There are plenty of private prisons in the US and most of them are terrible. You’re right that the barrier to entry and long term prospects of running private

There are plenty of private prisons in the US and most of them are terrible. You’re right that the barrier to entry and long term prospects of running private prisons isn’t lucrative enough for more competitors to enter into. Regulation is an issue because the country is divided on how to view imprionsment and criminals in general. I think you really need a federal inspector general and federal regulation combined with delegation to the states to run their own prison system. That may even extend to the local level in order to prevent prejudice and rights violations. So yeah, I think private prisons combined with strict, public oversight would benefit everyone.