Claudia Mushel
Even though crime rates are dropping yearly, the number of Americans that are incarcerated continues to rise. Even though the United States only makes up 5% of the world’s populations, we account for over 25% of the people locked up behind bars--a staggering number. One main reason for this is private prisons, who profit off of every person incarcerated. To get a more in-depth look into how this works, click here. The US spends a gargantuan 80 billion dollars annually on the prison system, and eleven states even spend more on this than they do on education. When Obama was president, he started a process to phase out the use of private prisons but after his exit from office, the Trump administration has been reversing these efforts. Causing debates about them to resurface.
To give the situation some context, private prisons first started emerging in the 1980s during the “war on drugs” era as as way to combat overcrowding and make room for the influx in prisoners--mainly a result of President Reagan’s Administration overseeing the passing of numerous pieces of legislation, such as the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, which increased penalties for drug crimes causing a reduced amount of space for new prisoners. By definition, private prisons are nongovernmental organiztions that work on the behalf of the state and have contractual agreements with the government and the state to assign prisoners. For every prisoner, these companies get a profit--which can economically be beneficial to the community as it creates new jobs, lowers taxes etc., but is not beneficial ethically as it encourages prisoners to be assigned longer sentences as well pushing society to incarcerate a larger amount of people in private prisons so that maximum profit can be made.
In my opinion, private prisons really do not have a place in the US and whatever benefits they may have are severely outweighed by the negative aspects associated with them. As it is, it is very difficult for people existing the prison system to restart their lives on a better path. The rise of the private prison system has only made this harder--especially for poor people, people of color, and families. By privatizing something like this, corporations can make boatloads of money off of imprisoning people--with no incentive to release them as every extra day means more money coming in the door. Again, the impacts of this are clearly seen by the number of people behind bars and clearly, private prisons aren’t helping prisoners get their lives back to together as recidivism rates are nearly the same as state and federal prisons.
Because prions want to make as much money as they can, they cut corners economically, paying employees less, causing more turnover and making them more susceptible to corruption and lessened security. Medically speaking, private prisons also fall short as well, and one prison went without a full-time doctor for months, something that went unreported. The lack of adequate security and healthcare unnecessarily endangers the lives of inmates, who are not in a position to do anything about it because they are in prison.
Private prisons mainly operate under the claim that they are saving the government money, but this fact itself is unclear. Research from Arizona found that inmates in the state’s private prisons rarely cost less than those in state-run prisons, and sometimes cost as much as $1,600 more per year. It also showed that private prisons maximize profit and minimize the money spent on inmates by refusing to accept prisoners with severe illnesses or a history of violence (an option not granted to state and federal prisons). This helps them spend less on medical care, security, etc, while these high-cost inmates have no option but to go into state prisons and be paid for by taxpayers. These trends are not only present in Arizona but have been seen in various other states as well.
Conclusively, in today’s world, private prisons do not have a place and are causing more harm than good.
Works Cited
Ayres, Crystal. “14 Advantages and Disadvantages of Private Prisons.” Vittana.org, vittana.org/14-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-private-prisons.
“Economic Impact.” Abolish Private Prisons, www.abolishprivateprisons.org/economic_impact.
Joy, Tara. “The Problem with Private Prisons - Justice Policy Institute.” - Justice Policy Institute, www.justicepolicy.org/news/12006.
“Private Prisons: An Evaluation of Economic and Ethical Implications.” Wharton Public Policy Initiative, publicpolicy.wharton.upenn.edu/live/news/2304-private-prisons-an-evaluation-of-economic-and.
The main purpose of the private prison is to make money for a corporation and it's share holders, and to save the taxpayers money in the incarceration of prisoners. The major intended benefit to private prisons is for the government to save money by placing inmates in contracted facilities. The company is responsible for the funds needed for daily operations, staffing, security, meals, etc. which will save the government money. I believe that it is not fair because every one should be in a same prision and I think there should be any private things for the criminal because all criminals are same and they all should be treated the same. It not like some have to be treated brutally who are in public prison and the other have be treated as a luxuries person who is living in the private business. This is also not benefiting the government instead it is only benefiting the private corporation who owns or contributes to these kind of places.
ReplyDeleteYou put out a good argument about private prisons, and how they could only try to maximize their profits by giving longer sentences to inmates, and refusing to upgrade their quality of life with a doctor, and refusing to take prisoners with a medical history. I'm not saying prisons shouldn't exist, I don't want criminals running around freely, but what the prisons are doing aren't exactly morally ethical. Have you ever heard of the "Stanford Prison Experiment"? It's a psychological experiment that simulates what it's like to be a prisoner, or a prison guard. I won't go into too much detail, but the prisoners showed signs of learned helplessness and depression, after just a few days in the cells, and the prison guards got increasingly hostile towards the prisoners with verbal abuse. These were just normal college students who only signed up for the experiment to get some extra money a few days before. The experiment was called off early, because the participants' behavior was worsening at a faster rate than expected. If you take this experiment into account as to how a prison can change you, imagine what it would feel like if you were only in prison, so others could make more money. The prisons are literally making money at another's expense. And as you've already mentioned, it would be near impossible to recover after getting out of jail, due to the impact it has on your mental health.
ReplyDeleteThe profit from private prisons does help the prison itself and its shareholders, but negatively affects the prisoners themselves. The money brought in from the inmates benefits the prisons and only a portion of the revenue goes back to the prisoners. This negatively can affect the prisoners as well in terms of their willingness to reform their lives to avoid future imprisonment. I agree with you that it can negatively affect the economy. The lack of motivation from the prisons to encourage reform within the prisoners ends up affecting the futures of the prisoners after they get out in terms of their willingness to purse a legal job, or prevent future misconduct. This can result in a higher unemployment rate of prisoners after they have served their time, resulting in a smaller work force than can be possible. Private prisons may not need to be abolished, but they may need more regulations about the care given to the prisoners and required programs that may motivate prisoners to move on later in life.
ReplyDeleteI found this article particularly interesting, as it discusses a topic that I have never thought too much about. After now having some background information, I don't think that abolishing private prisons is a great idea, as it would lead to some significant consequences. It seems to me that government-run and private prisons have coexisted historically because it's unrealistic for government-run facilities to have the capacity to hold all inmates. To this day, inmates are transferred to private facilities because government facilities simply aren't equipped to handle every criminal. Completely eliminating private prisons would undoubtedly force the government to adjust the system, impacting the amount of government spending on the justice system, and in turn an increasing tax burdens on citizens. While their are certainly several ethical concerns about private prisons, I don't think that these warrant their complete elimination.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on all these aspects and it is easy to see why the Trump administration would want to reverse the effects that would private prisons out of society. He and his business partners heavily benefit. Of course I don't believe murderers and people accused of real crimes shouldn't get the sentence and treatment they deserve but they cannot be equated to the thousands of sick addicts and/or accomplices who had a few grams of weed in their pockets, which is really what this is. The disparity of black prisoners that have been separated from their families starting since the "War on Drugs" with Reagan, certainly outweighs the few measly thousands the prisons receive from each inmate. If you think about it, these citizens who would be better suited with a reprimand and possibly rehab instead of prison could go back their families in a shorter time and begin to contribute to the economy and participate in the workforce which would vastly improve the economy and make much more money than how much each prisoner is worth in a private prison, easily. If we devoted as much time and resources to fighting addictions and cleaning up the streets instead of cleaning them OUT, our economy and our population would greatly benefit.
ReplyDeleteI truly feel that there is no place in the US for private prisons. I think that this is a place that simply allows corruption to occur. These privates prisons are simply on the market to make as much revenue as possible. On the other hand most government run facilities are not equipped enough to handle every type of prisoner. So shipping them off to the private sector is the next best thing. In the end I feel that abolishing a large majority of private prisons and keeping a small amount running, will help government run prisons to adapt to all types of prisoners.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things you mention at the beginning of your article on the increase in penalties for drug users in the 1980s highlights another expensive and detrimental aspect of our prison systems. The incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders for sometimes decades at a time at a mass scale takes many people out of the economy to a place where they can't work or earn a wage and thus can't save or spend. This can also include any nonviolent offense or misdemeanor that should incur a penalty, no doubt, but that long stretches of prison time is a bit excessive. Anyway, good article and a good issue to shed light on.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the topic about private prisons should be abolished. There shouldn't be a gate way for a company to make money on someone else's crimes that they've committed. Yes prisons are a necessary part of our system. It should be taken into the governments hand to handle these types of situations. No one should be able to profit off something like this especially since wardens of private prisons could care less what even occurs. As long as their getting paid, they don't care what happens at the end of the day which isn't the correct outlook of prisoners.
ReplyDeletePrivate prisons should be abolished because of the amount the US spends on the prison systems today. Although, the US wants a safe environment for the citizens to live in, we spend way to much on the prison system. Having private prisons have there benefits and downfalls. Overall, the private prison systems are just another outlet to make money and spend money.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to read about prisons, and this is because we don't hear much about them. They seems to be doing their job, but it seems after reading they are not doing so much good. It is a hard topic to talk about because of the face that these are dealing with people who should not be out in the world, and are in there for a reason. After reading it shows that there are some things that we don't know what is happening in there. The part of the article where it stated that there was no medical doctor there for a month is hard to read. They are people too, and how much money it is to run these prisons its head turning. I agree with the last statement you has made where, they are doing more harm than good.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the Us should have private prisons because its just a waste of money for them. People go to prison because they do something wrong, but what is locking someone up going to teach them. The US can use that money for things that will benefit more people compared to prisons that don't really teach anyone anything.
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