3 ms·

The policing can very so much in the US. You have regions where cops will try to seize money / property from innocent travelers as part of county funding inste

by wolco 7y ago

The policing can very so much in the US. You have regions where cops will try to seize money / property from innocent travelers as part of county funding instead of raising taxes. The punishments can vary so much. Private prisons create this profit incentive to jail more people. Prisions should be a cost center not a profit center.

ultrarunner 7y ago
Private prisons are an awful situation, but last I’d seen they comprised a small percentage of incarcerations. While they’re part of the problem, I think they are more a symptom of the brokenness of the criminal justice system than the cause.
- ultrarunner 7y ago
  I found a ProPublica article with broken links to government sources that says around 8% of prisoners were housed in private prisons in 2010. A Pew Research article[0] shows that private prisons have housed between 5-8%, but in 2016 out of 2,162,400 total prisoners[1] only 128,063 of them were in private prisons[2], which is about 6%. I wholeheartedly agree that 6% of the prison population (128,063 people!) is a situation worthwhile of positive change. But I remain skeptical that it's those damn private prisons that are ruining everything. Mostly I think it's debacles like the drug war that need real immediate attention and change before things will significantly improve. [0]https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/11/u-s-private-prison-population-has-declined-in-recent-years/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/11/u-s-private... [1]https://www.bjs.gov/content/keystatistics/csv/Total_correctional_population_counts_by_status.csv https://www.bjs.gov/content/keystatistics/csv/Total_correcti... [2]https://www.criminaljusticeprograms.com/articles/private-prisons-vs-public-prisons/ https://www.criminaljusticeprograms.com/articles/private-pri... again citing the BJS.

3 ms·

The policing can very so much in the US. You have regions where cops will try to seize money / property from innocent travelers as part of county funding inste

by wolco 7y ago

ultrarunner 7y ago
Private prisons are an awful situation, but last I’d seen they comprised a small percentage of incarcerations. While they’re part of the problem, I think they are more a symptom of the brokenness of the criminal justice system than the cause.
- ultrarunner 7y ago
  I found a ProPublica article with broken links to government sources that says around 8% of prisoners were housed in private prisons in 2010. A Pew Research article[0] shows that private prisons have housed between 5-8%, but in 2016 out of 2,162,400 total prisoners[1] only 128,063 of them were in private prisons[2], which is about 6%. I wholeheartedly agree that 6% of the prison population (128,063 people!) is a situation worthwhile of positive change. But I remain skeptical that it's those damn private prisons that are ruining everything. Mostly I think it's debacles like the drug war that need real immediate attention and change before things will significantly improve. [0]https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/11/u-s-private-prison-population-has-declined-in-recent-years/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/11/u-s-private... [1]https://www.bjs.gov/content/keystatistics/csv/Total_correctional_population_counts_by_status.csv https://www.bjs.gov/content/keystatistics/csv/Total_correcti... [2]https://www.criminaljusticeprograms.com/articles/private-prisons-vs-public-prisons/ https://www.criminaljusticeprograms.com/articles/private-pri... again citing the BJS.