<P> As of September 2013, condoms for prisoners are only available in the U.S. State of Vermont (on September 17, 2013, the California Senate approved a bill for condom distribution inside the state's prisons, but the bill was not yet law at the time of approval) and in county jails in San Francisco . </P> <P> In September 2016, a group of corrections officers at Holman Correctional Facility have gone on strike over safety concerns and overcrowding . Prisoners refer to the facility as a "slaughterhouse" as stabbings are a routine occurrence . </P> <P> Prior to the 1980s, private prisons did not exist in the U.S. During the 1980s, as a result of the War on Drugs by the Reagan Administration, the number of people incarcerated rose . This created a demand for more prison space . The result was the development of privatization and the for - profit prison industry . </P> <P> A 1998 study was performed using three comparable Louisiana medium security prisons, two of which were privately run by different corporations and one of which was publicly run . The data from this study suggested that the privately run prisons operated more cost - effectively without sacrificing the safety of inmates and staff . The study concluded that both privately run prisons had a lower cost per inmate, a lower rate of critical incidents, a safer environment for employees and inmates, and a higher proportional rate of inmates who completed basic education, literacy, and vocational training courses . However, the publicly run prison outperformed the privately run prisons in areas such as experiencing fewer escape attempts, controlling substance abuse through testing, offering a wider range of educational and vocational courses, and providing a broader range of treatment, recreation, social services, and rehabilitative services . </P>

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