Private prisons are a red herring. The vast majority of prisoners are not in private prisons, and states have been moving to get rid of them. In many big states, like New York and Illinois, private prisons weren’t legal to begin with. Rikers, the NYC jail famous for its abuses, was public.
People make private prisons to face of prison abuse for tactical reasons. In reality, the story of the American prison system is the story of the government: voters who demanded “tough on crime” laws; brutal publicly run police; harsh publicly operated prisons; all tied together and supported by public unions.
This 100%. Private prisons are used to create a contrast statement for corporate suppliers of prisons and lobbyists to "show" how cheaply operations can be done. They are a conference booth to lure states in regarding shredding prisoner QOL for a 6% revenue increase can work without increasing the inmate death rate too much.
The Industrial private prison complex owner group don't want to operate, they want to sell support, training, equipment and materials to public prisons not operate (like a defense contractor), because a prison is very complicated management problem and has little public reward over budget efficiency sadly (things are changing but slowly).
People make private prisons to face of prison abuse for tactical reasons. In reality, the story of the American prison system is the story of the government: voters who demanded “tough on crime” laws; brutal publicly run police; harsh publicly operated prisons; all tied together and supported by public unions.