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Last week, we challenged Damon Hininger, the head of Corrections Corporation of America - the world's largest for-profit incarceration company - to a debate on the merits of prison privatization. Today, Mother Jones reported that the company is shrinking from the challenge.

We invited Hininger to tell us, in a 90-minute public debate with equal time given to each side, why he thinks we're wrong to call for the elimination of for-profit incarceration. As we wrote to Hininger: "If you truly believe that private prisons are right for our country, we see no reason why you would be unwilling to defend that position in a public debate."
These are the views we invited CCA to refute in a public forum:
* Evidence that for-profit prisons save taxpayer money is mixed at best, and privatization cannot fix the nation's binge spending on incarceration. Indeed, the industry's business model depends on extracting as much public money as possible by locking up the maximum number of people.
* Private prisons have incentives to maximize profits by cutting comers at the expense of decent conditions and public safety. Empirical research supports the view that private prisons pay correctional officers lower wages, resulting in higher turnover and less experienced staff.
* New prisons, whether public or private, deliver few benefits to local communities.
And here from CCA to answer the challenge, debate these assertions, and expose them as bunk is . . .
Well, no one.
If you think you deserve to know the truth about what CCA is doing with your taxpayer dollars, go here and urge Hininger to accept our invitation.
Learn more about private prisons: Sign up for breaking news alerts, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Last week, we challenged Damon Hininger, the head of Corrections Corporation of America - the world's largest for-profit incarceration company - to a debate on the merits of prison privatization. Today, Mother Jones reported that the company is shrinking from the challenge.

We invited Hininger to tell us, in a 90-minute public debate with equal time given to each side, why he thinks we're wrong to call for the elimination of for-profit incarceration. As we wrote to Hininger: "If you truly believe that private prisons are right for our country, we see no reason why you would be unwilling to defend that position in a public debate."
These are the views we invited CCA to refute in a public forum:
* Evidence that for-profit prisons save taxpayer money is mixed at best, and privatization cannot fix the nation's binge spending on incarceration. Indeed, the industry's business model depends on extracting as much public money as possible by locking up the maximum number of people.
* Private prisons have incentives to maximize profits by cutting comers at the expense of decent conditions and public safety. Empirical research supports the view that private prisons pay correctional officers lower wages, resulting in higher turnover and less experienced staff.
* New prisons, whether public or private, deliver few benefits to local communities.
And here from CCA to answer the challenge, debate these assertions, and expose them as bunk is . . .
Well, no one.
If you think you deserve to know the truth about what CCA is doing with your taxpayer dollars, go here and urge Hininger to accept our invitation.
Learn more about private prisons: Sign up for breaking news alerts, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.
Last week, we challenged Damon Hininger, the head of Corrections Corporation of America - the world's largest for-profit incarceration company - to a debate on the merits of prison privatization. Today, Mother Jones reported that the company is shrinking from the challenge.

We invited Hininger to tell us, in a 90-minute public debate with equal time given to each side, why he thinks we're wrong to call for the elimination of for-profit incarceration. As we wrote to Hininger: "If you truly believe that private prisons are right for our country, we see no reason why you would be unwilling to defend that position in a public debate."
These are the views we invited CCA to refute in a public forum:
* Evidence that for-profit prisons save taxpayer money is mixed at best, and privatization cannot fix the nation's binge spending on incarceration. Indeed, the industry's business model depends on extracting as much public money as possible by locking up the maximum number of people.
* Private prisons have incentives to maximize profits by cutting comers at the expense of decent conditions and public safety. Empirical research supports the view that private prisons pay correctional officers lower wages, resulting in higher turnover and less experienced staff.
* New prisons, whether public or private, deliver few benefits to local communities.
And here from CCA to answer the challenge, debate these assertions, and expose them as bunk is . . .
Well, no one.
If you think you deserve to know the truth about what CCA is doing with your taxpayer dollars, go here and urge Hininger to accept our invitation.
Learn more about private prisons: Sign up for breaking news alerts, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.