Percentage Of Private Prisons In The Us – (Photo: Michael Coghlan / Flickr) As long as there have been human societies, there have been criminals. Despite the best efforts of legislators and religions, humans cannot be trusted to do the right thing, even when we are aware of the consequences. The prison system was a last resort, a place you sent people when other forms of punishment were ineffective. Now it has grown into something much darker, and even less rehabilitative.
Unbeknownst to many, the prison system has become a for-profit business in which prisoners are the product – a system that bears a shocking resemblance to another human-based business from America’s past: slavery .
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Percentage Of Private Prisons In The Us
At the end of 2013, a new report from In the Public Interest (ITPI) revealed that private prison companies are making agreements with states that contain clauses that guarantee high prison occupancy rates – sometimes 100 in – a hundred This means that the states agree to supply the prison corporations with a constant flow of residents – whether or not that level of criminal activity exists. Some experts believe that this relationship between the government and private prison corporations encourages law enforcement agencies to use undercover tactics—often targeting minority and underserved groups—to fill the cells.
Abolish Private Prisons
“The report, ‘Criminal: How Lockup Quotas and ‘Low-Crime Taxes’ Guarantee Profits for Private Prison Corporations,’ documents the contracts exchanged between private prison companies and state and local governments that either guarantee prison occupancy rates (essentially creating inmate lockup quotas) or force taxpayers to pay for empty beds if the prison population declines due to lower crime rates or other factors (essentially creating low crime taxes),” Salon reports.
As a result, there are now more than 2 million people living behind bars in the United States. That’s half a million more than China, which has a population five times larger than the United States. Many are incarcerated for non-violent crimes, such as the use or possession of marijuana, and other problems that would be much better served by a rehabilitation or education program. .
The worst part is that once captured by the prison industry, inmates are forced to work for pennies an hour, providing cheap labor for some of the most profitable enterprises in the world, including the US Military. United States.
According to the Left Business Observer, “the federal prison industry produces 100 percent of all military helmets, ammunition belts, bulletproof vests, ID tags, shirts, pants, tents, bags, and canteens. Along with war supplies, prison workers supply 98 percent of the entire market for equipment assembly services; 93 percent paint and brushes; 92 percent of stove assembly; 46 percent of body armor; 36 percent of home appliances; 30 percent of headphones/microphones/speakers; and 21 percent of office furniture. Airplane parts, medical supplies, and much more: prisoners are even breeding seeing-eye dogs for blind people.”
A Civil Liberties View Of Private Prisons
When you can get that kind of work for less than a dollar a day, it’s hard to see the government’s motivation for imprisoning fewer people. And all this is done at the expense of the tax payer.
Scroll through the infographic below for more shocking facts about America’s prison industry, and how much it’s costing taxpayers like you.
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The States Where Private Prisons Are Thriving
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Beth is a freelance writer and editor living west of the Rocky Mountains. So far, Beth has lived in or near three major US mountain ranges, and is passionate about protecting the important ecosystems they represent. Follow Beth on Twitter as @ecosphericblog or check out her blog.
Get daily news, in-depth reporting and critical analysis from the journalists, activists and thinkers working to improve our world..Business was looking good for private prison companies shortly after the -President Donald Trump took office in 2017. Within weeks of his inauguration, then Attorney General Jeff Sessions signed an order reversing an Obama-era policy to phase out the use of private prisons.
That sent shares of the two largest private prison companies — CoreCivic and GEO Group — soaring, with each hitting post-election peaks in April 2017. Since then, however, the -both companies lost roughly half the value of their shares amid rising public valuations and investor concerns, while at least eight banks moved to distance themselves from the private prison business. Here’s a look at what’s behind that change in companies’ fortunes.
A Growing Number Of States Are Banning Private Prisons
A year ago, executives from both companies said there was a growing need from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to house an increasing number of detainees.
“We have seen a steady increase in our ICE populations across the country, and we expect this trend to continue as ICE seeks additional capacity,” said David Donahue, senior vice president of the Corrections and Enforcement division. GEO’s detention, in an August 2018 call with Wall Street Analysts.
That same month, CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger told investors that more ICE contracts “will contribute significantly to earnings growth through 2019.”
Their comments came as reports gained widespread attention about the mistreatment of migrants seeking entry to the United States at the Mexican border and children separated from their parents, as well as squalid conditions. This has sparked outrage from many quarters, including lawmakers and American citizens, and raised questions among some investors about the ethics of investing in private prisons.
Private Prisons |
Both the Geo Group and CoreCivic said they were mishandled in the backlash against child separation and other controversies at the Mexican border. The companies have repeatedly said they do not manage centers that house unaccompanied minor immigrants or operate border patrol facilities.
But for some investors, that distinction matters less and less. So far this year, at least eight banks have either said they will no longer lend to private prison operators or are limiting their engagement with the industry. As a result, some investors are thinking twice about where to put their money.
An ICE detainee stands in his cell in the segregation section at the Adelanto immigration detention center, which is run by Geo Group Inc (GEO.N), in Adelanto, California, on United States, 13 April 2017. Reuters
CalPERS, California’s $356 billion pension fund, may need to reconsider an earlier decision to keep its money in public prison companies, the California Comptroller and Member of -ex-officio board of CalPERS Betty YeetoldCIO Magazine last week. Investing in the private prison industry is becoming riskier as banks pull back, Yee told the magazine.
The Color Of Corrections: Racial Politics And Prison Privatization
“As more information comes to light about the egregious conditions at US border facilities, it raises the larger issue of private prisons housing migrants,” Yee said in a comment sent via in an e-mail through her office to CBS MoneyWatch.
Public pressure is spurring action, too. More than 100 organizations known as the Families Belong Together Corporate Accountability Committee have pressured banks, companies and public officials to give in, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, the executive director of MomsRising.org, told CBS MoneyWatch in an interview. MomsRising.org, which focuses on creating family-friendly policies, has more than a million members.
“It’s a unique moment where a wave of organizations are listening from their members and that increased pressure is having an impact,” said Rowe-Finkbeiner. “So for our members, we are hearing that it is a priority to take profit from the cause of pain.”
A girl waits with visitors in the lobby of the Adelanto immigration detention center, which is run by Geo Group Inc (GEO.N), in Adelanto, California, the United States, April 13 2017. Reuters
Criminal Justice Reform Is Working In California
Of the 14 banks identified by the activists as extending credit or providing loans to Geo Group or CoreCivic, six said they would stop lending to the industry.
Those six banks—Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, Bank of America, SunTrust, FifthThirdandBNP Paribas—together represent $1.93 billion, or 72%, of the funding estimated to be available to CoreCivic and Geo Group, based on the Commission of US Securities and Exchange. filings. Most of the loans and lines of credit under agreement extend to at least 2023.
Two additional banks told CBS MoneyWatch that they have no plans to lend to the private prison industry in the future: Barclays and U.S. Bank. Both said their loans to industry are not material to the overall finances, according to spokespeople for the banks.
The PNC said her exposure “is extremely small.” The PNC is “committed to making decisions with a view to taking into account the interests of all our stakeholders,” a spokeswoman said.
Overview: 2022 Fiscal Year Budget For The Georgia Department Of Corrections
Regions Bank declined to comment, saying policymakers and government officials “are best placed to address” the issue, a spokeswoman told CBS MoneyWatch in an email.
Citizens maintains a “commitment to lend to companies that conduct their business in a socially responsible manner and if this is not the case we are ready to exit the relationship,” a spokesman said by telephone.
Pinnacle Financial Partners is not considering ending its lending to the industry, according to a spokesman. The bank generally lends to companies that “have strong
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