[bmitc]

While that percentage is low, it doesn't tell the whole story. Private prisons are certainly a major symptom of the problem with our prisons. The U.S. has the largest private prison population in the world, and you'll note from your own link that the private prison population from 2000 to 2019 increased by 39%. Also, for federal prisons, the percentage of inmates in private prisons is 19.1%. These are definitely problems and discussing them also helps discuss the big issues such as why in the hell we're incarcerating so many people.

https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/capitalizing-...

[kristofferR]

And private prisons create an insane incentive to increase incarceration in order to increase profits.