Private prisons are more a symptom then a cause of high incarceration rates. States began using them in <i>response</i> to prison over-population - and the percentage of inmates in private prisons is relatively low (single digits IIRC).<p>edit: to be clear I am against privatization of prisons because I think the incentives are woefully misaligned, but wanted to point out it&#x27;s inaccurate to suggest they&#x27;re the cause of our high incarceration rate