Dear AFSCME Sisters and Brothers,

There’s been a lot in the news lately about the cost and danger of private prisons,
and we wanted to make sure that you knew about it.

Earlier this month, AFSCME published a new report on how private prison operators
grease the wheels of government to get their lucrative contracts: “Making a
Killing: How Prison Corporations are Profiting from Campaign Contributions and
Putting Taxpayers at Risk.” Our report also found that corner cutting has nasty
results, and “private prisons routinely experience more inmate escapes and higher
rates of violence due to chronically lax security and poorly trained, minimally paid
staff.”

Then, last week, the New York Times published an article raising additional
questions about the rationale for private prisons. The Times report indicates that
it actually costs taxpayers more to let private prison corporations run state
correctional facilities than it does to operate them using public service workers.

Where are the savings that are supposed to justify turning prisons over to
for-profit operators? They don’t exist!

Read more about AFSCME’s report here . Also, learn more about prison privatization
here .

The time has come to end this failed social experiment and provide public correction
departments with the resources they need to run secure state prisons.

In solidarity,
Gerald W. McEntee Lee A. Saunders
GERALD W. McENTEE
President LEE A. SAUNDERS
Secretary-Treasurer