Beginning in the mid 1980s, the privatization of jails and prisons burgeoned in the United States. Not only has there been a steady growth of private, for-profit operation of federal, state and county correctional facilities, but private firms have also become more involved in other aspects of the prison industry, such as the financing and construction of new prisons and the renovation of existing ones. Moreover, many of these private companies have gone public and are trading on the stock exchanges. Perhaps more than with other service industries in this country, the privatization of...