Richard A. Oppel Jr. wrote
on the front page of the New York Times, 19 May 2011,

Private Prisons Found to Offer Little in Savings

The conviction that private prisons save money helped drive more than
30 states to turn to them for housing inmates. But Arizona shows that
popular wisdom might be wrong: Data there suggest that privately operated
prisons can cost more to operate than state-run prisons — even though
they often steer clear of the sickest, costliest inmates.

That’s right, they leave we the taxpayers to pay more in public prisons
to house the most expensive prisoners:

The research, by the Arizona Department of Corrections, also reveals a
murky aspect of private prisons that helps them appear less expensive:
They often house only relatively healthy inmates.

“It’s cherry-picking,” said State Representative Chad Campbell,
leader of the House Democrats. “They leave the most expensive prisoners
with taxpayers and take the easy prisoners.”

And yet private prisons still cost more.

Could it have something to do with their executive salaries?

Anyway, we don’t need a private prison in Lowndes County.
Spend that tax money on education instead.

-jsq