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For-Profit Prisons: Eight Statistics That Show the Problems

Should Corporate/Privatized prisons be outlawed?


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    34
  • Poll closed .

DaveFagan

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For-Profit Prisons: Eight Statistics That Show the Problems

For-Profit Prisons: Eight Statistics That Show the Problems

For-Profit Prisons: Eight Statistics That Show the Problems

"As private prisons become the norm in the United States, it's time society takes a look at the institution and asks, "Are prisons really being used as rehabilitation/deterrence for crime, or have private interests started attaching price tags to lawbreakers’ heads and exploited their incarceration for profit?"
Here are several key statistics that paint an ugly, troubling picture of the for-profit prison system in America:
500% Increase
The biggest private prison owner in America, The Corrections Corporation of America, has seen its profits increase by more than 500% in the past 20 years. Moreover, the business’ growth shows no sign of stopping, having already approached 48 states to take over government-run prisons.
10-60 Pounds Lighter
One way for-profit prisons to minimize costs is by skimping on provisions, including food. A psychiatrist who investigated a privately run prison in Mississippi found that the inmates were severely underfed and looked “almost emaciated.” During their incarceration, prisoners dropped anywhere from 10 to 60 pounds.
100%
100% of all military helmets, ID tags, bullet-proof vests and canteens are created in federal prison systems through prison labor. Though prisoners are “generously” compensated cents per hour, it’s clear having this inexpensive, exploited labor force is critical to the military industrial complex. I bet that the irony that mostly non-violent offenders are making war gear for others to perpetuate violence abroad without consequence is not lost on many of the inmates.
90% Occupancy
States sign agreements with private prisons to guarantee that they will fill a certain number of beds in jail at any given point. The most common rate is 90%, though some prisons are able to snag a 100% promise from their local governments. Because of these contracts, the state is obligated to keep prisons almost full at all times or pay for the beds anyway, so the incentive is to incarcerate more people and for longer in order to fill the quota.
25%
One in every four people that is incarcerated worldwide is held captive in a United States jail. How is it that a country with only 5% of the world’s population has 25% of all the inmates? Simple: prisoners are source of revenue for private companies, so the demand for incarcerating them is especially high.
11 Times
Violent crimes are down overall, so how does the United States keep prisons stocked instead? Amplifying the war on drugs: there are now 11 times as many people in jail for drug convictions than there were in 1980, constituting 50% of the prison population. Longer mandatory minimum sentences also keeps the inmates in longer. Most people incarcerated for drug charges are non-violent, have no prior record, and are addicts rather than major drug-traffickers.
50%
Nearly half of all detained immigrants are held in privately owned facilities. The fact that ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has stepped up its game to detain more undocumented immigrants – about 400,000 each year – has actually increased the need for private systems as most detainees will linger in the system waiting for court dates for months if not years.
Civil rights groups have deemed the quality of care provided in immigrant detention centers unacceptable, particularly because of the large numbers of preventable fatalities and sexual assaults.
$45 million
The three largest for-profit prison corporations have spent more than $45 million on campaign donations and lobbyists to keep politicians on the side of privatized incarceration. In light of all of their ethical violations, it’s obvious that they have to offer some incentive for keeping their business legal."

25% of World's prison population in USA jails. WOW!
50% of prison population drug users.
Is there something wrong with this picture.
It seems like a conflict of interest for law enforcement to guarantee occupancy.
Why are there so many prisoners in US jails. Is it about profit.
Drug and immigrant enforcement will be good for jail business.
 
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25% of World's prison population in USA jails. WOW!

I'd guess 1/4 US, 1/4 Europe, 1/4 Russia and 1/4 South America, India and China. Developing countries do not have much of a justice system and there is slaughter and starvation.
 
Definitely should be outlawed. If our government has any role at all, it should be the operation of the justice system. That is one of the sole reasons we invented society and government in the first place. Allowing private corporations to lock our citizens in cages and lobby our politicians to keep victimless crimes illegal is one of the most sinister things I can imagine.

A prison should NEVER have a financial motivation to keep someone locked up. That is an insane conflict of interest.
 
I'd guess 1/4 US, 1/4 Europe, 1/4 Russia and 1/4 South America, India and China. Developing countries do not have much of a justice system and there is slaughter and starvation.

I'd guess you're full of crap. Provide links to your airballs.
 
Top 5: US, China, Russia, Brazil and India. The EU is only about half the US.

BBC NEWS | In Depth
 
For-Profit Prisons: Eight Statistics That Show the Problems

For-Profit Prisons: Eight Statistics That Show the Problems

For-Profit Prisons: Eight Statistics That Show the Problems

"As private prisons become the norm in the United States, it's time society takes a look at the institution and asks, "Are prisons really being used as rehabilitation/deterrence for crime, or have private interests started attaching price tags to lawbreakers’ heads and exploited their incarceration for profit?"
Here are several key statistics that paint an ugly, troubling picture of the for-profit prison system in America:
500% Increase
The biggest private prison owner in America, The Corrections Corporation of America, has seen its profits increase by more than 500% in the past 20 years. Moreover, the business’ growth shows no sign of stopping, having already approached 48 states to take over government-run prisons.
10-60 Pounds Lighter
One way for-profit prisons to minimize costs is by skimping on provisions, including food. A psychiatrist who investigated a privately run prison in Mississippi found that the inmates were severely underfed and looked “almost emaciated.” During their incarceration, prisoners dropped anywhere from 10 to 60 pounds.
100%
100% of all military helmets, ID tags, bullet-proof vests and canteens are created in federal prison systems through prison labor. Though prisoners are “generously” compensated cents per hour, it’s clear having this inexpensive, exploited labor force is critical to the military industrial complex. I bet that the irony that mostly non-violent offenders are making war gear for others to perpetuate violence abroad without consequence is not lost on many of the inmates.
90% Occupancy
States sign agreements with private prisons to guarantee that they will fill a certain number of beds in jail at any given point. The most common rate is 90%, though some prisons are able to snag a 100% promise from their local governments. Because of these contracts, the state is obligated to keep prisons almost full at all times or pay for the beds anyway, so the incentive is to incarcerate more people and for longer in order to fill the quota.
25%
One in every four people that is incarcerated worldwide is held captive in a United States jail. How is it that a country with only 5% of the world’s population has 25% of all the inmates? Simple: prisoners are source of revenue for private companies, so the demand for incarcerating them is especially high.
11 Times
Violent crimes are down overall, so how does the United States keep prisons stocked instead? Amplifying the war on drugs: there are now 11 times as many people in jail for drug convictions than there were in 1980, constituting 50% of the prison population. Longer mandatory minimum sentences also keeps the inmates in longer. Most people incarcerated for drug charges are non-violent, have no prior record, and are addicts rather than major drug-traffickers.
50%
Nearly half of all detained immigrants are held in privately owned facilities. The fact that ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has stepped up its game to detain more undocumented immigrants – about 400,000 each year – has actually increased the need for private systems as most detainees will linger in the system waiting for court dates for months if not years.
Civil rights groups have deemed the quality of care provided in immigrant detention centers unacceptable, particularly because of the large numbers of preventable fatalities and sexual assaults.
$45 million
The three largest for-profit prison corporations have spent more than $45 million on campaign donations and lobbyists to keep politicians on the side of privatized incarceration. In light of all of their ethical violations, it’s obvious that they have to offer some incentive for keeping their business legal."

25% of World's prison population in USA jails. WOW!
50% of prison population drug users.
Is there something wrong with this picture.
It seems like a conflict of interest for law enforcement to guarantee occupancy.
Why are there so many prisoners in US jails. Is it about profit.
Drug and immigrant enforcement will be good for jail business.

You mean we could reduce prison population by 50 percent by legalizing drugs? ! Go for it.
 
Giving someone a financial incentive to keep as many people locked up as possible is the diametric opposite of what needs to be done. We can't afford to continue to incarcerate more prisoners than anyone else.
End the war on drugs,
End corporate prisons,
Explore other ways to punish people for non violent offense,
use the money we save to pay down the national debt!
 
Once I saw that show where kids were getting two years in prison for stealing a pack of gum, or some other idiotic little thing, I was against for profit prisons.
 
I do not know and, apparently, I am the only man here to be that honest.
We do need to greatly improve our system of justice.
We must decriminalize "drugs" .
We must be more liberal , and learn to work together !
on and on.....
I am NOT convinced that the "old ways" work any longer..
One link ....BIASED, obviously...
What we should do is have some states with government system prisons and others with private business, or corporate prisons...and then compare the results...with bias and predjuce....if this is possible..
 
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i'm for outlawing them. too much potential conflict of interest.
 
I think they should be outlawed, because private prisons obligated first to their owners/shareholders and their interests are to maximize profits – keep the prisons at full capacity- which lead to minimize of costs (put the prisoners needs aside). This interest conflicts the society interest which is to reduce as possible sending citizens to jail, that option should be last resort.
Country mustn’t make the crime be profitable to the corporate prisons and the criminal as one.
 
Yes, private prisons should be outlawed.

They are the new plantation owners.

Then you can house all of the poor little convicted felons at your house and cook them dinner in the evenings.
 
Once I saw that show where kids were getting two years in prison for stealing a pack of gum, or some other idiotic little thing, I was against for profit prisons.

Sentences are driven by for-profit prisons how?
 
For-Profit Prisons: Eight Statistics That Show the Problems

For-Profit Prisons: Eight Statistics That Show the Problems
Dave, this issue frustrates me no less than it frustrates ANYONE, and I mention it in my This is what the New World Government means to the world

"Eliminate all private prisons - NO ONE shall profit from inmates - all criminals must sustain themselves either by their own labor, be funded by their families, find a charity, or be put out of their misery."
Your post is excellent. I read it top to bottom. not too concerned about underfed criminals in America just yet, but everything you say is right.
 
agree with the OP.
a little story: The county that enccompases Disneyworld -just south of that one is Polk county Fl.
I was listening to some talk radio a few years ago, and the news blurb said

"because of rising costs, peanut butter sandwiches wil be replace by balogna" (parphrased).
If you kow anything about nutrition, you know peanut butter is high in monosaturated fats, while balogna is high in saturated fats.

the body requires both, but they are not interchangable - all of which got me to thinking "is a dietician going to approve this?'
I followed up on it, and the response I got back was "inmates get their minimum daily caloric intake, and have oipportunitys to buy at the canteen"

Which didn't answer my question. Are we that cheap (for profit), that we can't even meet a prisoners BASIC nutriton needs?
 
what does a corporate run prison have to do with the population of our prisons?

The private prison lobby has a vested interest in supporting candidates who will vote for laws that funnel more people into their incarceration mills.
 
Once I saw that show where kids were getting two years in prison for stealing a pack of gum, or some other idiotic little thing, I was against for profit prisons.

Tell me again what does the law and a person getting two years in prison have to do with who runs it.

I guess you would be OK with a kid getting two years in prison for stealing a pack of gum if the prison was government run.
 
The private prison lobby has a vested interest in supporting candidates who will vote for laws that funnel more people into their incarceration mills.

Proof please
 

Lets see, you say the private correction facilities have power over law makers who make the laws and set sentences. They have the power over the police that enforce the laws, power over the judges that sentence and power over the juries that convict criminals. All to get more inmates into prisons.

From your site.

"The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by the

relaxation of enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction or parole standards and
sentencing practices or through the decriminalization of certain activities that are
currently proscribed by our criminal laws. For instance, any changes with respect

to drugs and controlled substances or illegal immigration could affect the number
of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing
demand for correctional facilities to house them. Legislation has been proposed in

numerous jurisdictions that could lower minimum sentences for some non-

violent crimes and make more inmates eligible for early release based on good behavior.

Also, sentencing alternatives under consideration could put some offenders on

probation with electronic monitoring who would otherwise be incarcerated.
Similarly, reductions in crime rates or resources dedicated to prevent and enforce

crime could lead to reductions in arrests, convictions and
sentences requiring incarceration at correctional facilities.

~ CORRECTIONS CORPORATION OF AMERICA 2010 ANNUAL REPORT
 
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