CCA is attempting what might be considered extortion of Colorado, asking the state to give it tens of millions more dollars to continue to operate its two Colorado facilities. As the state's prison population has declined, CCA's population has too, resulting in the company losing money. So they've told the state they'll need a subsidy to keep both prisons open, essentially backing the state into a corner, because it doesn't have the capacity to all of a sudden take on the prisoners in CCA facilities. The state is already considering putting some of the millions of dollars it has saved by closing its supermax prison towards the difference, but it doesn't seem likely that that $4 million or more would be enough to satisfy CCA. The company is threatening to either close its facilities or start shedding scores of jobs, which has officials in the two affected counties pretty nervous about the economic ramifications.
Yet another example of how privatizing prisons (and other essential government functions) can come back to bite governments.
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