[paulajohnson]

I think thats got a lot to do with it. Google "prison lobby" for a range of articles on the problem. The same companies also pay for public campaigns that talk up the danger from crime, as that makes people vote for punitive restrictions that keep the money rolling in.

Those politicians who say "If I act on this I'll lose the next election" do so exactly because they know what the private prison industry can do to them.