Pros And Cons Of Corruption In American Prisons

Due to the tight labor market, companies are relying on prisoners to provide them with labor. As of now, private prisons have become one of the largest powers in the “prison-industrial complex.” There are approximately 18 private prison corporations, which guard 10,000 prisoners, and more than 37 states have legalized the contracting of prisoners by private companies (Prison Slave Labor: Fascism U.S. – Style). For both the prisons, and the companies, it’s a good deal. Whyte and Baker list the benefits for those who utilize prison labor: no unions, strikes, health benefits, unemployment

The United States spends nearly $81 billion per year on corrections, but where is this money coming from, where is it going, and is it actually reducing crime rates? Crime rates in the United States have fallen since 1991 and murder rates have also fallen by half in last 25 years, however the prison population has increased by 500% in the last 40 years. Increase in the number of incarcerated citizens also lead to an increase in new prisons around the country and also the crippling of the american justice system. As the author of Wages of Rebellion describes, the prison-industrial-system as the most

Crime rates are down in America, yet there is an unproportionately large number of Americans incarcerated. This paper will delve into and examine this problem and how it is closely linked to private prisons and the issues surrounding them. While private prisons claim to be cost effective and well-run, evidence has shown that these profit-driven companies ignore ethical consequences by purposefully lengthening prisoners’ sentences, target certain groups for incarceration and maintain despicable living standards for the prisoners; ultimately, these prisons have caused more harm than good for the state.

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.

No matter how you look at it, the prison system within the US holds too many people without valid reason. The last decade has seen a lot of states cut down on crime while also cutting down on their prison populations. In the years between 1999 and 2012, for example, both New York and New Jersey cut their prison populations by 30%, and crime rates fell “faster than they did nationally.”

There are many offenders within the criminal justice system, the political economy of the prison crisis in America has

Ten years ago there were only five private prisons in the country, with a population of 2,000 inmates. Now, there are over a hundred private prisons, and 62,000 inmates, expected to hit 360,000 in the coming decade (Pelaez, 2008). Prisoners work in variety industries, making clothing and shoes, dental lab work, metal production, operating slaughterhouses, rural industries, and producing military gear and supplies. Furthermore, they are often paid less than minimum wage, if anything at all. In federal penitentiaries, the minimum wage is standard, but on the state level they can receive as low as two dollars an hour, while in private prisons they receive as low as seventeen cents per hour for a maximum of six hours a day (Paleaz, 2008). Most of the time, prisoners are not exposed to meaningful employment where they can learn new skills that apply to the outside workforce, being instead tasked with labor-intensive, menial and often dangerous work (Khalek, 2001). Moreover, upon refusal, they are locked in isolation cells and/or denied basic necessities like toilet tissue and other ostensible privileges (Paleaz,

Society made the preconceived notion of the prison system to be seen as a source of revenue. According to Marc H. Morial, “ Incarceration in the United States has become less about justice, and more about the profit motive.” The idea of making money off of people because of crimes more less petty crimes are easy targets in the judicial system. People who have high ordinance of power make the belief of finding the best and most profitable solutions to the economy through prisons. They use free labor from prisoners as equity to their own monetary advantage, which puts them on the upper hand in government and with other corporations that sway political decisions. Monetary values direct how prison systems are ran to build up commission for legislation and

Private prisons have a negative effect on states and local governments. Unfortunately, the number of private prisons has been increasing since their inception in 1983 causing further problems. For-profit prisons offer no real benefits and are bad investments for states. Furthermore, private prisons beleaguer communities with high turnover rates that hurt local economies. The demands of these institutions put an excessive burden on the local community’s infrastructure. Similarly, private prisons strain the county and city legal systems. More often than not, spin-off industries and economic benefits promised by the for-profit correction industry fail to appear. Additionally, private prisons are allowed to cherry pick the least expensive

Motivated by profitable outcomes, these companies have made incarceration in the United States “ less about justice, and more about the profit motive” (Morial). The idea of making money off of people because of crimes more or less petty crimes are easy targets in the judicial system. Business corporations and political figures, who have high ordinance of power, make the belief of finding the best and most profitable solutions to the economy through prisons. They use free labor of prisoners as equity to their own monetary advantage, which puts them on the upper hand in government and with other corporations that sway political decisions. Monetary values direct how prison systems are ran to build up commission for legislation and

The term prison industrial complex is a replica of the military industrial complex (Tabibi, 2015a). Both refer to their respective industry as providing massive amounts of revenue in the American economy. To provide perspective and context to the amount of money produced by the prison industry in the United States, the film Corrections (2001) by Hunt, cites the amount as being upwards of forty billion dollars. Corporations, elected officials, and government agents, all have an invested interest in the expansion of the prison system (Davis, 2003a).

Currently, many prisons are beginning to be run by private corporations. If a company is running a prison then they need prisoners to stay in business. Around 1 in every 107 Americans is currently being housed in a prison. The United States has about 5 percent of the world’s population yet 25 percent of its prisoners(ACA, 2008). This is the easiest way to maintain a large prison population is by maintaining the current drug war. The largest private prison company in the United States is Corrections Corp. of America(ACA, 2008). In the last twenty years, CCA has donated nearly $5 million dollars to certain political

What if I told you that prisons in America aren 't built for the main purpose of locking up “criminals” and making them better to re enter society and keeping other citizens safe but for some companies to make profit off of cheap labor? In essence that is the prison industrial complex. How do we define it? A few define it as a term that is used to explain rapid expansion of the US inmate population to the political influence of private prison companies and businesses that supply goods and services to government prison agencies mainly affecting minorities mainly African Americans but to put it simply is that more and more prisons are becoming privatized and getting third party contracts from government agencies instead of the government owned.

Unlike all of the above mentioned problems either caused by or support private prisons, the flaws in the legal system that results in imprisonment of innocent people or the over sentence of small crimes is an issue of it’s own. It has many motivated, social and legal aspects outside the prison industry. Yet it is also supported by and benefits companies that have invested on prisons. “Ninety-seven percent of 125,000 federal inmates have been convicted of nonviolent crimes.” (Pelaez, 2014). It is believed that more than half of the 623,000 inmates in municipal or county jails are innocent while two-thirds of one million state prisoners have committed nonviolent offenses.

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