Privatized Prisons (PPs) make money by locking people up, and the more people they lock up for more time, the more money they make. PPs were once outlawed at the beginning of the 20th Century. But, in the mid-1980s a problem began to emerge.

When the state wanted to build a new prison, it traditionally asked the voters to approve the cost through a bond issue. But this time, voters throughout the country began to say no. So the alternative was to start using PPs.