Incarceration Nation: The Rise of a Prison-Industrial Complex

[IChing]

July 27, 2007
by Andrew Bosworth


"I asked a man in prison once how he happened to be there and he said he had stolen a pair of shoes. I told him if he had stolen a railroad he would be a United States Senator"
-Mother Jones

Consider this disturbing fact: the United States now has the world's highest incarceration rate outside of North Korea. Out of 1,000 people, more Americans are behind bars than anywhere in the world except in Kim Jong-Il's Neo-Stalinist state. The US has a higher incarceration rate than China , Russia, Iran, Zimbabwe and Burma - countries American politicians often berate for their human rights violations.

Well over two million Americans are behind bars. Let us agree that violent criminals and sex offenders should be in jail, but most Americans are not aware that over one million people spend year after year in prison for non-violent and petty offenses: small-time drug dealing, street hustling, prostitution, bouncing checks and even writing graffiti. Texas, with its boot-in-your-butt criminal justice system, is now attempting to incarcerate people who get drunk at bars - even if they are not disturbing the peace and intend to take a taxi home. >>>>snip

http://www.populistamerica.com/incarceration_nation_the_rise_of_a_prison_industrial_complex

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When you make prisons a business and a capitalist enterprise, shareholders expect growth.

[Deja Q]

1. #2 next to N Korea? Yipes!

'Bouncing checks' is a bit of a nasty one; I thought "debtor's prison" had been abolished. Except the mindset of the person in debt, trying to repay it.

As for Texas, they're nuts. If their airports smell like boot polish (or was that cow dung; it was 20 years ago when I was there...), what would you expect?! Arrested for simply being drunk? Not even a DWI, just I?! Dang. Glad I don't drink.

(Well, don't drink much... :rofl: )

[Arkansas Granny]

41. It's amazing how the prison population has grown in the last

25 years or so. Look at this chart from the Bureau of Justice:




http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/corr2.htm

[Heidi]

2. The industry that fear built.

Recommended.

:kick:

[High Plains]

3. How many do we imprison because of drug prohibition?

More than half of all federal prisoners.

About one-quarter of all state prisoners and jail inmates.

That's getting close to around 500,000 drug war POWs in America. And those are only the people doing time on drug charges. Then there are the hopeless junkies who get caught stealing for drug money, etc. Of course, the drugs they seek would not be so, er, prohibitively expensive if their sales were regulated and controlled.

[liberalnurse]

11. They belong in prison in my opinion.

If they use heroin, crack and/or methamphetamine, most drug addicts will not stop. Our community suffers as does the family of the addict. Jail and Prison can sober them up while protecting the community. It is rare that people stay in Jail or get Prison for a little dope...The time in Jail waiting for Court if they can't bond out, is therapeutic and healthy.


Girls keep having addicted babies which they won't mother while the addicted daddies don't own up to the parental role either as they deny the child or won't support the child. Addicts solicit and spread disease. They won't get treatment for an STD if they have to take time away from the streets or even pay an nominal fee for care....Just wait until they get arrested then the community will treat them free, while they rest-up, eat and fight.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

15. Should they all be "tasered" regularly, too?

[liberalnurse]

16. What do you think they should

do in this case?

[roody]

18. Drug addiction is a health problem and should be

treated as such.

[Phrogman]

20. Your avatar is most aprapo.

e0m

[Oldenuff]

27. Yep..throwin 'em in jail will solve everything,by darn.

Sounds good on paper,especially if you are a shareholder.Then after they are released,they get to go to treatment...more profit..cool huh?It's just a business like anyother,you gotta get customers any way you can.It is especially cool when you can get non-violent "residents",like was mentioned by another poster.

Trouble is,drugs have been used since the dawn of time.You think throwin folks in jail is going to stop it?The problem with illegal drugs is that..well...they are illegal.The illegal drug trade is a business,and the big people in drugs are making millions.They aren't going to stop just cause a customer gets sent up the river,they'll just get another customer...(and don't get me started on the big Drug Companies)

The bigger issue,is the profit in illegal drugs.Take the money out of the equation and the crime issue will dwindle down to zero.Then the big drug dealers will have to look for other work...They'll have to become Politicians or take up some other unsavory occupation.

And for cryin out loud...legalize pot already.

[High Plains]

31. That's an odd position for a "liberal" nurse to take.

First of all, most drug users are not "drug addicts."

Second, most drug users are marijuana smokers.

Third, it is not rare that "people stay in jail or get prison for a little dope." 1.9 million drug arrests last year, 900,000 of them for marijuana, and 90% of those for simple possession. And there are roughly 500,000 drug offenders behind bars on any given day. Clearly, a lot of people are going to jail for drug offenses, and not all of them are "drug dealers."

Fourth, your position might be a little stronger if people actually got drug treatment while incarcerated. They don't. Or they get a few AA-type sessions. Most prisoners with drug problems are not treated while in prison. Of course, you really resent that, too, don't you? Those damned dopers "get arrested then the community will treat them for FREE." Funny, civilized liberal societies treat everybody's health problems for free.

Fifth, what is your moral/philosophical justification for depriving people of their most precious asset--their liberty--because of what they ingest? Some drug users do bad things, yes. Punish them. Some alcohol drinkers do bad things and we punish them, but we don't punish you for drinking alcohol because somebody else who drinks did something bad.

Sixth, we have plenty of laws on the books to protect society from bad drug users. Does he steal? There's a lot against that? Does she neglect her kids? There's a law against that.

Seventh, yes, there are sometimes deleterious consequences to drug use. But it is arguable that drug prohibition a) makes those consequences worse, and b)creates many of the problems falsely attributed to drug use. Turf war shoot-outs? A function of prohibition, not the biopharmacological properties of illicit drugs. Junkie thievery? A function of black market prices (and bad moral character). The drug trade funding terrorism? A function of prohibition.

Drug use should not be a criminal offense. And it follows from that that providing drugs to drug users should not be a criminal offense, either. Regulated drug sales are the answer. Drug prohibition has been a disaster, one we pay for in numerous ways every day.

[Solon]

32. OK, so we are supposed to do the same damned thing over and over again, and hope for different...

results. Isn't that the definition of insanity? Only you would come onto this thread and treat a social and medical problem as a criminal matter. Lock them up and throw away the key, yeah right, like that'll help. :eyes:

[Rosemary2205]

42. What we need is state mental heath institutions again.

Much of our prison population is due to mental health issues - addictions, mental illness etc. Commitment to mental health homes rather than prison is a much better choice if their problems are so serious that they pose a risk to society.

[dorkulon]

4. The most under-reported scandal in the US IMO

is the privatized prison industry incentivizing the imprisonment of non-violent offenders.

n 2005 alone, more than 786,000 people were arrested for marijuana offenses -- and 89% of these were for simple possession. Every year, there are more marijuana arrests than for all violent crimes combined.

And a record 7,000,000 people -- or one in every 32 American adults -- are behind bars, on probation, or on parole. What's more, in the past 10 years, drug offenders have accounted for 49% of the growth in the total federal prison population.

It's totally insane.

[Ilsa]

5. Happy to be K&R #5.

It's pretty sickening.

[grasswire]

6. a cynic might think...

....that there has been a purposeful effort to felonize unemployed black American males. Keeping them in prisons kept them from burning cities, after all. Keeping them in prisons has kept them from voting. Keeping them in prisons has destroyed their families. Keeping them in prisons has effectively neutralized them for the rest of their lives, as that criminal record allows them to be easily returned to lockup.

I used to be interested in prison reform issues. However, the profit monster is so greedy and entrenched that no one can really fight it now. Food purveyors, construction firms, debt service, clothing manufacturers, all manner of corporations are making a fortune off the manufactured misery.

[IChing]

7. The SS, early on, began to run prisons for profit before the genocide.

The growth of the prison and camp system was a huge boondoggle for many
top industrialist in the German Reich.


I'm not making the forbidden comparison but when shareholders start asking to see
profit for their investments, the system has to find ways to have advocates and lobbyist for mandatory sentencing.
The rest of the article is a worthy read.

[roody]

17. Investing in prison is f****** sick!!

[Wiley50]

9. Non-violent drug prisoners make great slave laborers

easily managed, don't cause much trouble
easily controlled by manipulation of privileges
unable to form a union

[Joe Chi Minh]

13. It has to be right down there with the homelessness and wholesale

election fraud.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

14. "Prison profit monster" -- great phrase. This monster needs more and more victims,

and those whose rights objectively are inferior to those of the white suburban middle class seem to be its special prey.

I wonder whether anyone has looked at growth in the political power of the prison industrial complex as an explanation for the growing racial incarceration rate ratio, now greatest in overwhelmingly middle-class states such as VT, NJ, CT, and WI (see http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2924680&mesg_id=2924680 for a great recent GD thread).

And the "prison profit monster" consists of reactionary prison-guard labor unions as well as reactionary corporations and politicians. Average "corrections officers" salaries in many states now exceed those of teachers, in a direct transfer of public resources from the education system to a prison system which incarcerates high-school "pushouts" disproportionately. And prison guard unions' political interests are best served by Republican "crime in the streets" priorities rather than Democratic progressive priorities such as public education and healthcare.

Unfortunately, as the political power of the union movement has declined overall, the relative power of reactionary unions compared to the power of progressive unions seems to be rising.

[roody]

34. Gee, I wonder if the private prison guards are unionized.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

37. In some states, the question is whether prison guard unions will allow any privatization

In California, the prison guard union was a "kingmaker" for Pete Wilson:

From http://www.igs.berkeley.edu/library/htCaliforniaPrisonUnion.htm :

"California Correctional Peace Officers Association

LIBRARY
Institute of Governmental Studies
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-2370

Introduction

The California Prison system is the third largest penal system in the country, costing $5.7 billion dollars a year and housing over 161,000 inmates. Since 1980 the number of California prisons has tripled and the number of inmates has jumped significantly. In the past few years controversies involving prison expansion, sky-rocketing costs, and claims of mismanagement and inmate abuse have put the California prison system under heightened public scrutiny. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) is the California prison guards' union. In recent years the CCPOA has become a major player in California politics. Its political influence has grown to the point that it is widely considered to be one of the most powerful political forces in Sacramento. Its lobbying efforts and campaign contributions have greatly facilitated the passage of legislation favorable to union members.

The CCPOA takes the position that correctional personnel perform a vital public service that puts them under great danger and stress, and therefore makes no apologies for its aggressive promotion of member interests and its high-profile role in California correctional policy. CCPOA's critics argue that the union has become too powerful in California politics, that it has used its power to unfair advantage, and that it has been an impediment to constructive debate and openness about the state of California prisons.

History

The California Correctional Peace Officers Association began in 1957 ... With a strategy of large campaign contributions and adroit political maneuvering, the CCPOA rose to become one of the most powerful unions in the state. The union's impact can be gauged by the rising annual prison guard salary (from $14,440 In 1980 to $54,000 in 2002), the growth in number of state prisons (from 13 in 1985 to 31 in 1995), and large increases in the California Department of Corrections budget (from $923 million in 1985 to $5.7 billion in 2004).

By 1992 the CCPOA was the state's second largest political action committee. The union contributed over a million dollars to various senatorial and assembly candidates that year. Many analysts believe the CCPOA helped Pete Wilson win the governorship with a contribution of over a million dollars, the largest independent campaign contribution on behalf of a candidate in California history. ..."

[malaise]

8. Great post IChing

Amnesty International has been exposing the prison madness in the US.

[tecelote]

10. Profit Above People!

"When you make prisons a business and a capitalist enterprise, shareholders expect growth."

Exactly!

Thanks for posting.

[RestoreGore]

12. Dead Man Walking

http://youtube.com/watch?v=2G0v5ZLc8-Y


Embedding turned off by request.

[tom_paine]

19. Yes, of course investors and shareholders expect growth. My God!

Sometimes the simple is just right in front of your face!

For that reason, and that sole, common sensical reason alone, prison privatization is a very VERY bad idea.

And here I just thought it was a very bad idea only.

[kenny blankenship]

21. Why are you liberals always so anti-business?

"Good business is where you find it." Throwing people in jail is like any other service you can book a profit on. It makes money, which makes it good. There's an added benefit that everyone not in jail sees how easy it is to end up there, and adjusts their attitude accordingly--which is really useful if you'd like to make them work harder each year for less pay.

[eridani]

22. One of the major reasons why our unemployment rate is lower than Europe's

Combine this with the military industrial complex and outsourcing, and you get well along the road leading to a country which can no longer make anything. All we'll be doing is beating the shit out of defenseless countries to steal their resources, putting each other in jail, and selling each other cheap imported crap.

[roody]

23. I just saw "Prison Town, USA"

It's a good look at many lives impacted by the prison-industrial complex.

http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2007/prisontown/

[Arkansas Granny]

40. I just watched that show this afternoon. Some of the statistics

they used were rather disturbing. I was surprised not only at the number of people incarcerated in the U.S., but also by the fact that 1 out of 10 children in the U.S. has a parent in prison, on probation or on parole. Astounding!

[roody]

43. The state must have spent 100,000 to punish a man

and his family for stealing a bag of groceries. This is sick. Accused persons have got to start asking for a jury trial, not plea bargaining.

[formercia]

24. A symptom of voter caging

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2892964&mesg_id=2893097

[Rydz777]

25. I remember being told in an early class in Economics that a

country that had only barbers cutting each other's hair could still calculate and claim a substantial GDP - Gross Domestic Product. I suppose a country with prison guards doing nothing but jailing a large part of the population also make their contribution to GDP.

[Douglas Carpenter]

26. Americans seem to have unsurpassed faith in the value of locking people up

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2006/06/02/con-nation-illustrated

[catrose]

28. My son has been in jail since Christmas

For having an online relationship with someone he thought was 20, about his own age...although the other person was someone he could legally have an IRL relationship with...but the Internet was involved. (Thank you, Mark Foley) He's not had a trial or been convicted, but bail was set out of sight. He's had crummy public defenders. The prosecutor declared in court that homosexuality is morally wrong; he's going to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law because of that.

Ask me what I think of Scooter Libby.

[Solon]

29. Call the ACLU...

If everything you say is true then your son's rights to a speedy trial are being violated, in addition, if the relationship would have been legal IRL, then the case may get thrown out. They do pro bono work as well, it wouldn't hurt to try.

[Neecy]

30. interesting

I've recently begun re-reading The Gulag Archipelago and while there are obvious differences (we don't have millions dying in forced labor camps) there are some similarities.

1. Making almost everything illegal, so it's easy to throw anyone in jail at any time;

2. Encouraging a system of informers and tipsters;

3. A passive, apathetic public that allows for gradually more abuses (Solzhenitsyn is especially critical of post-Revolutionary Soviets for allowing the rapid degrading of their rights);

4. Kangaroo courts, show trials, secret evidence (Gitmo);

5. A huge prison system, known to be brutal, to keep citizens in fear and in check.

There are more, but these are the most obvious.

I've always had problems with the documentaries on prison life, such as the ones MSNBC runs constantly. It's like putting these unfortunates on display for our 'entertainment' and it's just sick.

[roody]

33. Check out the POV "Prison Town, USA"

It is not about prison life. It is about how the prison industry affects a town by looking at various people's lives and their relationships to the prison.

[Rex]

35. It is the 'war on drugs' boon for people that write laws and profit

from kickbacks. They created this 'war' to get rich and make the poor suffer for being poor and looking for an 'escape'.

Rich people and drugs? Ask Rush, who won't serve a day in his life for abusing drugs.

[NMMNG]

36. But of course

When prisons are run for profit, it's only natural that those who stand to make money off of them should do whatever possible to ensure that people become (and remain) incarcerated to the greatest extent possible. It's no wonder the RW is so "hard on crime".

Scary. :scared:

[mdmc]

38. Kick

:mad:

[lovuian]

39. We are a Prison Nation and execute people

its terrible and the prisons are overloaded
its quite a nation