Prison Crisis in America

[The Hunter]

St Kitts got Beef it Betil Fox.

Betil > US felons.

Well look what the cat dragged in. How was your time, convict?

[Hedgehog]

Well look what the cat dragged in. How was your time, convict?

Not bad, not bad.

[arce1988]

prison–industrial complex (PIC)

[JBGRAY]

Prison = Free Housing for Blacks and Hispanics

[beakdoctor]

All these conspiracy theories....The so called prison industrial complex doesn't generate money. It costs money. The only people who get rich from it are greedy ass lawyers.

[Archer77]

All these conspiracy theories....The so called prison industrial complex doesn't generate money. It costs money. The only people who get rich from it are greedy ass lawyers.

Corporations are increasing becoming involved in the business of prison management and they are making a profit and their profits will only increase.  Its not a conspiracy and quite fascinating when you read about it.   

[arce1988]

http://www.truth-out.org/progressive-picks/item/16003-the-prison-industrial-complex-the-pac-man-that-destroys-lives

[thebrink]

big business in jailing blacks

cash cow

[G_Thang]

G_Tard is right. Everybody should call their congressman and ask what they intend to do about the n/i/g/g/e/r problem in this country.

866 posts more and you will matter. 

[Mawse]

All these conspiracy theories....The so called prison industrial complex doesn't generate money. It costs money. The only people who get rich from it are greedy ass lawyers.

When you socialize the costs ie bill the taxpayer and keep the money that comes in it doesn't matter how much money it loses. It's the American (Obama) dream in a microcosm.

All the parasites make money off it, including so called liberal politicians

[Master Blaster]

I don't want some of these shit bags running loose.

DO THE TIME.

[Rami]

There should be ways to extract some usefulness out of this large prison population

[ESFitness]

All these conspiracy theories....The so called prison industrial complex doesn't generate money. It costs money. The only people who get rich from it are greedy ass lawyers.

Depends on the prison.

Super-max, Max, maybe... but medium, medium-low, low, and trustee units easily net profit. Cheap labor. They produce goods/services akin to sweat-shops that easily cover overhead.

[Parker]

big business in jailing blacks

cash cow

Yep, and today's hip hop and "urban culture" are unwitting conspirators in this.

[Roger Bacon]

Not bad, not bad.

Welcome back shit head.  There were a few changes while you were away.

[missile]

But what can u expect for a nation of convicts?

[Archer77]

Depends on the prison.

Super-max, Max, maybe... but medium, medium-low, low, and trustee units easily net profit. Cheap labor. They produce goods/services akin to sweat-shops that easily cover overhead.

This.  They hire cheap, substandard and inexperienced labor. These prisons are also often understaffed.

[beakdoctor]

Corporations are increasing becoming involved in the business of prison management and they are making a profit and their profits will only increase.  Its not a conspiracy and quite fascinating when you read about it.   

Expand on this please, what corporations are involved? As far as I understand it Tax dollars pay for state and county jails. The fact that the people locked up don't pay taxes makes it even more of a money losing situation.

[youandme]

It tried to be "big business" several times and failed. Corporate would rather the jobs just be taken overseas, rather than play politics. The hoops businesses had to jump through to help keep jobs here (prison jobs but jobs nonetheless) was ridiculous with all of the red tape bueracracy.

The big business in prison and jail systems is the jail bidding contracts themselves (food, telecom, garments, etc.)

It's not so much a crisis or epidemic of  the prison system as it is a realization that society has increased it's population of non law abiding citizens and allowed an Emilie Durkheim theory of anomie (degrading of social rules, norms, mores). You now have an abundant amount of people that do not respect society, so they end up in the prison system because the court has no other recourse.

Expand on this please, what corporations are involved? As far as I understand it Tax dollars pay for state and county jails. The fact that the people locked up don't pay taxes makes it even more of a money losing situation.

Sysco as an example of the food contracts.

Avaya/Cisco/Nortel as an example of the telecomunications of the telecom contracts.

Weapon contracts

Garment contracts

Chemical cleaning supplies coontracts

List goes on.

[littledumbells]

you're forgetting about "Prison Industries".

There are prison's that have "housing" jobs for inmates. They build roughly 40 houses a year (3 a month) and sell them for $35k-45k, while paying the inmates $.25/hour to build them. Then the inmates turn around and spend that money in prison commissary for items marked up 100-300% (over $4 for a jar of generic peanut butter that costs $1.60, $.58 for Ramen noodles, $3.50 for a $1.50 bag o generic bbq chips, $2.50 for a loaf of $1.20 bread, almost $5 for a bag of $2.80 generic instant coffee, ect, ect, ect...)... and not to mention the monopoly on the phone company's, where a 20min long distance call costs over $7 and a local call costs over $4 with a $3 connection fee. So if your call 'somehow' gets cut off after 1 minute, you gotta call back and your 20 min phone call costs $10 total (2 connection fees).

many times, especially in small towns where the prison is THE main 'industry', the prison officials (warden and secretary of corrections) are investors in the companies that supply the commissary as well as long-distance phone service providers.

   We also have the "pre" prison industrial complex that is a huge employer and not likely to go away.......the DEA and other such businesses.
And businesses they are, feeding at the taxpayer trough

[Roger Bacon]

The Netherlands is closing prisons due to a serious prisoner shortage

osing eight prisons (and sadly, cutting 1,200 jobs) because a drop in crime has left the country with a dearth of criminals. It's a reversal from the 1990s, when the prison system was overcrowded, but now the country's all set up for 14,000 prisoners, and only has 12,000 actually incarcerated. The Dutch justice ministry expects the crime rate to keep falling, so the Netherlands is working on an agreement with Belgium to import some 500 Belgian prisoners to the Netherlands' Tilburg prison. This is officially the least-American national problem ever. [Source]

http://now.msn.com/netherlands-closing-prisons-due-to-lack-of-prisoners

[thebrink]

Yep, and today's hip hop and "urban culture" are unwitting conspirators in this.

yes, today's "hip hop" 

just a bunch of puppets teaching the impressionable black youth how to sell crack rocks and defy police, end up locked up and off the streets. this is not what hip hop is supposed to be about

[ESFitness]

Expand on this please, what corporations are involved? As far as I understand it Tax dollars pay for state and county jails. The fact that the people locked up don't pay taxes makes it even more of a money losing situation.

ok.. take a state agency... say... the texas board of accountancy.

now, the texas board of accountancy has to have archives of all their documents.. all applications... all credentials.. all transcripts.. all diplomas...disciplinary reports... ect.... everything.

for these archives, they need digital as well as micro-film copies.

now, these are thousands upon thousands of documents that need to be archived each year. each document needs to be filmed and scanned and developed and proofed and stored.

this is a time consuming and tedious job... also a skilled job working with german zeutschel cameras that cost 10's of thousands of dollars.... the state agency would expect to pay $15-20/hour for that job.

so what happens? the prison gets paid 50% of that (7.5-10/hr per worker) and pays the inmate $.25. So 100 hours for only $25... whereas out of that 100hrs, the prison makes $725-$875 PER WORKER... ususally there are 15-20 if not more, workers.

this is true for the majority of prison industries.... some prison industries even pay minimum wage... or close to it... because the can afford to because they bill $30+.

and yes, if you make money in prison, enough to qualify to pay tax... you will pay tax.

if you're 'indigent' and don't have any money... you can order shampoo and razors and toothpaste on commissary, but you will OWE the prison for it... and as soon as you get a 'job' (prison job, not when you get out) or you get some money sent in from friends/fam, the prison will take their cut.

[Roger Bacon]

If you ask me, it's a pretty sad day when the state can own slaves but private citizens can't. 

[haider]

St Kitts got Beef it Betil Fox.

Betil > US felons.