I think the saddest part of this article is perhaps the glancing statement it makes about how prison isn't a place of recovery and rehabilitation. The prison system here really is too focused on punishment and locking people up forever rather than helping them get back on their feet and being productive members of society
Unfortunately, the drug war and punishing users of non-sanctioned drugs is embedded deep in America's political and social DNA - but seeing how much has changed in some areas of drug policy especially with variations from state to state - I hold out some hope that we might see some changes there too - but I just wouldn't hold my breath.
The prison system is highly privatized. Prisons with more people in them make more money and have a higher return on investment. Prisons that have repeat visitors can out compete prisons that do not. Therefore, there is a selection towards not keeping an inmate out of prison in the future.
I hate how tinfoil hat-y this sounds, and I'm certainly no expert, so feel free to offer alternatives
The ACLU, using from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, says that "for-profit companies were responsible for approximately 7 percent of state prisoners and 18 percent of federal prisoners in 2015"
I don't think that count's as "highly" privatized. I personally think the incentives involved in the private prison system present major ethical issues, but I think we need to look at the incentives involved with the our legal system and governmental prisons, also.
They may be referring to a bit more than that. Most inmate supplies, from clothing to blankets to mattresses to hygiene supplies, comes from one company called Bob Barker - no affiliation with the TV personality. There are just a few companies that supply canteen/commissary services. Construction is done by just a few companies.
Things like that may be what they are referring to.
While private prisons account for a relatively small percentage of total prisons in America, they're a multi-billion dollar industry, and they lobby for laws that affect all prison populations. So, in that sense, we do have a highly privatized prison system.
And it is highly privatized in the sense that the amount of privatization in that sector should probably be zero. When incarceration is a burden rather than a business, incentives exist to prevent crime and reduce recidivism. Otherwise, there are incentives to invent crimes that did not previously exist and turn ex-convicts into "repeat customers".
