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Private prisons cost taxpayers 2-3x more than a public prison. And that doesn't include the lawsuits taxpayers are on the hook for if the private prison gets su

Private prisons cost taxpayers 2-3x more than a public prison. And that doesn't include the lawsuits taxpayers are on the hook for if the private prison gets sued. Most non-profits are funded by government grants or by donations from normal people, not ex-finance bros. Moreover, a non-profit financed entirely by a single wealthy donor is not a 501(c)(3), by definition. It is a 501(c)(4) private foundation, and there are very strict rules governing the finances of a 501(c)(4) entity. (The Marshall Project is a 501(c)(3), while it was initially funded by an ex-finance bro the majority of its funding since then comes from other donors.)

hello_computer 3y ago
> funding since then comes from other donors Yes. The usual suspects. Annie E. Casey Foundation, Arnold Ventures, Ford Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, the Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Maverick Capital Foundation, Neil Barsky, Open Society Foundations, Propel, Rockefeller Family Fund, Timothy and Michele Barakett, the Tow Foundation and Trinity Wall Street [0] And you will need to source your "2-3x more", since even sites arguing against private prisons are stating a far more modest difference: According to the study, it costs a private prison about $45,000 a year to house a prisoner, compared to the general cost of about $50,000 annually per inmate in a public prison, resulting in roughly $5,000 in savings per year. A 2011 study estimated a prisoner’s value of freedom for 90 days at about $1,100 — already taking a large chunk out of the advertised taxpayer and city savings from private prisons. Moreover, there are other additional costs that are difficult to quantify. Mukherjee listed some of them, as “the cost of injustice to society (if private prison inmates systematically serve more time), the inmate’s individual value of freedom, and impacts of the additional incarceration on future employment.”[1] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marshall_Project#Organization_and_funding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marshall_Project#Organizat... [1] https://thecrimereport.org/2020/08/21/private-prisons-drive-up-cost-of-incarceration-study/ https://thecrimereport.org/2020/08/21/private-prisons-drive-...
- gamblor956 3y ago
  The link you cited points out that private prisons...drive up the cost of prison. While private prisons are cheaper on a per-day basis, they hold prisoners behind bars longer than public prisons (an average of 90 days) due to increased use of behavioral infraction citations, which negates most of the savings. The link also notes that other costs, like the lawsuit settlements, negate any remaining theoretical savings that exist from using private prisons. WSU researchers noted that this this increased incarceration period alone cost Washington state taxpayers an additional $10.6 million/year over what it would have cost to house those prisoners in public facilities. (https://news.wsu.edu/press-release/2020/09/15/privatized-prisons-lead-inmates-longer-sentences-study-finds/ https://news.wsu.edu/press-release/2020/09/15/privatized-pri...) And indeed, an audit by Georgia noted that private prisons cost at least 10% more than public prisons on a per-day basis for each prisoner incarcerated (https://apnews.com/article/af7177d9cce540ab9f2d873b99437154 https://apnews.com/article/af7177d9cce540ab9f2d873b99437154), and that a substantial portion of the behavioral infractions issued to justify extended incarceration terms were unsupported by evidence. Yes. The usual suspects. Today I learned that an engineer, the family of the UPS founder, the Ford family, and one of the pioneers of the American metallurgy industry are the "usual suspects" in destroying the economy. Leaving aside the fact that the Ford company revolutionized industrial manufacturing, introduced the concept of "fair wages," and was one of the first companies to embrace the shortened (i.e., 5-day) work week that you enjoy today. Or that Langolier pioneered the American metallurgy industry and played a vital role in its existence. Or that UPS was one of the pioneers of the telegraph and parcel delivery, and played an instrumental role in making non-local commercial sales a viable market. Or that Heising is an EECS that owns 6 patents in integrated circuits. Or that MacArthur was an insurance and real estate tycoon who built most of Palm Beach and conducted his business from one of the shops (out of hundreds) that formed in the cities he built.
  - hello_computer 3y ago
    You wrote 2-3x. Per Wikipedia, WADOC has an annual budget of $2.2B.[0] Even if private prisons did cost Washington taxpayers another $10.6M a year, that is nowhere near 2-3x in a budget that large. Add another 10% to that, and we're still nowhere near 2-3x. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_State_Department_of_Corrections https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_State_Department_of... > the "usual suspects" in destroying the economy Where did I accuse anyone of "destroying the economy"? (Oh, I kinda did in my first post. And in the case of George "Open Society Foundation" Soros and Thailand, and probably some of these other hedgies, that is also the case.) But for the most part, these people have done wonders for the economy, and if by "the economy" we mean the sort of people who work at and buy into hedge funds, doubly so! Ordinary people and the environment, however, are another story.

hello_computer 3y ago

> funding since then comes from other donors Yes. The usual suspects. Annie E. Casey Foundation, Arnold Ventures, Ford Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, the Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Maverick Capital Foundation, Neil Barsky, Open Society Foundations, Propel, Rockefeller Family Fund, Timothy and Michele Barakett, the Tow Foundation and Trinity Wall Street [0] And you will need to source your "2-3x more", since even sites arguing against private prisons are stating a far more modest difference: According to the study, it costs a private prison about $45,000 a year to house a prisoner, compared to the general cost of about $50,000 annually per inmate in a public prison, resulting in roughly $5,000 in savings per year. A 2011 study estimated a prisoner’s value of freedom for 90 days at about $1,100 — already taking a large chunk out of the advertised taxpayer and city savings from private prisons. Moreover, there are other additional costs that are difficult to quantify. Mukherjee listed some of them, as “the cost of injustice to society (if private prison inmates systematically serve more time), the inmate’s individual value of freedom, and impacts of the additional incarceration on future employment.”[1] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marshall_Project#Organization_and_funding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marshall_Project#Organizat... [1] https://thecrimereport.org/2020/08/21/private-prisons-drive-up-cost-of-incarceration-study/ https://thecrimereport.org/2020/08/21/private-prisons-drive-...

gamblor956 3y ago
The link you cited points out that private prisons...drive up the cost of prison. While private prisons are cheaper on a per-day basis, they hold prisoners behind bars longer than public prisons (an average of 90 days) due to increased use of behavioral infraction citations, which negates most of the savings. The link also notes that other costs, like the lawsuit settlements, negate any remaining theoretical savings that exist from using private prisons. WSU researchers noted that this this increased incarceration period alone cost Washington state taxpayers an additional $10.6 million/year over what it would have cost to house those prisoners in public facilities. (https://news.wsu.edu/press-release/2020/09/15/privatized-prisons-lead-inmates-longer-sentences-study-finds/ https://news.wsu.edu/press-release/2020/09/15/privatized-pri...) And indeed, an audit by Georgia noted that private prisons cost at least 10% more than public prisons on a per-day basis for each prisoner incarcerated (https://apnews.com/article/af7177d9cce540ab9f2d873b99437154 https://apnews.com/article/af7177d9cce540ab9f2d873b99437154), and that a substantial portion of the behavioral infractions issued to justify extended incarceration terms were unsupported by evidence. Yes. The usual suspects. Today I learned that an engineer, the family of the UPS founder, the Ford family, and one of the pioneers of the American metallurgy industry are the "usual suspects" in destroying the economy. Leaving aside the fact that the Ford company revolutionized industrial manufacturing, introduced the concept of "fair wages," and was one of the first companies to embrace the shortened (i.e., 5-day) work week that you enjoy today. Or that Langolier pioneered the American metallurgy industry and played a vital role in its existence. Or that UPS was one of the pioneers of the telegraph and parcel delivery, and played an instrumental role in making non-local commercial sales a viable market. Or that Heising is an EECS that owns 6 patents in integrated circuits. Or that MacArthur was an insurance and real estate tycoon who built most of Palm Beach and conducted his business from one of the shops (out of hundreds) that formed in the cities he built.
- hello_computer 3y ago
  You wrote 2-3x. Per Wikipedia, WADOC has an annual budget of $2.2B.[0] Even if private prisons did cost Washington taxpayers another $10.6M a year, that is nowhere near 2-3x in a budget that large. Add another 10% to that, and we're still nowhere near 2-3x. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_State_Department_of_Corrections https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_State_Department_of... > the "usual suspects" in destroying the economy Where did I accuse anyone of "destroying the economy"? (Oh, I kinda did in my first post. And in the case of George "Open Society Foundation" Soros and Thailand, and probably some of these other hedgies, that is also the case.) But for the most part, these people have done wonders for the economy, and if by "the economy" we mean the sort of people who work at and buy into hedge funds, doubly so! Ordinary people and the environment, however, are another story.