Here are Six Companies Who Get Rich off Prisoners

[donnay]

Here are Six Companies Who Get Rich off Prisoners


There are currently 2.4 million people in American prisons. This number has grown by 500% in the past 30 years. While the United States has only 5% of the world's population, it holds 25 percent of the world's total prisoners. In 2012, one in every 108 adults was in prison or in jail, and one in 28 children in the U.S. had a parent behind bars.

Why do we have so many people in prison?

Money is a huge reason we have so many prisoners.

Several corporations make huge profits off prisons. It costs an average of $23,876 annually to house a state prisoner for a year. To save money, cash-strapped states (aka, us, the taxpayers) pay companies to deal with their prisoners. Companies make money by running prisons as cheaply as possible and squeezing the prisoners and their families for money for basic necessities and fees. As a result, private prisons are a $70 billion industry.

Even crazier, 65 percent of private prison contracts require an occupancy guarantee. That means states must have a certain amount of prisoners -- typically between 80 and 90 percent of occupancy -- or pay companies for empty beds. Talk about bad incentives -- a state throws money away if it does not have enough prisoners.

Continued...

[DamianTV]

Human Trafficking is profitable.

[Slave Mentality]

Not to mention the work prisoners do making goods for literal slave wages. Pay some SOB 13 cents an hour to tig weld all day just for the priveledge of getting out of the cage. Saw a good documentary about this, but can't remember the name.

We give North Korea $#@!. Our prisons just look nicer.

[phill4paul]

There's a phrase for this. It's called "War Profiteer."

[heavenlyboy34]

There's a phrase for this. It's called "War Profiteer."

Ur blasphemy is reported to Big Sister.

[Zippyjuan]

So should we be for or against privatization of government services? (Ignoring for the moment the question of why are so many people in jails) Some have cheered the treatment Sheriff Joe Arpaio gives his prisoners- bologna sandwiches and no fans in their tents in 120 degree Arizona.

[The Gold Standard]

So should we be for or against privatization of government services?

I guess that would depend on your definition of privatization, but I don't see anything private about the government renting out their prison slaves to companies.

[donnay]

So should we be for or against privatization of government services? (Ignoring for the moment the question of why are so many people in jails) Some have cheered the treatment Sheriff Joe Arpaio gives his prisoners- bologna sandwiches and no fans in their tents in 120 degree Arizona.

There needs to be more discussion about this. If we pride ourselves as being a 'Free Society,' why do we have so many incarcerated people? This circumvents the 13th amendment "involuntary servitude" doesn't?

[thoughtomator]

There needs to be more discussion about this. If we pride ourselves as being a 'Free Society,' why do we have so many incarcerated people? This circumvents the 13th amendment "involuntary servitude" doesn't?

The 13th Amendment has a loophole you can drive the entire prison industry through. And they do - boy, do they ever.

[acptulsa]

So should we be for or against privatization of government services? (Ignoring for the moment the question of why are so many people in jails) Some have cheered the treatment Sheriff Joe Arpaio gives his prisoners- bologna sandwiches and no fans in their tents in 120 degree Arizona.

If you privatize something, that's good. But the reason stuff like this is entrusted to government is because people see a reason to eliminate the profit margin from the whole process. As soon as crime begins to pay, then someone will bribe Congress to make everything a crime.


Then you wind up with stuff like this:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/gover...888a18da1.html

Last summer, Tulsa attorneys Louis Bullock and Scott Graham went to the Avalon Tulsa halfway house to see an inmate who complained that his broken hand wasn't getting medical treatment.
Both lawyers have visited private and public prisons throughout Oklahoma and typically undergo a basic security check and pat down when entering facilities. At Avalon Tulsa, they said, they signed their names on a sheet and walked right in.

The inmate simply wanted medical treatment for his injured hand, Bullock said, but his explanation of how the injury occurred shocked the lawyers. He told them he broke his hand beating up another inmate for using methamphetamine — at the direction of Avalon's staff, Bullock said.
"I found that to be pretty stunning," he said.
Soon more stories of inmate fights sanctioned by Avalon staff began to surface. Then a cellphone video emerged that appeared to corroborate stories of inmates fighting for sport, to settle debts or as a system of discipline at the facility.

Make anyone a slave and someone will try to make a gladiator out of him. I hear a lot about how a public-private partnership is the best of both worlds. But somehow they invariably wind up being the worst of both worlds. No wonder 'fascism' became such a dirty word that the fascists refuse to let anyone use it.

[Danke]

So should we be for or against privatization of government services? (Ignoring for the moment the question of why are so many people in jails) Some have cheered the treatment Sheriff Joe Arpaio gives his prisoners- bologna sandwiches and no fans in their tents in 120 degree Arizona.

Is this slave labor helping your employment statistics?

[invisible]

If you privatize something, that's good. But the reason stuff like this is entrusted to government is because people see a reason to eliminate the profit margin from the whole process. As soon as crime begins to pay, then someone will bribe Congress to make everything a crime.


Then you wind up with stuff like this:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/gover...888a18da1.html



Make anyone a slave and someone will try to make a gladiator out of him. I hear a lot about how a public-private partnership is the best of both worlds. But somehow they invariably wind up being the worst of both worlds. No wonder 'fascism' became such a dirty word that the fascists refuse to let anyone use it.

How odd that you should just happen to mention avalon. Apparently there was a lot of corruption at the Tulsa facility, and the one around here is supposedly a lot more "clean". The story you mentioned is only a small part of what was going on at that place, from what I've been told.

[RonPaulIsGreat]

My sisters husband makes close to 100K working at a state run prison. It's a complete joke. So, not really seeing much difference.

[JohnGalt1225]

You know I work for a private prison company, CCA. I am morally conflicted about it and I do look to change careers this year. But I've also worked at state run prisons and I can tell you there is almost no difference. In fact private prisons are held to a higher level of scrutiny than public institutions because they are inherently not trusted. I don't like my line of work influence my political philosophy or my advocacy for change in the system because having witnesses the system up close I can see it is a mess. The prison system in this country needs true reform.

[tod evans]

Prisons, evil as they are, are the bottom tier of the "Just-Us" system.

In my opinion the entire system can be brought to its knees, even ruined, by focusing on prosecuting attorneys.

Those who prosecute victimless crimes and those who embellish the crimes actually committed by filing laundry lists of charges must be dragged into the streets and publically tried for their crimes against humanity. Death must be the only sentence for such men who would wield power of this magnitude over their countrymen in an abusive manner.

Prosecuting attorneys are the only ones with the power to reign in kops, they're the only ones with the power to bargain with men's lives like poker chips and when the citizenry doesn't hold the prosecutors life in their own hands the will of the people means nothing.

There would be no need for prisons of the magnitude seen today without prosecutorial scum climbing governments hierarchical ladder on the backs of the citizenry...Literally!

[NorthCarolinaLiberty]

So should we be for or against privatization of government services? (Ignoring for the moment the question of why are so many people in jails) .

You can't ignore that part of the equation.

[timosman]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poste...talking-about/

Sen. Marco Rubio is one of the biggest beneficiaries.

Several industries have become notorious for the millions they spend on influencing legislation and getting friendly candidates into office: Big Oil, Big Pharma and the gun lobby among them. But one has managed to quickly build influence with comparatively little scrutiny: Private prisons. The two largest for-profit prison companies in the United States – GEO and Corrections Corporation of America – and their associates have funneled more than $10 million to candidates since 1989 and have spent nearly $25 million on lobbying efforts. Meanwhile, these private companies have seen their revenue and market share soar. They now rake in a combined $3.3 billion in annual revenue and the private federal prison population more than doubled between 2000 and 2010, according to a report by the Justice Policy Institute. Private companies house nearly half of the nation’s immigrant detainees, compared to about 25 percent a decade ago, a Huffington Post report found. In total, there are now about 130 private prisons in the country with about 157,000 beds.

Marco Rubio is one of the best examples of the private prison industry’s growing political influence, a connection that deserves far more attention now that he’s officially launched a presidential bid. The U.S. senator has a history of close ties to the nation’s second-largest for-profit prison company, GEO Group, stretching back to his days as speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. While Rubio was leading the House, GEO was awarded a state government contract for a $110 million prison soon after Rubio hired an economic consultant who had been a trustee for a GEO real estate trust. Over his career, Rubio has received nearly $40,000 in campaign donations from GEO, making him the Senate’s top career recipient of contributions from the company. (Rubio’s office did not respond to requests for comment.)

The Justice Policy Institute identified the private-prison industry’s three-pronged approach to increase profits through political influence: lobbying, direct campaign contributions, and building relationships and networks. On its website, CCA states that the company doesn’t lobby on policies that affect “the basis for or duration of an individual’s incarceration or detention.” Still, several reports have documented instances when private-prison companies have indirectly supported policies that put more Americans and immigrants behind bars – such as California’s three-strikes rule and Arizona’s highly controversial anti-illegal immigration law – by donating to politicians who support them, attending meetings with officials who back them, and lobbying for funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Showing just how important these policies are to the private prison industry, both GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America have warned shareholders that changes in these policies would hurt their bottom lines.

[pcosmar]

So should we be for or against privatization of government services? (Ignoring for the moment the question of why are so many people in jails) Some have cheered the treatment Sheriff Joe Arpaio gives his prisoners- bologna sandwiches and no fans in their tents in 120 degree Arizona.

The two are not mutually exclusive.
Neither the profiteers nor Sheriff Joe's cruelty are anything close to a functional justice system.

Jail should be both rare and expensive. Personally costly to those that would cage another human being.
It should be reserved for only the most extreme cases.

[RonPaulGeorge&Ringo]

You forgot to list the six companies.

[JK/SEA]

You forgot to list the six companies.

here's what i do. I read the whole story. Try it. You can actually learn things this way. Amazing ain't it?

[LibForestPaul]

So should we be for or against privatization of government services? (Ignoring for the moment the question of why are so many people in jails) Some have cheered the treatment Sheriff Joe Arpaio gives his prisoners- bologna sandwiches and no fans in their tents in 120 degree Arizona.

Sorry, public risk, private profit. The victim is the only one who should be profiting. Rape someone, steal their TV, work for the victim. But this is the system the people in this land want. There are others, from Sweden to Dutch to Russian to Japanese to Iran to Turkey, they have chosen this model.

[enhanced_deficit]

So more prisoners means good biziness for them.

There was news of some judges getting kick backs for stiff sentencing if if I recall old news correctly.

[timosman]

So more prisoners means good biziness for them.

There was news of some judges getting kick backs for stiff sentencing if if I recall old news correctly.

You are probably thinking about "Kids for cash" ?

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...candal-n408666

[tod evans]

. But this is the system the people in this land want.

If by "the people in this land" you mean the "Just-Us" department and those who profit from it then I can't argue.

If you mean your average working stiff who isn't affiliated with the government there's room for discussion.

[Weston White]

Bing-bango: You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to tod evans again.

[donnay]

Bing-bango: You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to tod evans again.

Gotcha covered.

[mrsat_98]

Private Prison means Private guards with missing Oaths of Office maybe ?

[donnay]

Private prison is an incentive to have a lot of good workers make the owner lots of money. Great entrepreneur enterprise; low wages for products that make business owner huge profits. No health Insurance or paid vacation/Bonus packages and very minimal sick days.

[Dianne]

Depressing, really. The US seems to be one of the most uncivilized countries in the world. The news media does a good job convincing us that we live in the "land of the free". I haven't met anyone in the U.S. who is truly free. If my daughter buys a little pot and gets stopped, my car will be seized? I can't get over the people who had their home seized because their son sold $40.00 worth of pot on their front porch. No wonder Americans are under such stress. At any moment, and for any reason we can unexpectedly have assets legally stolen by the government.

[donnay]

Depressing, really. The US seems to be one of the most uncivilized countries in the world. The news media does a good job convincing us that we live in the "land of the free". I haven't met anyone in the U.S. who is truly free. If my daughter buys a little pot and gets stopped, my car will be seized? I can't get over the people who had their home seized because their son sold $40.00 worth of pot on their front porch. No wonder Americans are under such stress. At any moment, and for any reason we can unexpectedly have assets legally stolen by the government.

The very definition of tyranny.