I know you hate the "they are making a profit" argument, but please consider the economic forces at play. This is a cohort that has almost no voice with which to protest their treatment, so every effort is likely to be made to drive down costs. Private prison oversight is fraught with problems. It's also not great for staff. It's a bad place to have "market forces" Take some prison manager who needs to fill beds to get his income up, what can he do? Increase reporting of crime inside the prison (assaults, contraband, etc) or find some county/state with extra inmates. What if they don't have any? Get them to "find some" It happens. These folks cover some of it at least for Texas. http://www.texasprisonbidness.org/