Private Prisons

Private prisons demand states maintain maximum capacity or pay fees:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/09/...-so-private-prisons-require-maximum-capacity/

and http://www.inthepublicinterest.org/...guarantee-profits-private-prison-corporations

Lots to read. If beds are not filled to the required occupancy, the USA taxpayer ends up paying these private prisons for the shortfall. I don't understand why the need for private prisons since they operate for profit, unlike government prisons. Is it really cheaper to have private prisons rather than government ones? What are your thoughts?

I think that private prisons shouldn't be in existence.

 

>> Is it really cheaper to have private prisons rather than government ones? What are your thoughts? <<

I strongly believe that so-called 'for profit' prisons will eventually entirely replace the current system of state and federal prisons. Who do they exist, you ask? Often time's private prisons can get around required state and federal regulations which can make them far more expensive. Additionally, prison bed 'occupancy guarantee' clauses in prison privatization contracts come with quotas (often times) requiring between 95% and 100% occupancy.

And therefore the people who run these prisons get their money whether the beds are full or not and the politicians often times want them filled to capacity... After all, the public cheers when someone is carted off to prison, particularly highly visible media covered trials. Huge for-profit prison companies; such as the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) donate untold millions to the Republican Governors Association in order to make sure that they elect governors who are friendly to their for-profit-business model.

But the biggest reason is that some politicians LOVE privatizing just about anything under their nose in their region is primarily because if something goes wrong in any federal, state or city facility level everyone (meaning the public and the media) seem to always tend to points the finger at the politicians who are in charge in that area. When a prison or mental health facility, or charter school is "private" and something goes wrong (corruption, etc.) the blame can goes to towards the CEO in charge - and not that areas governor, senator, mayor or congressman.

This situation reminds me of those somewhat costly long-term state hospitals which were primarily for non-criminals but 'deemed necessary' hospitalizations; and which are now long gone; as they were just about entirely closed down throughout the 1980's and 1990's and unfortunately, are they not coming back. They have been replaced by very fancy, but very short-term hospitals. Available beds for long-term institutionalization have dwindled to far less than the necessary bare minimum by 2013.

That system has been replaced (currently) by short-term hospitalizations based entirely upon the patients available insurance - not on the need for treatment. Finally I would also add that deinstitutionalization was cheered by both the right due to budget cutting measures as well as by the left cheering freedom, whatever the cost. People who have long-term hospitalization needs literally have absolutely nowhere to go in the current system. Nowadays patients practically have to commit a criminal act to secure a long term hospital bed because that is just about all there is left currently.

Good Luck! -- COMP​

 

What about this judge? http://www.forbes.com/sites/walterp...ets-life-sentence-for-prison-kickback-scheme/

Putting someone in a private jail for misdemeanors solely would benefit the private jails more than the so-called *criminal*.
Private prisons are corrupting the legal system. When there is money to be made, questions of justice and social good quickly take a back seat.

 

Agree. And would add when there is more gubment to make money, it is corrupt. HBT, out. :-D

 

They've made nearly all the prisons in this state private. And yes, surprise, surprise, it's an epic fail, with more escapees, more cost to public and Crims being locked down more, because it's cheaper to lock them down than to pay people. Another blow for corruption and inefficiency.rolleyes

 

The thing that freaks me out most about private prisons is lobbing for and against law legislation. The corporations spend millions tryna get laws passed for tougher sentencing and squashing laws that relax sentencing, even more scary they lobby against Bills that could potentially reduce crime.

Wonder what the good behaviour stats are like? It makes no sense to release one of your best customers from the store early, supermarkets move all the goods around to keep you in the store longer so are prison corporations above this? They feed the same crappy food a couple of days in a row, the guards wind the prisoners up, phone time is cut, visitation cut until eventually the prisoner breaks and hits a guard boom! You have your customer for 2 more years.

Scary thought.

Saw this the other day-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK5NpxTAGs4

 

Read the posts. Looks around, does not see a HBT friendly audience, just grins. :-D

 

Right, and that's why it's so obvious that prisons as private industries simply shouldn't be permitted. There should never be artificial incentives to keep prisons filled, especially in a nation with such an astronomical incarceration rate as the US.

 

As I understand, private prisons save the government money.

 

Keeping an eye on it.


As long as it stays civil, and it has so far, it will stay open. It is a controversial topic, but has not fired anyone up yet.

 

I have often wondered why prisons have cable TV and such. Why not go back to the old dungeon days, give them educational stuff to read, just enough food to survive, and make it cheap, and a place nobody would want to come back to.

It is not like the current system is rehabilitating very many people.

 

Because it is "inhumane" to do that.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prison

Lots more to read at the above link, especially under the heading of Criticism.

 

One might argue that some crimes are also 'inhumane'... Keep them confined more, and you wouldn't need as many guards. Let 'em out once a week to bathe in the moat.

I bet you would not have as many repeat offenders. And if you did, let the alligators in the moat. :-D

 

Hehe, just saying:-D

Fred you want to fire up old Gruesome Gertie again don't you? I'll let people google...

 

We Brits tried the Zero tolerance for everything policy in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century. Apart from forming Australia, it was an epic fail, too.
That said, there a few extreme cases where the offender(s) should definitely not exist on the Earth, anymore.

 

Wouldn't it be expensive to send them to space?

:-D

 

Cremation, (preferably alive), works, fine.

 

I always liked Chris Rock's dissertations on "Crime and Punishment". "Nobody goes to Sibera TWICE." :-D

And oma the warden from Pennsylvania was the first thing I thought of when I saw this post. All those poor kids who had their youth wrecked was just shameful.

This is the kind of thing that happens when corporations are not separated from government like church and state in America. The founders of this country opposed the concentration of wealth, and power. They opposed "God on the Throne". That's why the original corporate charter system banned corporations and their interests from civic life, PERIOD. No lobbyists, no campaign contributions, NOTHING. They existed to conduct only business, and actually were separated from government, just like "church and state". The abuse of the Fourteenth Amendment has allowed corporations to be considered "persons", and to infiltrate our legislative procss. Before the Civil war, there was no such thing as "borers" or lobbyists as they have come to be called. The founders knew from experience with England that Corporate, and Government power are direct adversaries. They don't play well together, and whichever has the larger allocation of resources becomes the dominant member of the marriage of the two.

I don't know if corporations and their K Street minions being involved in our government will change in my lifetime, but it would be grand to live to see it...

 

Whohooo, we're #1!! :-D I don't recall the details, but if I am remembering correctly, there have been lots of problems with private prisons, mainly in more rural areas. As far as I know, the local 'pea farm' (parish prison that I think still has inmates farm) are not private.

I really think a lot of people are getting jail time, when community service would be a better option. And deal with the real criminals the, politicians wi.. Oh, wait, the non elected criminals in a different way. There is a website that shows the arrests, and some of these people have a scroll bar for prior convictions...

I know someone who is currently serving 30 days for failure to appear. Why the heck you would not go to court is beyond me, but why not 100 hours community service? The guy is not violent. Why room and board for him when we could have him working for us, and remain at his job?

Privatization works well for some things. But often, when you combine the gubment and private companies, things go bad, it messes with supply and demand. One example of bad private and gubment stuff might be the free cell phones the gubment pays for, and private companies 'approve' the applicant. Not trying to be HBT, but there is no benefit for the company NOT to approve one, they get paid more, the more 'free' phones they give out.

 

roflmao

 

Hey, if it was not for Mississippi... :-D:-D