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The US prison system is actually an industrialized slavery system for US corporations. The prison system here has a "work program" for inmates where they earn p

The US prison system is actually an industrialized slavery system for US corporations. The prison system here has a "work program" for inmates where they earn pennies per hour to manufacture products for US corporations. Investigate how institutionalized this practice has become. We need to stop this immediately, as it can and will spread unless we do. This is evil unmasked. http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-prison-industry-in-the-united-states-big-business-or-a-new-form-of-slavery/8289 http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-prison-industry-in-the-unit... http://www.alternet.org/story/151732/21st-century_slaves%3A_how_corporations_exploit_prison_labor http://www.alternet.org/story/151732/21st-century_slaves%3A_... http://www.forbes.com/2008/08/18/prison-small-business-ent-manage-cx_mf_0818prisonlabor.html http://www.forbes.com/2008/08/18/prison-small-business-ent-m...

notdanariely 11y ago
I agree that this trend is disturbing, but am unable to reconcile your alarmist language with the numbers in the links you provided. I do not support private corporations (or even public good -- yes, I think the chain gang days of old are similarly awful) making money off of prisoners. However, from the articles you linked, some data: * 2 million (2,000,000) inmates in federal/state/local prisons. * 100 private prisons, 62,000 inmates in them (6.2%) * 18 corporations guard 10,000 prisoners in 27 states (unsure how this relates to previous point, the article isn't very well written and doesn't connect these numbers) * Forbes.com article says there are 6,000 prisoners in the US serving time while working for a private enterprise. So on the one extreme, we're looking at 6% of the prison population being affected by this. At the other extreme, there are only 6k prisoners affected. I believe there are a huge number of ethical and moral violations surrounding the prison side of the US criminal justice system. Private prisons are one of them, but hyperbole and extreme language do not serve any of the population.
- themartorana 11y ago
  I think "hyperbole" is unfair. Waiting to be "alarmist" until after an "alarm" has the capacity to halt a terrible situation is rather pointless. It's so much easier to stop a bad practice than walk it back from significant implementation. This may be small, but it's growing rapidly, and if it's 6.2% now, it's 15% by 2020, and so on.
  - rayiner 11y ago
    The problem with the argument is not that it's not worth raising alarm about 6%. It's alarming--that number was basically 0% 20 years ago. However, the argument doesn't explain how our justice system got to be the way it is. Private prison corporations didn't create extreme minimum sentences. They came along after the fact to profit from them. The core problem is a lack of virtue in the American people. We're unsympathetic, unforgiving, and unmerciful. our lack of virtue created the system that opportunists are now profiting from.
    - kevinnk 11y ago
      Ironically, painting broad swaths of people with labels like "non-virtuous" is how we got extreme sentences In the first place.
  - harryh 11y ago
    It's not, in fact, growing rapidly.
- tptacek 11y ago
  It's also not totally clear what the disadvantages of private prisons are, versus overcrowded public prisons. Whatever the case, it's almost certainly true that it's a subset of the 6% of inmates in private prisons who are harmed by prison privatization. (I have no idea what I think about private prisons. I do not automatically assume that systems controlled by corporations are worse than those controlled by government bureaucracies. Public or private, US prison sentences are far too long for most crimes.)
rokhayakebe 11y ago
The US prison system is actually an industrialized slavery system for US corporations. I do not have the data/link, but I heard from trusted source that some of the companies that build and operate prisons require states to guarantee maximum occupancy before they build a new jail.
- jeffmould 11y ago
  Not sure why you are being downvoted here, but this is a true statement. Most private prison corporations have occupancy clauses in their contract that mandate either (a) 100%+ occupancy before building a new prison, or (b) in place of occupancy the state can elect to pay a higher premium per inmate. The US legal system is built on fulfilling the occupancy rates to avoid the higher fees. http://www.inthepublicinterest.org/article/criminal-how-lockup-quotas-and-low-crime-taxes-guarantee-profits-private-prison-corporations http://www.inthepublicinterest.org/article/criminal-how-lock...
  - rokhayakebe 11y ago
    Not sure why you are being downvoted here Me neither. HN. Here are some additional links: http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/09/private-prisons-occupancy-quota-cca-crime http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/09/private-prisons-occu..., http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/19/private-prison-quotas_n_3953483.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/19/private-prison-quot...
sliverstorm 11y ago
Is there a reason we should be against work programs? There are moral hazards, but to my knowledge having something constructive to do & being able to make a little money have positive effects on rehabilitation, reintegration, and daily prison life.
- ceejayoz 11y ago
  > Is there a reason we should be against work programs? Inherently? No. Work programs where the pay is a tenth or less that of even minimum wage, though, are easily abused.
  - tedunangst 11y ago
    Sounds like the solution is to pay them nothing and call it "training".
- thatcat 11y ago
  Since they are paid less than minimum wage it's unfair to external workers and should be illegal. If they cost less than non prisoners to employ and have their food/housing subsidized by tax payers - no one will ever compete for the same jobs. It's nearly-free labor for companies subsidized by everyone else.
  - sliverstorm 11y ago
    So we subsidize the employment of prisoners to help with their reintegration back into society. I don't see the problem. Hell, so long as it's effective, we're saving money in the long run. Money spent curbing recidivism pays for itself, considering a prisoner costs tens of thousands of dollars a year. Also, it's not like prisoners are competing for the best jobs. There are heavy restrictions on their employment (part of why a strong incentive is needed to make them employable) so they are unlikely to be competing for software development jobs anytime soon. They do things like clean roadsides and stamp license plates.

notdanariely 11y ago

I agree that this trend is disturbing, but am unable to reconcile your alarmist language with the numbers in the links you provided. I do not support private corporations (or even public good -- yes, I think the chain gang days of old are similarly awful) making money off of prisoners. However, from the articles you linked, some data: * 2 million (2,000,000) inmates in federal/state/local prisons. * 100 private prisons, 62,000 inmates in them (6.2%) * 18 corporations guard 10,000 prisoners in 27 states (unsure how this relates to previous point, the article isn't very well written and doesn't connect these numbers) * Forbes.com article says there are 6,000 prisoners in the US serving time while working for a private enterprise. So on the one extreme, we're looking at 6% of the prison population being affected by this. At the other extreme, there are only 6k prisoners affected. I believe there are a huge number of ethical and moral violations surrounding the prison side of the US criminal justice system. Private prisons are one of them, but hyperbole and extreme language do not serve any of the population.

themartorana 11y ago
I think "hyperbole" is unfair. Waiting to be "alarmist" until after an "alarm" has the capacity to halt a terrible situation is rather pointless. It's so much easier to stop a bad practice than walk it back from significant implementation. This may be small, but it's growing rapidly, and if it's 6.2% now, it's 15% by 2020, and so on.
- rayiner 11y ago
  The problem with the argument is not that it's not worth raising alarm about 6%. It's alarming--that number was basically 0% 20 years ago. However, the argument doesn't explain how our justice system got to be the way it is. Private prison corporations didn't create extreme minimum sentences. They came along after the fact to profit from them. The core problem is a lack of virtue in the American people. We're unsympathetic, unforgiving, and unmerciful. our lack of virtue created the system that opportunists are now profiting from.
  - kevinnk 11y ago
    Ironically, painting broad swaths of people with labels like "non-virtuous" is how we got extreme sentences In the first place.
- harryh 11y ago
  It's not, in fact, growing rapidly.
tptacek 11y ago
It's also not totally clear what the disadvantages of private prisons are, versus overcrowded public prisons. Whatever the case, it's almost certainly true that it's a subset of the 6% of inmates in private prisons who are harmed by prison privatization. (I have no idea what I think about private prisons. I do not automatically assume that systems controlled by corporations are worse than those controlled by government bureaucracies. Public or private, US prison sentences are far too long for most crimes.)

rokhayakebe 11y ago

The US prison system is actually an industrialized slavery system for US corporations. I do not have the data/link, but I heard from trusted source that some of the companies that build and operate prisons require states to guarantee maximum occupancy before they build a new jail.

jeffmould 11y ago
Not sure why you are being downvoted here, but this is a true statement. Most private prison corporations have occupancy clauses in their contract that mandate either (a) 100%+ occupancy before building a new prison, or (b) in place of occupancy the state can elect to pay a higher premium per inmate. The US legal system is built on fulfilling the occupancy rates to avoid the higher fees. http://www.inthepublicinterest.org/article/criminal-how-lockup-quotas-and-low-crime-taxes-guarantee-profits-private-prison-corporations http://www.inthepublicinterest.org/article/criminal-how-lock...
- rokhayakebe 11y ago
  Not sure why you are being downvoted here Me neither. HN. Here are some additional links: http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/09/private-prisons-occupancy-quota-cca-crime http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/09/private-prisons-occu..., http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/19/private-prison-quotas_n_3953483.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/19/private-prison-quot...

sliverstorm 11y ago

Is there a reason we should be against work programs? There are moral hazards, but to my knowledge having something constructive to do & being able to make a little money have positive effects on rehabilitation, reintegration, and daily prison life.

ceejayoz 11y ago
> Is there a reason we should be against work programs? Inherently? No. Work programs where the pay is a tenth or less that of even minimum wage, though, are easily abused.
- tedunangst 11y ago
  Sounds like the solution is to pay them nothing and call it "training".
thatcat 11y ago
Since they are paid less than minimum wage it's unfair to external workers and should be illegal. If they cost less than non prisoners to employ and have their food/housing subsidized by tax payers - no one will ever compete for the same jobs. It's nearly-free labor for companies subsidized by everyone else.
- sliverstorm 11y ago
  So we subsidize the employment of prisoners to help with their reintegration back into society. I don't see the problem. Hell, so long as it's effective, we're saving money in the long run. Money spent curbing recidivism pays for itself, considering a prisoner costs tens of thousands of dollars a year. Also, it's not like prisoners are competing for the best jobs. There are heavy restrictions on their employment (part of why a strong incentive is needed to make them employable) so they are unlikely to be competing for software development jobs anytime soon. They do things like clean roadsides and stamp license plates.