Quite right, prison guard unions have just as great an incentive to lobby for harsher sentencing as private corporations operating prisons do. They exist in sta

Quite right, prison guard unions have just as great an incentive to lobby for harsher sentencing as private corporations operating prisons do. They exist in state run prisons and no politician wants to piss off a public service union. They’re organised and they vote, same as teachers, police or firefighters.