Who pays? We do.  Might I add we already pay quite enough as it is, thanks.

ahhhh.... its expensive to run a correctional facility

I assume private prisons already make profit with labor from the prisoners and money from state to house them.

"Industry-funded studies often conclude that states can save money by using private prisons. However, state-funded studies have found that private prisons keep only low-cost inmates and send others back to state-run prisons"

"A study by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics found that the cost-savings promised by private prisons “have simply not materialized.”[24] Some research has concluded that for-profit prisons cost more than public prisons.[25] Furthermore, cost estimates from privatization advocates may be misleading, because private facilities often refuse to accept inmates that cost the most to house. A 2001 study concluded that a pattern of sending less expensive inmates to privately-run facilities artificially inflated cost savings.[26] A 2005 study found that Arizona’s public facilities were seven times more likely to house violent offenders and three times more likely to house those convicted of more serious offenses.[27]

Evidence suggests that lower staff levels and training at private facilities may lead to increases in incidences of violence and escapes. A nationwide study found that assaults on guards by inmates were 49 percent more frequent in private prisons than in government-run prisons. The same study revealed that assaults on fellow inmates were 65 percent more frequent in private prisons.[28]

CCA and The GEO Group have been major contributors to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a Washington, D.C. based public policy organization that develops model legislation that advances free-market principles such as privatization. Under their Criminal Justice Task Force, ALEC has developed model bills which State legislators can then consult when proposing “tough on crime” initiatives including “Truth in Sentencing” and “Three Strikes” laws. By funding and participating in ALEC’s Criminal Justice Task Forces, critics argue, private prison companies directly influence legislation for tougher, longer sentences.[29]

CCA and GEO have both engaged in state initiatives to increase sentences for offenders and to create new crimes, including, CCA helping to finance Proposition 6 in California in 2008 and GEO lobbying for Jessica's Law[30] in Kansas in 2006. The legal system may also be manipulated more directly: in the Kids for cash scandal, Mid-Atlantic Youth Services Corp, a private prison company was found guilty of paying two judges[31] $2.6m to send 2000 children to their prisons."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prison

I'm sure private prisons love the US war on drugs.  Mainly locking up non violent criminals whose only crime was possession of drugs.

no they should pay the state for their free housing, medical care, food, and gym memberships.

They get paid peanuts, but get free food and housing. prison medical facilities are crap. But they get free check ups. I think they should get paid minimum wage, but pay for their stay. Florida charges inmates $3 a day in palm beach county. If your getting charged then yes, minimum wage. In illinois there is no charge. They shouldnt get paid minimum if the state is paying for their mistakes with tax dollars. The state of illinois received $35,000 a year for the two years i spent in prison. All tax dollars. Thats why institutions are making unbelievable profits off of laws.

Hell no.

If there wasn't a heavy war on drugs since the 80s then there would be no need for private prisons.  There should be treatment instead of incarceration. 

No, If they do that my cousin will keep getting locked up until he gets life. It's punishment and that is the way it should stay, I think more prisons should be a little more strict on their inmates.

Shouldn't the question be, is it moral to take jobs away from free people?



"All told, nearly a million prisoners are now making office furniture, working in call centers, fabricating body armor, taking hotel reservations, working in slaughterhouses, or manufacturing textiles, shoes, and clothing, while getting paid somewhere between 93 cents and $4.73 per day,"

The companies that do pay workers can get up to 40 percent of the money back in taxpayer-funded reimbursements, according to RT.

So with the taxes you pay your job gets send off to prison...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/10/prison-labor_n_2272036.html

No. They should be kept in a tiny room with no windows. They should eat only one meal a day. They should not be allowed to leave that room - ever. This is punishment not a vacations.