighted that problem last week when it revised the state's rules for pretrial hearings and jury instructions based on three decades of research exposing the fallibility of human memory. Senior Editor Jacob Sullum says the decision reminds us that the most powerful testimony jurors hear may also be the weakest, subject to hidden influences that can send an innocent man to prison if they remain unexposed.
Injustice, In Plain Sight
The trouble with eyewitness testimony
August 29, 2011It's a dismally familiar tale: a victim making an eyewitness identification that later turns out to be horribly mistaken. As Steve Chapman explains, this type of mistake is universally known as the most common cause of false convictions. Yet law enforcement authorities, courts, and juries continue to treat eyewitness testimony as pure gold.
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- Lawmakers Should Encourage Prison Health Competition, Not Ban It
Attempt to ban privatization of prison nurses is misguided
Leonard Gilroy and Harris Kenny
January 19, 2012 - Embrace Competition to Lower Costs, Improve Performance in Prisons
Private sector can drive efficiency, improve offender rehabilitation and save taxpayer money
Leonard Gilroy
October 12, 2011 - Your Lying Eyes
How fallible memories send innocent people to prison
Jacob Sullum
August 31, 2011 - Injustice, In Plain Sight
The trouble with eyewitness testimony
Steve Chapman
August 29, 2011 - Reading Is Fundamentally Forbidden
Prison Legal News fights for the First Amendment at South Carolina's Berkeley County Detention Center.
Greg Beato
August 25, 2011 - Bad Boys
A rogue’s gallery of misbehaving prosecutors, plus three worth praising
Radley Balko
June 27, 2011 - The Facts about American Prisons
Separating economic myths from economic truths
Veronique de Rugy
June 24, 2011 - You’ve Got Jail
Is it time to bring America’s prisoners online?
Greg Beato
June 24, 2011 - The Golden State’s Iron Bars
How California prison guards became the country’s most powerful union
Tim Cavanaugh
June 23, 2011 - Indefensible
Public defenders are too overloaded to protect the rights of the accused.
Clay Conrad
June 22, 2011 - Rape Factories
Why is the government doing so little to end sexual assault in prisons?
Lovisa Stannow
June 20, 2011 - The Crime Rate Puzzle
Did incarceration reduce the crime rate, or did it get in the way?
Radley Balko
June 20, 2011 - Less Time, Less Crime
Conservatives lead a movement toward “tough and smart” sentencing policies.
Julie Stewart
June 15, 2011 - Florida, U.K. Innovate in Corrections Partnerships
Public-private partnerships target recidivism, rehabilitation
Leonard Gilroy
June 8, 2011 - Prison Math
What are the costs and benefits of leading the world in locking up human beings?
Veronique de Rugy
June 8, 2011 - Wrongful Convictions
How many innocent Americans are behind bars?
Radley Balko
June 7, 2011 - Shrink the Prisons
Conservatives are as wrong about prison overcrowding as liberals were about welfare reform.
Shikha Dalmia
June 7, 2011 - Locked Up, Locked Out
The social costs of incarceration
Bruce Western
June 6, 2011 - Brown v. Plata Ruling Highlights Need for Reform (Not Tax Increases)
A multi-faceted approach is necessary to finally reform California's correctional system
Harris Kenny and Adam Summers
June 2, 2011 - Getting Infrastructure Partnerships Right in Ohio
Good start, but room for improvement in public-private partnership legislation
Leonard Gilroy
May 19, 2011 - Public-Private Partnerships Can Improve Corrections, Safety
Dominic M. Calabro and Adrian Moore
April 27, 2011 - AZ Office of the Auditor General Releases Provocative, but Flawed, Review of the Department of Corrections
Flawed Study Skews Public vs. Private Corrections Cost Comparison
Harris Kenny
November 4, 2010 - More Democracy, More Incarceration
The devastating mix of politics and crime policy
Radley Balko
October 25, 2010 - Private Prisons a Smart Strategy for Kentucky
Letter to the Editor submitted to the Louisville Courier-Journal
Leonard Gilroy
July 8, 2010 - Cutting Costs for State's Prisons
Transferring 25,000 inmates to out-of-state private prisons would save California $1.8 billion over five years
Jon Coupal and Leonard Gilroy
April 7, 2010 - Is Texas About To Execute Another Innocent Man?
State officials would rather kill a prisoner than give him a DNA test.
Radley Balko
February 22, 2010 - Laissez Les Bon Reforms Roulez
Government reform, Louisiana-style
Leonard Gilroy
December 16, 2009 - Private Prisons a Smart Strategy for Arizona
Prison privatization opponents rely on myths, not facts
Leonard Gilroy
November 17, 2009 - Policymakers Turn to Privatization Amid Prolonged Government Fiscal Crises
Privatization, public-private partnerships increasingly prominent in fiscal policy debates
Leonard Gilroy
August 6, 2009 - Florida Benefitting from Prison Privatization
Applying competition to corrections delivers cost savings, accountability
Leonard Gilroy
January 16, 2009 - "Perfect Storm" Could Accelerate Privatization Trends
MuniNet Guide Interview with Reason's Leonard Gilroy
Leonard Gilroy
October 24, 2008 - Comparing the Performance of Private and Public Prisons
If you can't win, change the rules
Geoffrey Segal
April 4, 2008 - CA Prison System Presents Major Reform Opportunity
Schwarzenegger needs to battle powerful prison guards
Geoffrey Segal
January 12, 2006 - Private Prison Success
Study says CA private prison is delivering results
Geoffrey Segal
November 30, 2005 - Competition Saves Money
Private prisons would help Georgia cut costs
Geoffrey Segal and Kelly McCutchen
October 8, 2004 - Sheriff Can Ease Budget Shortfall With Private Jail
Marion County should look to private sector
Geoffrey Segal
August 13, 2004 - Privatize Prisons, Unlock Savings
Kentucky proposal to open private prison is good business
Geoffrey Segal
August 11, 2004 - States Tap Private Prisons
Governors looking to save use private sector
Geoffrey Segal
July 1, 2004 - Best Prison Reform: Privatization
CA corrections system if rife with problems
Geoffrey Segal
February 24, 2004 - Private Prisons Save Money, Boost Productivity
Privatization saves 5 to 20 percent
Geoffrey Segal
November 17, 2003 - Reality Check on Connecticut Prisons
Adrian Moore
July 30, 2003 - Increased Competition Will Lead to Savings
Virginia could save millions
Geoffrey Segal
June 17, 2003 - Cashing In on Gov. Davis' Prison Contract
Union gets rich at taxpayer expense
Geoffrey Segal
July 24, 2002 - Why Spare Prisons From Budget Cuts?
Prison guards get special treatment from Davis
David Nott
January 21, 2002 - Supreme Court Rules on Private Prison Liability
Inmates at private and government-run prisons should have same rights
Geoffrey Segal
January 7, 2002 - Private Prisons Better Suited to Address Problems
Facilities are more accountable
Geoffrey Segal
October 10, 2001 - Innovative Alternatives to Traditional Municipal/County Corrections
Tested solutions to jail management needs
Geoffrey Segal
March 1, 2001 - Prison Escape Highlights System Woes
Who will correct the corrections system?
Geoffrey Segal
January 22, 2001
Prisons and Corrections Blog
- PA Lawmakers Should Encourage Prison Health Competition, Not Ban It (1/20)
- Lawmakers Should Encourage Prison Health Competition, Not Ban It (1/19)
- Embrace Competition to Lower Costs, Improve Performance in Prisons (10/12)
- Uncertainty Looms As California Corrections “Realignment” Plan Begins Saturday (9/26)
- Your Lying Eyes (8/31)
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