Hillary and Bill will be pleased about this.

 

 

The private prison industry was crashing — until Donald Trump’s victory - The Washington Post

The ICE Director under Barack Obama is the Maytag repairmen of federal bureaucrats. The difference is that unlike a Maytag, the Obama border enforcement program is designed to leak like a sieve. ICE Director under Obama must be the easiest job in the federal government.

#13th

The private prison business should be the great shame of our time. We've made it legal to have a financial interest -- and extremely lucrative for certain folks -- in making sure a massive part of the population not only goes to jail, but stays there for as long as possible. That anyone has a financial interest in prolonging the deprivation of liberty of citizens of this country is absolutely repugnant to my sensibilities as an American.

The private prison business should be the great shame of our time. We've made it legal to have a financial interest -- and extremely lucrative for certain folks -- in making sure a massive part of the population not only goes to jail, but stays there for as long as possible. That anyone has a financial interest in prolonging the deprivation of liberty of citizens of this country is absolutely repugnant to my sensibilities as an American.

 

Simplistic view IMO, on the surface what you are saying seems correct. How many people incarcerated in private prisons wouldn't be in state ran prisons, none. Private prisons are just in some cases a cheaper way for cash strapped states to incarcerate them.

 

Are there issues with sentencing, is sentencing reform needed...absolutely.

 

Where is the outrage against the vendors getting rich from selling food and supplies to prisons or the corrections officers unions both of which have a stake in prison population levels?

 

I'm not a fan of private prisons, but they are a symptom of a bigger disease.

Simplistic view IMO, on the surface what you are saying seems correct. How many people incarcerated in private prisons wouldn't be in state ran prisons, none. Private prisons are just in some cases a cheaper way for cash strapped states to incarcerate them.

 

Are there issues with sentencing, is sentencing reform needed...absolutely.

 

Where is the outrage against the vendors getting rich from selling food and supplies to prisons or the corrections officers unions both of which have a stake in prison population levels?

 

I'm not a fan of private prisons, but they are a symptom of a bigger disease.

 

Yeah. Greed.

 

Have you watched 13th on Netflix? If not you should. They give the true background on the private prison industry and who helped it become big business and why it became big business. See: Bill and Hillary.

Yeah. Greed.

 

Have you watched 13th on Netflix? If not you should. They give the true background on the private prison industry and who helped it become big business and why it became big business. See: Bill and Hillary.

 

I've been meaning to since you mentioned it, just haven't been on Netflix in a while. I'll watch it this week if I get a chance.

 

My point is that getting rid of private prisons does nothing except over crowd state prisons. Until there are other reforms or inroads made in communities to lower the criminal activity and incarceration rates.

Look how many criminal defense attorneys have become millionaires during this same time frame...they as a group of individuals have benefited more than any group.

I've been meaning to since you mentioned it, just haven't been on Netflix in a while. I'll watch it this week if I get a chance.

 

My point is that getting rid of private prisons does nothing except over crowd state prisons. Until there are other reforms or inroads made in communities to lower the criminal activity and incarceration rates.

 

No argument there. Watch 13th. Very informational on private prisons, why they are here, how they got here, how they will be used in the present and future and what that means about our country.

Maybe that should be the topic of a new thread. What certain things should not be for profit or ran like a business.

^ Number 1 on that list - government.

Simplistic view IMO, on the surface what you are saying seems correct. How many people incarcerated in private prisons wouldn't be in state ran prisons, none. Private prisons are just in some cases a cheaper way for cash strapped states to incarcerate them.

 

Are there issues with sentencing, is sentencing reform needed...absolutely.

 

Where is the outrage against the vendors getting rich from selling food and supplies to prisons or the corrections officers unions both of which have a stake in prison population levels?

 

I'm not a fan of private prisons, but they are a symptom of a bigger disease.

 

The key piece you are leaving out is the "how do they fill the prisons" point. You fill the prisons by creating new penalties. How do we get to that point? The private prisons lobby their local congressman/woman in the name of "jobs."

 

That trumps (pun partially intended) the "well they would have been in state prisons anyway" argument. The "how" is what's so ugly and un-American.

I've been meaning to since you mentioned it, just haven't been on Netflix in a while. I'll watch it this week if I get a chance.

 

My point is that getting rid of private prisons does nothing except over crowd state prisons. Until there are other reforms or inroads made in communities to lower the criminal activity and incarceration rates.

 

 

Lobbyist: "Congressman, we don't need no stinkin' reforms. You need JOBS in your district, right? This new privately-run prison can bring 1,000 jobs and you'll walk into re-election."

 

There is absolutely NO incentive for reform with private prisons.

The key piece you are leaving out is the "how do they fill the prisons" point. You fill the prisons by creating new penalties. How do we get to that point? The private prisons lobby their local congressman/woman in the name of "jobs."

 

That trumps (pun partially intended) the "well they would have been in state prisons anyway" argument. The "how" is what's so ugly and un-American.

 

This is it exactly. It's been shown how the private prison lobby gets these prisons built and the things they do to keep them filled.

 

The folks running these companies have a legal duty to their shareholders, not an ethical obligation to do what's right.

 

It puts the people running these operations in the nasty position of having a financial interest in making sure people go to prison for crimes that perhaps they shouldn't and in keeping them there when they should perhaps be free.

The key piece you are leaving out is the "how do they fill the prisons" point. You fill the prisons by creating new penalties. How do we get to that point? The private prisons lobby their local congressman/woman in the name of "jobs."

 

That trumps (pun partially intended) the "well they would have been in state prisons anyway" argument. The "how" is what's so ugly and un-American.

 

No I addressed it, sentencing reform is needed. Prison population started growing before the Private Prison Industry had any political influence to amount to anything. I know it is PC to blame everything on the Private Prison Industry, but the growing prison population predates their existence. Over population and the increasing expense of incarceration led to the opportunity for Private Prisons to even be needed or an option. Did they lobby right or wrong for stronger laws, probably. Just like the automotive industry lobbied for less safe cars and higher emissions (putting lives at risk) and Doctors and their insurers lobbied for malpractice reform (putting lives potentially at risk) to line their own pockets...it is the nature of business.

 

I don't blame the companies, I blame those in DC.