It's a few days old, but do read Brent Staples New York Times op-ed about the incentives that politicians have to keep the prison population as large as possible. It's also disturbing to note that, while unions and private prison corporations may have their differences, both have obvious reasons for keeping prisons as full as possible. It would be nice to get the free market to put downward pressure on the prison population for a change—what about a market for private parole overseers, with incentives to keep as many parolees as it can out of trouble?