Private prisons have no place in a democracy.

Effin madness

Private prisons are a step in the right direction for them.

Back when I still conversed with the right-wingers in my family I tried to point out how corrupt & unfair that arrangement was, but the response I got was, "If you can't do the time don't do the crime." The religious right especially gets off on punishment, IMO.

The most depressing funeral I went to was for an aunt of mine, a joyful woman with a huge heart, who married into a very religious family—some of the right-wingers mentioned above. The minister went on about how despite outward appearances, only God knows what's in our hearts, & if we're deserving of going to heaven. As an atheist I find funerals & people's reactions interesting, but I've never been to a funeral with such a downhead message.

Sheldon White House, Jamie, Raskin, Elizabeth Warren, Mazie Hirono, our representative Jill Tokuda, and some others. AOC. Bernie of course. And Joe and Jill Biden and Barack Obama.

And you guys

If you are going to be a country with the highest incarceration rate, then it is up to the country and its taxpayers to take on the burden directly and not outsource this to private for-profit corporations, many publicly traded on the stock market.

that it threatens our democracy itself.

It's one step above the institution of slavery, and can only breed corruption.

Thanks for the thread Swede

The fact that some prisons pay a near-zero wage does not make this untrue.

to maximize draconian laws just to increase the profit margins for those prisons, and they create a degree of separation in regards to accountability.

Government run prisons are at least theoretically beholden to the public as in "We the People."

Near zero wages don't serve the public interest in any case.

is where the profit goes. Only about 10% of prisons are private.

This is true even with the context of an imperfect US Constitution allowing slavery in prisons.

got arrested by a crooked sherif and forced to work in a mine. I learned this shit was wrong as kid watching Bonanza.

Also, private military contractors.
Trained on our dime then recruited into private armies with weaponry to rival our own military. HUGE MISTAKE!

Every problem we have can be traced right back to one source. Healthcare sucks? Capitalism. Education sucks? Capitalism. Homeless people? Capitalism. Food insecurity? Capitalism. Environmental degradation? Capitalism. Lack of equity? Capitalism.

Our tax dollars are spent to kill people around the world and steal their resources. Why? Capitalism.

Privatizing prisons is inherently going to be corrupt because the point isn’t rehabilitation or making sure justice is done, it’s about filling beds and giving the least amount of care possible because you want to squeeze every last bit of profit out of it as you can.

How many judges have had cases against them for throwing as many people in jail as they can for kickbacks?

The problem is capitalism, it’s always been the problem, it’ll always be the problem.

Maybe they should ask the Nordic countries which practice democratic socialism and consistently lead the world in happiness rankings. USA ranks #23.

On another note: Remember the two Pennsylvania Judges who were taking bribes and for unwarranted sentencing of juveniles to private detention camps that were reimbursed by the state? They were sentenced to prison.

of Trump, has ever been served a piping hot bowl of porridge full of maggots.

They can even hire more doctors at a profit which would satisfy their profit motives and shareholders. The government can do this if it wanted. So far they pay for number of beds. But we can do better... try pay for number of doctors with incentivized premiums paid out, as well as voluntary inspections. Fresh food, humane treatment, etc.

Now, there are places that appear innocuous. Like in malls and other places like rented homes and unoccupied businesses in strip malls.

They are diversifying and going underground. Which is entirely predictable. They're criminals, after all.

Stealing, kidnapping people for profit isn't a noble profession.

We're going to have to undo this mess, and it will be difficult to do, but we have to do it.

I don't know the exact numbers for the contract or number of detainees, somewhere between 800 and 900, but let's say $1B for 1,000 detainees would be $1M per detainee. Any number anywhere close to that is insane. The annual cost per inmate in the Federal prison system for FY 2022 was $42,672, so where is that extra money going? Even the MAGA scum who are okay with the fascism and cruelty should be balking at the money being siphoned out of their pockets.

in sweltering heat and humidity. No breaks.

Another was the decision to marketize the refined product from petroleum.
It completely removed the incentive to be a low cost provider. And, that was proposed by the sane people that wanted to privatize everything because competition was the solution. Then, they eliminated a point of competitiveness.
So, we've got 2 of the biggies covered.