I find the whole concept of private prisons extremely creepy. When companies rake in huge profits, not only from keeping people locked up, but also from using them as low- or no-wage labor, there's too much incentive to incarcerate people for petty crimes that once had been punished with fines, or to impose outrageously long sentences. There's also no incentive for private prisons to provide programs to reduce recidivism, since the industry thrives on repeat offenders. After all, there's no profit in someone who goes straight after leaving prison. And when there's more money to be made by imprisoning non-violent drug users, why bother with substance abuse treatment or prevention programs?
Before you get all excited about investing in private prisons as a "growth industry," I suggest you read Douglas Blackmon's "Slavery by Another Name" - http://www.slaverybyanothername.com/ Blackmon exposed how slavery was perpetuated for nearly a hundred years after the Civil War by a very crude system of privatizing incarceration and punishment.
It seems that the current trend toward privatizing prisons is just a more sophisticated version of the same thing, this time driven by profit rather than racism.
Just Google "private prison industry" and you'll find dozens of disturbing articles about abuses, corruption, and the use of political influence to increase prison populations. Frankly, I would not be so gleeful about investing in an industry that thrives on the punishment of criminals rather than on crime prevention and education.
Stonemeadows
Before you get all excited about investing in private prisons as a "growth industry," I suggest you read Douglas Blackmon's "Slavery by Another Name" - http://www.slaverybyanothername.com/ Blackmon exposed how slavery was perpetuated for nearly a hundred years after the Civil War by a very crude system of privatizing incarceration and punishment.
It seems that the current trend toward privatizing prisons is just a more sophisticated version of the same thing, this time driven by profit rather than racism.
Just Google "private prison industry" and you'll find dozens of disturbing articles about abuses, corruption, and the use of political influence to increase prison populations. Frankly, I would not be so gleeful about investing in an industry that thrives on the punishment of criminals rather than on crime prevention and education.
Stonemeadows
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