4 ms·

Well a lot of it because the prison system in the US is often privatised and run for profit, as is the parole company in the article. Everyone (including the lo

Well a lot of it because the prison system in the US is often privatised and run for profit, as is the parole company in the article. Everyone (including the local government) is incentivised to fleece the poor and there is nothing to protect them. Things that would solve this (based on other countries that dont suffer from these issues) 1. Tax corporations and rich people more. Then the local government wont be reduced to fleecing the poor, also it would make the government stronger relative to large corporations and reduce their clout and lobbying power. 2. Dont let private corporations run prisons for profit. (I dont think I need to explain why) 3. Provide stronger legislation protecting the poor and services such as legal advice to make preying upon them less lucrative.

matwood 11y ago
> 1. Tax corporations and rich people more. Then the local government wont be reduced to fleecing the poor, also it would make the government stronger relative to large corporations and reduce their clout and lobbying power. Government is a lot like any other entity. It will grow as big as it can. Even if you tax corporations and rich people more, the math for government promises still doesn't work out, government will still fleece the poor.
- zbyte64 11y ago
  And now we've come full circle on how libertarianism is co-opted into arguing that it isn't the Government's role to protect the poor.
brianlweiner 11y ago
What definition of 'often' are you using? 84% of Federal prisoners and 94% of state prisoners are in public "non-profit" prisons. [1] I don't know what percentage of probation services are conducted by private organizations, a quick search showed it's only done in 10 states, so not a majority. It also seems to be a symptom of mass incarceration - didn't really start to increase until early 90s. 1- Most corporate and income taxes aren't at the state or local level. Cities that find themselves trying to increase taxes too high find themselves in situations like my city (Baltimore) or Detroit, etc - a taxbase that flees to counties with lower rates, and the very people we're trying to help trapped in what are now sprawling cities that lack the ability to maintain their infrastructure and institutions. I would consider taxing 'correctly' an unsolved problem, especially at the local level where they have to actually convince businesses and individuals to stay in their area. 2- I'm not necessarily in favor of 'for profit' prisons but I don't believe the opponents have either a) established the connection between private prisons and increasing incarceration rates, or b) shown that states without private prisons are more willing to decrease prison populations. It's not clear to me that the voting population has required significant convincing to stay 'tough on crime'. 3- Sure and of course we continue to overburden public defenders resulting in what ought to be considered unconstitutionally deficient 'access' to legal counsel. [1] https://www.aclu.org/issues/mass-incarceration/privatization-criminal-justice/private-prisons https://www.aclu.org/issues/mass-incarceration/privatization...
- tsotha 11y ago
  >It's not clear to me that the voting population has required significant convincing to stay 'tough on crime'. That's the key. Ultimately it's the public which decides how tough sentencing is. People who are trying to blame shadowy capitalists or (laughably) libertarians are really barking up the wrong tree. We have a whole bunch of people in jail because the public wants them there.

matwood 11y ago

> 1. Tax corporations and rich people more. Then the local government wont be reduced to fleecing the poor, also it would make the government stronger relative to large corporations and reduce their clout and lobbying power. Government is a lot like any other entity. It will grow as big as it can. Even if you tax corporations and rich people more, the math for government promises still doesn't work out, government will still fleece the poor.

zbyte64 11y ago
And now we've come full circle on how libertarianism is co-opted into arguing that it isn't the Government's role to protect the poor.

brianlweiner 11y ago

What definition of 'often' are you using? 84% of Federal prisoners and 94% of state prisoners are in public "non-profit" prisons. [1] I don't know what percentage of probation services are conducted by private organizations, a quick search showed it's only done in 10 states, so not a majority. It also seems to be a symptom of mass incarceration - didn't really start to increase until early 90s. 1- Most corporate and income taxes aren't at the state or local level. Cities that find themselves trying to increase taxes too high find themselves in situations like my city (Baltimore) or Detroit, etc - a taxbase that flees to counties with lower rates, and the very people we're trying to help trapped in what are now sprawling cities that lack the ability to maintain their infrastructure and institutions. I would consider taxing 'correctly' an unsolved problem, especially at the local level where they have to actually convince businesses and individuals to stay in their area. 2- I'm not necessarily in favor of 'for profit' prisons but I don't believe the opponents have either a) established the connection between private prisons and increasing incarceration rates, or b) shown that states without private prisons are more willing to decrease prison populations. It's not clear to me that the voting population has required significant convincing to stay 'tough on crime'. 3- Sure and of course we continue to overburden public defenders resulting in what ought to be considered unconstitutionally deficient 'access' to legal counsel. [1] https://www.aclu.org/issues/mass-incarceration/privatization-criminal-justice/private-prisons https://www.aclu.org/issues/mass-incarceration/privatization...

tsotha 11y ago
>It's not clear to me that the voting population has required significant convincing to stay 'tough on crime'. That's the key. Ultimately it's the public which decides how tough sentencing is. People who are trying to blame shadowy capitalists or (laughably) libertarians are really barking up the wrong tree. We have a whole bunch of people in jail because the public wants them there.