Earlier this year in Louisiana, a plan by Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) to privatize prisons narrowly failed in a legislative committee by a vote of 13 to 12. The 12 members of the House Appropriations Committee who voted to approve the prison privatization plan have received more than three times more money from private prison donors than the 13 members who voted against the plan, according to an analysis of data from the Louisiana Ethics Administration and the National Institute on Money in State Politics. Gov. Jindal himself has taken nearly $30,000 from the private prison industry.
This is but one example of many in a new report from Public Campaign and PICO National Network, Unholy Alliance: How the Private Prison Industry is Corrupting Our Democracy and Promoting Mass Incarceration, highlighting the increasingly powerful and influential private prison industry. The report was released yesterday at a gathering of hundreds of clergy members at the PICO National Clergy Gathering in New Orleans.
While the overall prison population has grown dramatically over the last two decades, the growth of inmates being detained in private, for-profit prisons has skyrocketed. Between 1990 and 2009, the total number of inmates in federal and state prisons doubled, while private prisons saw its business explode -- the private prison population in 2009 was 17 times larger than two decades earlier.
This isn’t an accident.
As the report states, the growth in prison populations:
“...Has been part of an intentional effort by the private prison industry to shape public policy to push more people into prison and keep them there longer. The industry has achieved this through the classic three-pronged strategy of contributing to political campaigns, lobbying, and gaining access to policymakers through close relationships.”
If you spend a minute to reflect on that point, you’ll come to the same conclusion I have: it’s not just that the current campaign finance system is bad for our country. It’s immoral.
Here are a few key points from the report that lay out the argument:
The growing influence of these private prison companies over our criminal justice and immigration policies is a chilling reminder of what happens when corporations can spend large amounts of money to curry favor with elected officials.
The full report is available both on PICO’s Website and Public Campaign’s.
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Plenty of snitches in NJ! Turn in your neighbor who has even a LEGAL gun(s) and get $1000! Gov. Chris Christie wants a state full of RATS who don't mind their own business. Might want to pick a better test state than that of the birthplace of Americana ....Cosa Nostra!
"The pure idiocy inherent in its premise cannot be ignored. New Jersey’s willingness to pay off potential informants could very well be a petri dish test for much more expansive programs across the country in the future."
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-new-jersey-will-pay-you-1000-destroy-2nd-amendment
Guest Post: New Jersey Will Pay You $1000 To Destroy The 2nd Amendment | ZeroHedge
freedom (jail) for not being able to conform/comply to someone elses wealth standards. Something is wrong there. Someone is making money of this process somehow. I just dont have it all figured out yet. The jails, insurance companies, lawyers....a few that just come to mind."
Steve Goff 6 months ago
"I watched over 20 people go to jail today for failure to pay child support. It truly is a crime to be broke and out of a job in this country. As I was sitting in court listening to the men speak about not being able to find a job to barley live, let alone pay child support court ordered obligation. The Judge didnt want to hear it. In NJ if you miss two payments an arrest warrant is issued. I have been
paying for 16 years now btw. I watched people have their drivers lic suspended today for not being able to pay. And if in jail the arrears just keeps adding up and nobody gets any money ever. If that is not counter productive to earning a living to pay a court order child support....I dont know what is. I was there for medical bills arrears that I was obligated to pay. I am also court ordered to provide health insurance for child, if not I will have a warrant issued for me in two weeks. So are some others who were there. I took one look and listened to some of these guys speak in court. I knew they weren't going to be able to find work today and especially in future. What then? Is their new job in society now feed/stoke 'The Prison Industrial Complex' in this country to create jobs for others!
And that # does not even include the FEDERAL prisoner count or those in America under supervised probation and parole = still in custody.
I am also a 40 yr old man who under the Nancy Reagan 'Just Say No' - WAR on Drugs of the 1980's
was sentenced to a 10 year prison sentence with a 5 yr mandatory minimum. I spent for 18 to 23 in NJ State Prison. And my life is over today because of that. Disenfranchised from society to say the least. I might get a pardon under RON PAUL. I am voting for him.
ALEC’s initiatives focus on reforms that incorporate alternatives to incarceration and evidence-based approaches that rehabilitate offenders and reduce overcrowded prisons of non-violent offenders. Your article incorrectly claims the opposite. The article connects ALEC to policies on prison privatization and sentencing law that were passed in the late nineties and are no longer a focus of our organization. Not only is it not a focus, there is no representation. The private prison industry is not a member of ALEC. The alternatives to incarceration that are a priority for ALEC were passed in 2009. Our policy initiatives have evolved over time, to provide solutions that help slow down the number of people coming back into the system, protect communities, and focus resources and supervision on dangerous offenders.
The sole mission of ALEC is to advance the principles of free markets, limited government, federalism, and individual liberty. I encourage you to read a recent edition of our publication, Inside ALEC, for further information: http://www.alec.org/AM/pdf/insidealec/InsideALEC_Feb2011_FINALpdf.pdf
I fail to see any grey area in this. No one should profit from imprisoning U.S. Citizens.
Bail bond companies are corrupt too.
http://www.npr.org/2010/01/21/122725771/Bail-Burden-Keeps-U-S-Jails-Stuffed-With-Inmates
Those who make peaceful change impossible...