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According to the first Google hit on the issue¹, the US prison system cost $88.5B in 2016. So these $11B do not come close to making it profitable to lock more
by BurningFrog 4y ago
According to the first Google hit on the issue¹, the US prison system cost $88.5B in 2016.
So these $11B do not come close to making it profitable to lock more people up.
¹ https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/the-economic-costs-of-the-u-s-criminal-justice-system/ https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/the-economic-co...
- sosodev 4y agoThe cost of imprisoning people is subsidized by the government. Who profits off of their labor though? When my mother was in prison she worked for a private company for well below our states minimum wage. So her employer profited off of her nearly free labor.
- BurningFrog 4y agoSure, but we need someone that both profit from increased incarceration and have the power to actually increase it, to make the theory that prisons are kept full for profit to be credible. I attempted to show that the government, who clearly can fill up prisons, lose money from it, so they don't have the incentive. Your mother's prison employer would benefit from more prisoners, but hardly has enough political power to make it happen. I know prison warden unions always lobby for more prisoners, and they do have some political power, but I can't believe it's typically decisive. So who else could it be?