A Brief Look at Guantanamo Bay

Prisons today are pushed to their limits, both state, and federal prisons. Inmates are forced to live in unsanitary, unhealthy, unsafe, and poor conditions. Men and woman should not be made to sleep on floors, sleep in tents outside, or fight for a spot in a long line to shower. This issue needs to be addressed, and some states have proceeded to do so and have had great results.

The private prison system is a bad joke that goes really bad. I learned about it seven years ago but I did not pay much action to it until recently. I have not understood in a million years the US government in moral fiber nor the American people will allow something like that to happen but it is happening and sadly it is growing.

million annually to keep prisoners in solitary confinement.” Taxpayers should not be wasting their money on solitary confinement. Solitary is counterproductive because prisoners are proven to be more violent (Johnson). Funding should go towards a more important causes, like

In order to maximize their profits these private prisons see a large deficiency in their quality of care. This deficiency is described by Charles H. Logan as “corner cutting” (Logan, pg.119) and in the sake of profit these cuts “mean poor food and less of it, fewer services, and cheaper labor with lower professionalism and less training.” (pg.119) With profit as these private contractors’ main concern it raises question on the everyday treatment of the inmates of these facilities and what freedoms may be compromised for the sake of increased income. However, it’s not just the prisoners who could be neglected by this design in

No, I do believe that exorbitant costs of incarceration at Gitmo is justified the reason why I say this is because it causing America to become bankrupt. The prison was original built in the response to the terrorist attack and was made known the most expensive prison in the world (Bohm & Haley, 2014). The prison was run down and was unable to withstand stability after five years of building the prison. Obama guaranteed while he was in office to completely shut down Gitmo due to the cost of the United States.

Throughout history into today, there have been many problems with our prison system. Prisons are overcrowded, underfunded, rape rates are off the charts, and we as Americans have no idea how to fix it. We need to have shorter sentences and try to rehabilitate prisoners back to where they can function in society. Many prisoners barely have a high school education and do not receive further education in jail. Guards need to pay more attention to the well being of the inmates and start to notice signs of abuse and address them. These are just a few of the many problems in our prison systems that need to be addressed.

America has a major problem with overcrowding in its prisons, and action needs to be taken. Since 1970, the inmate population in the United States has increased over 700%, far greater than the general population as a whole. This has led to declining quality of life within the prison system including 8th Amendment violations and it represents a needless drain on state finances. There is simply no value in keeping non-violent convicts in the prison system, sometimes for years. The costs are high, and there is very little benefit to America. The justice system needs to be overhauled to relieve the massive crowding in US prisons.

The United States military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has been occupied by over 700 Middle Eastern men suspected of terrorism since 2002. It has been home to some of the most heinous suspected terrorist to ever walk on this Earth. What to do with this military base, has been a major source of conflict within our nation and with other nations for over a decade, with no real reasoning substantial enough to close the base. Although our government has come forward and declared that interrogation methods used on some of the detainees has been unethical and has broken some United States laws. But closing Guantanamo Bay is a task that should not be pursued, because it causes more problems to our countries people, our diplomatic and

Fixing Rikers Island by Marlin F. Horn article discusses the current problem confronting our correctional facilities. Overcrowded jails are an issue that has been impacting the United States jail populace for a considerable length of time. The author illustrated assessment about this issue and furthermore gives some contrasting option to take care of the issues particularly Riker Island. As agreed by Marlin Horn (2015), “takes credit for bringing needed attention to conditions at the jails, calls for the appointment of a federal monitor and identifies the long time president of the collective bargaining agent for the Correction Officers as an impediment to reform”. I certainly concur with Marlin the present condition on Rikers Island should be settled. By not having the sufficient space and support to fulfill prisoner needs or recovery, this will bring about detainees leaving the prison system not ready for regular citizen life. Thus, this will ensure that previous detainee falling once again into the jail system expanding the congestion issue. “The buildings on Rikers Island are poorly designed, they were not built to last or to serve the purpose intended, and most certainly never designed to house a population that by some current

It appears that investing money in the for profit prison industry is a good move. Investors are rejoicing over the investment they've made in the for profit prison industry. Two of the top ones in Texas are the GEO Group. They operate an immigration detention center Karnes County. The Corrections Corp of America operates a similar facility in Dilley, Texas. Recent reports surfaced that the two top money makers are really taking pride in the sky rocketing profits that they are earing for their company and share holders. Certainly, the state should take a look at the way they manage their operation and apply their strategy to the state run facilities.

How would you feel if in the future there were no prisons? People today in the world are rioting to eliminate U.S. prisons for more humane and effective systems (Wikipedia page 1). The Anarchist Black Cross Federation (ABCF) was one of the first supporters that were very vocal about the situation since it started in late 1906 and early 1907 (ABCF page 1). “It was formed after breaking away from the Political Red Cross (PRC). The PRC was controlled by the Social Democrats and refused to provide support to Anarchist and Social Revolutionary Political Prisoners, despite continued donations from other Anarchists and Social Revolutionaries. (ABCF page 1)” Many Democrats and democratic groups like The Anarchist Black Cross Federation do not support Trump's presidential decisions to jail immigrants and

The private prison company GEO Group, would have to sacrifice more than the other stakeholder. Their goal, which is quoted from the GEO Group website is "...to help our clients serve those assigned to their care through a wide range of diversified services including...state and federal prisons, detention centers...and other special needs institutions...". Although the company already has detention centers for juveniles, they still allow the

1. My initial thoughts are that this is a disgusting amount of money on one person, and even many prisoners that is very far fetched. I can't think of an excuse that I would reason with for wasting 1.1 million dollars on a prisoners that is not classified as dangerous. I also feel like they should be using this money to support and fund schools and education. My viewpoint is that educating people leads them to do less things to get incarcerated. $15 million dollars for one neighborhood is absolutely ridiculous because they could be using that money to clean up that neighborhood so that the people don't have reasons to get locked up.

Guantanamo Bay, though started with good intentions, only highlights America’s negative side. Marine Major General Michael Lehnert, who played a significant role in the opening of Guantanamo, has drastically changed his opinion and said that it, “Validates every negative perception of the U.S.” (Sutton 1). One example of this occurred in 2006, when President Bush justified the use of “physical coercion” (torture) during interrogations (Fetini 1). Some of these torture methods include isolation, beatings, sleep deprivation, and general abuse. Other tactics such as disrespect for Islamic symbols or sexual provocation are used to encourage stress in detainees (Bloche 1). These immoral methods led to an international outcry. It was later remarked that the Cuban territory upon which Guantanamo is located is being used as a “concentration camp” of sorts (Fetini 1). Guantanamo and its unethical values are being recognized by nations around the world, displaying America in a bad light.

Privatizing prisons may be one way for the prison population to get back under control. Prisons are overcrowded and need extra money to house inmates or to build a new prison. The issue of a serious need for space needs to be addressed. “As a national average, it costs roughly $20,000 per year to keep an inmate in prison. There are approximately 650,000 inmates in state and local prisons, double the number five years ago. This costs taxpayers an estimated $18 billion each year. More than two thirds of the states are facing serious overcrowding problems, and many are operating at least 50 percent over capacity. (Joel, 1988)” Private prisons may be for profit, but if they can solve the issue of cost then it may be a