4 ms·

Private prisons? That's a nice touch! Out of curiosity, how does a private prison work? I mean the client is the state or say (if a con has money) I can do his

by atmosx 12y ago

Private prisons? That's a nice touch! Out of curiosity, how does a private prison work? I mean the client is the state or say (if a con has money) I can do his time in private prison with a PS-4, regular medical examinations, internet access (probably monitored), etc.? Not that it's bad to have civilized prisons, but I'm curious how a private prison operates.

mschuster91 12y ago
Nah, government is the client. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prison http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prison for details. Of course, this system is very easy to game - in one scandal, judges were bribed by prison operators in order to send kids to jail for stuff like "mocking a principal on myspace". See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_for_cash_scandal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_for_cash_scandal for one of these. Of course, putting kids in jail for stupid myspace comments will make them responsible adults cough...
maxerickson 12y ago
Yes, the client would be the US government or state. Private prisons hold about 8% of prisoners in the US, during 2013 the number of prisoners in private facilities declined by 3%. Numbers from here: http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/ascii/p13.txt http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/ascii/p13.txt There are some other problems with perverse incentives in the US incarceration system (businesses are allowed to employ prisoners at low wages), but the "it's all about private prisons" narrative isn't really backed up by the numbers. If you look at the sort of crimes that people end up getting put into prison for, at least statistically, they aren't Myspace comments.
- mschuster91 12y ago
  > If you look at the sort of crimes that people end up getting put into prison for, at least statistically, they aren't Myspace comments. Mostly drug-related stuff, especially victimless crimes such as pure possession without intent to distribute... while Myspace or other cyberbullying can certainly be jail-worthy, a shitload of US prisoners are in for drugs. imho, the US and every other country in this world should end the "War on Drugs". It has undeniably failed, and costs taxpayers everywhere billions of dollars, in addition to the hundreds of thousands of lives lost alone in Mexico...
  - maxerickson 12y ago
    I don't see a handy possession vs distribution summary, but look here for the types of cases that get prosecuted for trafficking: http://isb.ussc.gov/content/pentaho-cdf/RenderXCDF?solution=Sourcebook&path=&action=table_xx.xcdf&template=mantle&table_num=Table42 http://isb.ussc.gov/content/pentaho-cdf/RenderXCDF?solution=... The typical federal marijuana trafficking prosecution involves possession of 10 kilos (the small number of cases involving less than that averaged 4 kilos). The numbers for crack and meth are smaller, but there is still a pretty clear line at 'dozens of doses'. I'm not sure I understand it correctly, but this graph seems to say that the majority of people sentenced under drug guidelines are convicted of some other crime. So apparently they are committing other crimes while in possession of drugs: http://isb.ussc.gov/content/pentaho-cdf/RenderXCDF?solution=Sourcebook&path=&template=mantle&action=figure_xx.xcdf&table_num=Figure_I http://isb.ussc.gov/content/pentaho-cdf/RenderXCDF?solution=... And then the majority of "pure drug cases" actually do involve trafficking, which the data above indicates usually involves substantial quantities. Nothing I've said is an argument in favor of the war on drugs.

by atmosx 12y ago

mschuster91 12y ago

Nah, government is the client. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prison http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prison for details. Of course, this system is very easy to game - in one scandal, judges were bribed by prison operators in order to send kids to jail for stuff like "mocking a principal on myspace". See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_for_cash_scandal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kids_for_cash_scandal for one of these. Of course, putting kids in jail for stupid myspace comments will make them responsible adults cough...

maxerickson 12y ago

Yes, the client would be the US government or state. Private prisons hold about 8% of prisoners in the US, during 2013 the number of prisoners in private facilities declined by 3%. Numbers from here: http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/ascii/p13.txt http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/ascii/p13.txt There are some other problems with perverse incentives in the US incarceration system (businesses are allowed to employ prisoners at low wages), but the "it's all about private prisons" narrative isn't really backed up by the numbers. If you look at the sort of crimes that people end up getting put into prison for, at least statistically, they aren't Myspace comments.

mschuster91 12y ago
> If you look at the sort of crimes that people end up getting put into prison for, at least statistically, they aren't Myspace comments. Mostly drug-related stuff, especially victimless crimes such as pure possession without intent to distribute... while Myspace or other cyberbullying can certainly be jail-worthy, a shitload of US prisoners are in for drugs. imho, the US and every other country in this world should end the "War on Drugs". It has undeniably failed, and costs taxpayers everywhere billions of dollars, in addition to the hundreds of thousands of lives lost alone in Mexico...
- maxerickson 12y ago
  I don't see a handy possession vs distribution summary, but look here for the types of cases that get prosecuted for trafficking: http://isb.ussc.gov/content/pentaho-cdf/RenderXCDF?solution=Sourcebook&path=&action=table_xx.xcdf&template=mantle&table_num=Table42 http://isb.ussc.gov/content/pentaho-cdf/RenderXCDF?solution=... The typical federal marijuana trafficking prosecution involves possession of 10 kilos (the small number of cases involving less than that averaged 4 kilos). The numbers for crack and meth are smaller, but there is still a pretty clear line at 'dozens of doses'. I'm not sure I understand it correctly, but this graph seems to say that the majority of people sentenced under drug guidelines are convicted of some other crime. So apparently they are committing other crimes while in possession of drugs: http://isb.ussc.gov/content/pentaho-cdf/RenderXCDF?solution=Sourcebook&path=&template=mantle&action=figure_xx.xcdf&table_num=Figure_I http://isb.ussc.gov/content/pentaho-cdf/RenderXCDF?solution=... And then the majority of "pure drug cases" actually do involve trafficking, which the data above indicates usually involves substantial quantities. Nothing I've said is an argument in favor of the war on drugs.