Jeff Becker

Overcrowding has become a major challenge of U.S. prisons, threatening the security of prisons and the safety of the public. Jeff Becker argues, in the following viewpoint, that allowing private companies to build and maintain prisons can help ease the burden of overcrowding endured by federal and state facilities. He claims that private prisons are run as safely as public prisons. Private prisons can also preserve public safety, he contends, because increased prison space means more inmates will carry out longer sentences. Becker is an undergraduate at Texas A&M University and contributor to the Battalion, Texas A&M’s student newspaper

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to Becker, why is it not a conflict of interest to make a profit from prisons"
2. In Becker’s view, for what aspects of operations...