I worked on this issue extensively nationwide during the 1990s and  IF  the bias of entrenched unions AND  entrenched  state officials who  are "preservationists" for the status quo can be addressed AS well as   privatized corrections  company/ integrity  THEN   privatization WILL work! 

Just like the DRIC bridge subject. GOVERNMENT ALWAYS WANTS MORE CONTROL ! 
Michigan had an $800,000,000 budget for corrections when I first began working on that budget; corrections spending has grown 538% in the last 34 years !  In 2008 it was  $2 billion +   bucks annually !  2012 ..yikes !

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting new results !!!! We must be inovative !!!
Alternative sentencing and community corrections has NOT reached its potential in Michigan !! PA 511 is under utilized !