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There is so much injustice with our prison system right now. There are countless people being locked up for their entire lives over petty crimes -- the same cr
by joshfraser 13y ago
There is so much injustice with our prison system right now. There are countless people being locked up for their entire lives over petty crimes -- the same crimes that relatively comfortable white boys like me could easily get away with because I can afford a decent lawyer. It's racism and wealth discrimination disguised as justice.
The US is leading the world in incarceration and the privatization of prisons is a big contributor to the problem. Corporations have a financial incentive to incarcerate more people and lobby to keep strict drug laws.
Meanwhile we make jokes and laugh about things like prison rape. I believe we will look back at prison rape the same way we look back at slavery. How barbaric are we that we think that's somehow okay?
For things to change, we’re going to have to change public perceptions and start demanding change. I wish we were a little less eager to deprive people of their most basic right to freedom.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_Sta...
- jrockway 13y agoI don't think the underlying problem is privatized prisons. The underlying problems are our unconscious biases, political pandering ("tough on crime!") and weaknesses in our educational and healthcare systems.
- joshfraser 13y agohttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-carlsen/immigration-reform-privation-prisons-lobby_b_2665199.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-carlsen/immigration-refo...
- jrockway 13y agoSure, but privatized prisons would be just as happy to house rich white people as they would be to house poor immigrants. They want their prisons full, but that doesn't explain why people commit crimes, how people are caught, arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced.
- yummyfajitas 13y agoPrivatizing prisons generally reduce the financial incentive to incarcerate more people. In non-privatized states, you generally have a prison guard union. The prison guard union lobbies for more prisoners and gets more money. Simple as that. A non-monopolistic prison corporation spends their own money lobbying, and all the other prison corporations get to reap the benefits. Classic collective action problem. http://www.volokh.com/2013/01/10/the-effect-of-privatization-on-the-public-and-private-prison-lobbies/ http://www.volokh.com/2013/01/10/the-effect-of-privatization... http://www.volokh.com/2013/01/11/the-effect-of-privatization-on-the-public-and-private-prison-lobbies-part-2/ http://www.volokh.com/2013/01/11/the-effect-of-privatization...
- anu_gupta 13y ago> Privatizing prisons generally reduce the financial incentive to incarcerate more people. That made me laugh - thanks :)
- yummyfajitas 13y agoSuch a well reasoned counterargument.
- anu_gupta 13y agoNot sure why you need to be sarcastic. It made me laugh, so I was expressing thanks for bringing some humour into my day.