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@ISIDEWITHQuestionsCriminal IssuesStarted 7yrs agoActive 2yrs ago

Should the government hire private companies to run prisons?

Private prisons are incarceration centers that are run by a for-profit company instead of a government agency. The companies that operate private prisons are paid a per-diem or monthly rate for each prisoner they keep in their facilities. In 2016 8.5% of the prisoner population was housed in private prisons. This is an 8% decline since 2000. Opponents of private prisons argue that incarceration is a social responsibility and that entrusting it to for-profit companies is inhumane. Proponents argue that prisons run by private companies are consistently more cost effective than those run by…  

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Answer Overview

Response rates from 374k America voters.

22%
Yes
78%
No
13%
Yes
69%
No
8%
Yes, but they should be strictly regulated to prevent mismanagement and corruption
9%
No, private prisons will sacrifice quality of care and rehabilitation services for profit
2%
Yes, but eliminate contractual occupancy quotas

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Trend of support over time for each answer from 374k America voters.

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Trend of how important this issue is for 374k America voters.

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Other Popular Answers

Unique answers from America voters whose views went beyond the provided options.

 @8D7X8VB from Pennsylvania  answered…6yrs6Y

No, private companies want to grow and they grow with more inmates. A viscous cycle that private companies will take advantage of for their gain ... not what is morally right.

 @8TFN6B6 from Texas  answered…5yrs5Y

Yes and switch to a tent city prison system

 @8MNR3M5 from Indiana  answered…6yrs6Y

No, private companies can easily lead to corrupt leadership

 @8JCJLFZ from Texas  answered…6yrs6Y

Regardless, funding should be given based on how well prisons rehabilitate convicts.

 @8WVRC5K from Texas  answered…5yrs5Y

No and switch to a tent city prison system

 @9DNTZZ8 from Texas  answered…3yrs3Y

Regardless, prisons should be regulated well enough to not qualify as cruel punishment.

  @Parrot  from GU  answered…2yrs2Y

No, only non-profit or state owned enterprises should be allowed to operate prisons. Prisons by default should be ran for profit or at least break even.

 @7PTCG38 from Wisconsin  answered…3yrs3Y

No, private prisons will emphasize contractual occupancy quotas and profit over all other factors

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…2yrs2Y

Elizabeth Warren Walks Back Murder Comments

Congressional Democrats broadly denounced the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson Friday morning, after Republicans started accusing Sen. Elizabeth Warren of excusing violence.“No one's condoning this,” said Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.). “Violence never is the right answer for anything. And it was a horrible murder, a tragic loss for his family.” Warren this week condemned the shooting, but added that people “can be pushed only so far.”"We'll say it over and over," Warren said on MSNBC’S “The ReidOut.” " Violence is never the answer. This guy [Luigi Mangione] gets a trial who's allegedly killed the CEO of UnitedHealth, but you can only push people so far, and then they start to take matters into their own hands."In a statement to POLITICO, Warren said, “Violence is never the answer. Period. I should have been much clearer that there is never a justification for murder.” Top Republicans denounced Warren's comments and the walked-back rhetoric, with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) calling it “inappropriate and dangerous.”Some House Democrats asked about the incident on Thursday pivoted the conversation to discuss policy options on health care or gun safety.“I don't really know that this is really a space that Congress normally weighs in on,” said Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas). “But at the end of the day, I think it’s an opportunity, because now people are talking about health care and to talk about the fact that this industry has honestly not been as helpful as it could be.”“Violence is never the answer,” said Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.). “We know that there are people suffering, there’s great challenges in healthcare. There's great challenges, and people have, in fact, been wronged, but a process of governance is the way to address that, not violence.”And Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) who denounced the murder, said the killer should be prosecuted and that “I do know that allegedly a ghost gun was used, and we should also ban ghost guns. There's no reason for them beyond the streets.”

▲  1614 replies

 @ISIDEWITH submitted…2yrs2Y

Israeli Bombings Kill 2,300 In Lebanon in 3 weeks

Lebanese authorities say Israeli bombing has killed more than 2,300 people and injured almost 11,000, mostly in the past three weeks, with Israeli attacks reaching areas far beyond Hizbollah’s traditional bastions of support in the south.The Israeli military has ordered people living in more than a quarter of Lebanon to flee, according to a UN calculation, as its fight with the Iran-backed Shia militant group Hizbollah threatens to engulf the Mediterranean country.Lebanese authorities say Israeli bombing has killed more than 2,300 people and injured almost 11,000, mostly in the past three weeks, with Israeli attacks reaching areas far beyond Hizbollah’s traditional bastions of support in the south.More than 1mn people have fled their homes in Lebanon in under a month, according to its government, a dramatic forced movement of the population in a country of only about 5mn inhabitants with a land mass smaller than the US state of Connecticut. Israeli forces began a ground offensive in south Lebanon two weeks ago, in their fourth invasion of the country in under five decades. They had already destroyed large parts of the densely populated southern Beirut suburb where Hizbollah had its headquarters, and killed many top militant commanders in air strikes, including former leader Hassan Nasrallah.Rema Jamous Imseis, Middle East director of UNHCR, told journalists in Geneva that “over 25 per cent of [Lebanon is] under a direct Israeli military evacuation order”. “People are heeding these calls to evacuate and they’re fleeing with almost nothing,” she added, saying that 80 per cent of the shelters opened by the Lebanese government — mostly in schools — were now full.

▲  1012 replies

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Based on 374k responses to this question.

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iSideWith. (2026). “Should the government hire private companies to run prisons?” — Public Opinion Poll Results. Retrieved June 21, 2026, from https://www.isidewith.com/poll/3644847244

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