America's Corrupt Justice System: Federal Private Prison Populations Grew by 784% in 10 Year Span

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/tikkundaily/americas-corrupt-justice-system-federal-private-prison-populations-grew-784-10


A man rolls a marijuana joint during a demonstration demanding a new law on the drug in Uruguay on May 8, 2013. Vermont's legislature on Monday voted to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, making the New England state the 17th to relax

From 1999-2010, the total U.S. prison population rose 18 percent, an increase largely reflected by the "drug war" and stringent sentencing guidelines, such as three strikes laws and mandatory minimum sentences.

However, total private prison populations exploded fivefold during this same time period, with federal private prison populations rising by 784 percent (as seen in the chart below complied by The Sentencing Project):



This stark rise in private prison populations is partially due to increased contracts granted at the state and federal levels to behemoth prison companies such as Correction Corporation of America (CCA) and the GEO Group. These companies claim - against available data - that they can run corrections facilities at lower costs.

However, whether such companies can save governments money is not the central issue. What's at issue here is the corrupt, immoral dynamic that fuels such contracts: the concept of treating inmates as commodities that must be grown for profit.

[byeya]

1. Most private prisons won't build in an area unless they are guaranteed 90% occupancy.

This is corrupt on its face and destabilizes society.
Private prisons should be banned. I think the "prisoners for pay" judges in PA are but the tip of the iceberg.

[G_j]

2. The Prison Industrial Complex

who are the real criminals?