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> Locking someone up for a few years with nothing interesting to do sounds like a good way to make someone come out the other end worse than they were before.

by cr0sh 9y ago

> Locking someone up for a few years with nothing interesting to do sounds like a good way to make someone come out the other end worse than they were before. Given the (growing) number of private, for-profit prisons - that would be seen as a feature, not a bug. Because if they leave worse off, they'll likely be returning - thus generating a steady income stream courtesy of taxpayers. Cynical, yes - but likely true.

Buttons840 9y ago
Things like this don't even have to be someone's concious evil plan. The system simply selects prisons that do this over the long term because they will tend to be more profitable and more likely to survive and be able to build more jails and lobby more politicians for contracts.
paulie_a 9y ago
Do you have any info on the growing aspect of private prisons. The last time I looked they were statistically insignificant. Even then I don't agree with the concept but if my hazy memory is correct it was close to 5 percent
- fenwick67 9y ago
  > Broken down to prison type, 19.1% of the federal prison population in the United States is housed in private prisons and 6.8% of the U.S. state prison population is housed in private prisons. > the overall trend over the past decade has been a slow increase > In the past two decades CCA has seen its profits increase by more than 500 percent.[22] The prison industry as a whole took in over $5 billion in revenue in 2011.[23] > A 2016 report by the U.S. Department of Justice asserts that privately operated federal facilities are less safe, less secure and more punitive than other federal prisons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prison#Development_2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prison#Development_2
danieltillett 9y ago
Private prisons with the right incentives would be the way to go. If instead of only being paid for each prisoner they housed they were paid for each prisoner that did not come back then they would be a lot more interested in rehabilitation and reform. Private prisons would do things like set up job programs for prisoners and lobby for law changes that made it hard to send ex-prisonsers back to jail for trivial infractions. Private systems in general are more responsive to incentives than public systems and less likely to be captured by vested interests (e.g. prison guard unions). If used wisely (i.e. with appropriate incentives) they can be a huge force for good. Of course the actual incentives used are terrible so end result is an amplification of all the bad aspects of the prison system :(

by cr0sh 9y ago

Buttons840 9y ago

Things like this don't even have to be someone's concious evil plan. The system simply selects prisons that do this over the long term because they will tend to be more profitable and more likely to survive and be able to build more jails and lobby more politicians for contracts.

paulie_a 9y ago

Do you have any info on the growing aspect of private prisons. The last time I looked they were statistically insignificant. Even then I don't agree with the concept but if my hazy memory is correct it was close to 5 percent

fenwick67 9y ago
> Broken down to prison type, 19.1% of the federal prison population in the United States is housed in private prisons and 6.8% of the U.S. state prison population is housed in private prisons. > the overall trend over the past decade has been a slow increase > In the past two decades CCA has seen its profits increase by more than 500 percent.[22] The prison industry as a whole took in over $5 billion in revenue in 2011.[23] > A 2016 report by the U.S. Department of Justice asserts that privately operated federal facilities are less safe, less secure and more punitive than other federal prisons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prison#Development_2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prison#Development_2

danieltillett 9y ago

Private prisons with the right incentives would be the way to go. If instead of only being paid for each prisoner they housed they were paid for each prisoner that did not come back then they would be a lot more interested in rehabilitation and reform. Private prisons would do things like set up job programs for prisoners and lobby for law changes that made it hard to send ex-prisonsers back to jail for trivial infractions. Private systems in general are more responsive to incentives than public systems and less likely to be captured by vested interests (e.g. prison guard unions). If used wisely (i.e. with appropriate incentives) they can be a huge force for good. Of course the actual incentives used are terrible so end result is an amplification of all the bad aspects of the prison system :(