“Since the early 1980s, there has been a historically unprecedented increase in the federal prison population. Some of the growth is attributable to changes in federal criminal justice policy during the previous three decades.”-The Federal Prison Population Buildup: Overview, Policy Changes, Issues, and Options

08 February 2013, according to a Congressional Research Service report made public at the end of January, the number of Americans now incarcerated in federal prisons has skyrocket by 790%, since 1980!

“Since FY [fiscal year] 1980, the federal prison population has increased, on average, by approximately 6,100 inmates each year. Data show that a growing proportion of inmates are being incarcerated for immigration- and weapons-related offenses, but the largest portion of newly admitted inmates are being incarcerated for drug offenses.”

The researchers suggested using more private for profit prisons: “Placing more inmates in private facilities could help alleviate overcrowding in federal prisons without the need to invest in a large-scale expansion of federal prison bedspace.”

However, they admitted that recent studies were inconclusive as to the effectiveness and cost savings of privately run prisons, because of the way data was put together.  They quoted the conclusion of another study which said “…prison privatization provides neither a clear advantage nor disadvantage compared with publicly managed prisons. Neither cost savings nor improvements in quality of confinement are guaranteed through privatization.”-Brad W. Lundahl, Chelsea Kunz, and Cyndi Brownell, et al., “A Meta-analysis of Cost and Quality of Confinement Indicators,” Research on Social Work Practice, vol. 19, no. 4 (July 2009), p. 392

What was that about the Land of the Free?