Arizona May Turn Death Row Over To Private Companies

nytimes.com:

FLORENCE, Ariz. -- One of the newest residents on Arizona's death row, a convicted serial killer named Dale Hausner, poked his head up from his television to look at several visitors strolling by, each of whom wore face masks and vests to protect against the sharp homemade objects that often are propelled from the cells of the condemned.

It is a dangerous place to patrol, and Arizona spends $4.7 million each year to house inmates like Mr. Hausner in a super-maximum-security prison. But in a first in the criminal justice world, the state's death row inmates could become the responsibility of a private company.

Read the whole story: nytimes.com

Comments

[TXfemmom]

As a purely pragmatic step, the death penalty is a burden. TX sends more to death row than any other state and it doesn't seem to be much of a deterrent. Perhaps, about ninety percent should just be changed to life without parole and made totally miserable. Limit visitors to their attorneys, no calls or letters from home, no TV, no goodies, just living in a cell. The cost of executing someone is somethign like twenty times or thirty times as much as keeping them in prison for life. Society just can't afford it at this time. Perhaps keep it as an option but use it sparingly.

[NetworkGuy]

Crime and punishment... a growth industry. At this rate we won't need to elect public officials, we'll just elect some HR people to do the hiring.

[Zenith1959]

So with the prisons, a private company can do it for less money then the government, but with health care, the government can do it for less money than a private company? Maybe we should let the health insurance companies run the prisons in exchange for letting the government run health insurance.

[TXfemmom]

If it worked, it would be okay with me. However, if we were smart, we would just legalize marijuana. After I read an article by the AG of Arizona in which he spoke about how marijuana provides fully 60% of the income of the Mexican cartels, that cinched it for me. Legalize the stuff, give allottments for growing it as they do tobacco, so many farmers can get money from it, produce it, package it, and then sell and tax it. Keep controls on the age, and on not driving, etc.

The savings on the judicial and penal systems would be ENORMOUS, and we would actually make MONEY on it, which could be diverted for health care and other badly needed things Concentrate on the meth, heroine and cocaine. With sixty percent of their income gone, the Mexicans and we might be able to get the cartels under control.

[DeeDubya]

Death for profit.

What's new?

[medic628]

The sad thing is, you go to prison you get health care.

[Mark Twaine]

I can see it now: Arizona state vouchers to private prisons providing freedom of choice for death row inmates followed by home prisons with tax credits. Isn't that the Republican way?

[Citizen4Justice]

Private prison companies lobby for tough drug laws. Care to guess why?

[madisonhack]

Exactly. They lobby heavily for minimum sentencing requirements, three strikes and you're out, and so on. They deal in human being storage, and they've made the business as profitable as any business that can effectively lobby Congress.

[Mark Twaine]

The Heritage Foundation?? The same think tank that pushed Bush into invading Iraq now wants to save our states by privatizing their prisons?? I don't suppose they have done a study on privatizing the Maricopa County Sheriffs Department!

[Mildmannered]

private companies that will cut the health and retirement benefits of the guards

[JayEsbe]

The notion of our supposed representatives, turning punishments or executions of our fellow citizens, over to a private corporations, to be a fundamental violation of of the constitution (see OF and BY the People), through an abdication of vested powers. I find the notion fascist and very chilling.

[BannedInBoston]

The _death penalty is a form of human sacrfice, not essentially different from the practices of the Mayans and Aztecs.

[joemike127]

Lets give it to the birthers and see if after some hands on experience, they are any better with death certifcates.

[Mark Twaine]

They could hire Michele Bachmann as warden!

[MAragon]

Privatization is just wrong - for the military and for the penal system. I just get a horrible bad feeling from the prospect of this.

[BannedInBoston]

The _death penalty itself is what is wrong, not who administers it....

[Mark Twaine]

Privatization is just another way for Republicans to reward campaign contributors and gain new campaign contributors even if it means outsourcing death!

[OkieMon]

national soc*ialism (naz*ism).­......publ­ic tax dollars turned into private pofit......hi*tler invented it....bush­/neocons/r­epublik*kk­ans perfected it....

[6925thCobras]

I can see it now, the padre says, "I absolve you of all your sins...you've been a great audience....don't forget to tip your executioner...."