Private prisons incarcerate 8% of the total US prison population. I strongly suspect if they were banned, little would change for the average inmate. The rest

Private prisons incarcerate 8% of the total US prison population. I strongly suspect if they were banned, little would change for the average inmate. The rest of the inmates are in prisons that are state-owned and thus inherently nonprofit, and the guards & other staff are either state or federal workers. Contractors do things like provide commissary goods or run the inmate telephone system, but the guard in the tower at your local prison is a state employee.