Community | May 28, 2011 | 36 comments

Privatized prisons are slavery

source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt6gPZO8XRw

JanforGore
Regarding the recent decision by the USSC to have 36,000-46,000 prisoners from California prisons freed within five years due to overcrowding which has been ruled a violation of the eighth amendment and its dissent on the court: There is a reason why certain USSC justices like Scalia and Alito are against it, and it isn't safety issues. It is because they are corporate shills and know that doing this will decrease profits for the private corporations now running our prisons into the ground. It is they who are responsible for the conditions in our prisons that led to this. Private prison corporations make thousands a year on every warm body in a cell, and these soulless bastards don't care how they get there, just as long as they do.

Last statistics I read stated that 1 out of every 25 Americans were in prison, a majority there due to non violent offenses. Our prison system is nothing more than legalized commoditized slavery and is an affront to the moral core of what America should stand for. Of course, that does not defend those in our prisons there convicted of violent crimes who are truly guilty and deserve to be be punished for those crimes. However, we have a constitution for a reason, and I would think Scalia and Alito would know that considering where they sit.

And based on the stories coming out of prisons, overcrowding isn't the only violation of the eighth amendment we are seeing in them and not just in California...
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36 comments // Privatized prisons are slavery // Video

  • damush
    • 0
      damush  

    • It's not only corporations but family extortion! The late Sherman Block - Chief of the CHP and Sheriff's dept in los angeles; made sure his family and relatives were socially secured. The prison system is the only system that never see a recession so dividends off prison stock runs from 100 - 1000 per inmate. Do the math and buy fresh water and toilet paper!

    • 12 months ago
  • hunzedog
  • JanforGore
  • LunaticFringe
  • Emucratic
  • JanforGore
  • deane
    • +3
      deane  

    • America has "person hood" for Corporations and allows Corporations to abuse real people as commodities. Seems to evil to be true, yet it is.

    • 12 months ago
  • sageohio
  • chief_longhair
  • JanforGore
    • +3
      JanforGore  

    • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyvXp7FApPk

      And here you have it. Dick Cheney invested in the Vanguard Group which is part of the GEO Group, and made profit off of the abuse of human beings in these prisons. And he still walks free. No wonder now why this was passed in the first place allowing the privitization of our prisons. People in Congress and this government can then invest in the companies and make money off the suffering of their fellow Americans. Beyond sickening.

    • 12 months ago
  • Conniepae
    • +3
      Conniepae  

    • The de-scheduling of cannabis, would help alieviate overcrowded prisons, while enabling 'hemp' for industry. The only reason 'hemp for industry' is not available in America is due to draconian cannabis laws.

      Hemp could bring industry back to America. I would rather see a 'hemp industry', instead of 'prisoners for profit'. It's a crazy country we are living in. If we could stop the 'madness', we could move along to industrial victory and change in ways, which would benefit America.

      We need new industry and jobs. It's time for change. It's time to stop the madness! De-schedule cannabis and let hemp grow our economy.

    • 12 months ago
  • JanforGore
    • +3
      JanforGore  
    • Conniepae:

      I agree about all of that and think the sooner this happens the better it will be for our economy, environment and the people. We still however would have to deal with the privitization of the prisons and those in our prisons who would be left. I bet they would then just find a way to change sentencing laws and start the process all over again. It is the same with the privitization of water, the military, our voting system, etc. Once profit becomes the prime motivation, humanity and justice go out the window.

    • 12 months ago
  • Conniepae
    • +2
      Conniepae  
    • Image

    • http://current.com/news/89925703_sen-webb-prisons-a-national-disgrace-must-be-re...

      What happened to reform?

      Proposed commission would seek to bring prison populations down, 'overhaul drug criminalization'

      Even as President Barack Obama slapped down the hopes of American marijuana consumers as to his position on legalization, Senator Jim Webb (D-Va) was quietly preparing to introduce major legislation which has the potential to dramatically alter US drug laws.

      Calling the US criminal justice system "a national disgrace," two US senators called for a top-to-bottom review with an eye on reforms aimed at reducing America's vast prison population.

      Senator Webb, backed by Republican Senator Arlen Specter, introduced legislation to create a blue-ribbon panel that would conduct an 18-month assessment and offer concrete recommendations for reform.

      Sen. Webb's legislation enjoys not just bipartisan support, but "quiet encouragement from President Barack Obama," reported The Virginian-Pilot.

      "America's criminal justice system has deteriorated to the point that it is a national disgrace," Webb said, noting that the United States has five percent of the world's population but 25 percent of the world's prisoners.

    • 12 months ago
  • gump
    • +1
      gump  

    • Special thanks to you Janforgore .and also to you Ushine You both do great work. Your info should be printed on T shirts and displayed in public wherever loving people go . You both amaze me .

    • 12 months ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • gump:

      Appreciated. Seeing humanity slip from every facet of our existence is what is putting this planet out of balance in many ways. This is not how it is supposed to be. Also, there are many people working day and night to change the sentencing laws in this country and bring an end to this injustice. My hat goes off to them because they are on the front lines of this battle every day.

    • 12 months ago
  • Dailydummie1
    • +2
      Dailydummie1  

    • This is just another situation that follows suit with the Pharmaceutical companies, and Insurance companies on health care. These practices promote corporations who benefit GREATLY on the suffering, not the rehabilitation, of many Americans. Public policy concerning criminal punishment is often made by elected officials who then personally profit from investments bolstered by their own deeds. Example the "Cash for Kids" Scranton PA Judge. How many legislators will be tempted to set policies and switch sides to private industry and reap the profits. I would say it's a slippery slope if it wasn't such an old story.

    • 12 months ago
  • gump
    • 0
      gump  
    • Dailydummie1:

      Imposed failure to thrive . This type public policy is wide open to abuse of citizens in a manner consistent with eugenics . People in prison donot procreate very often. Also look at a book called FAT OF THE LAND . It is listed as a book about the history of recycleing . Several hundredyears . But while so doing it puts a light on wholesale corruption in public policy. It is one of the most enlightening books I ever found . On several levels. Lots of ahas . The point of mentioning it here is to point out how widespread and pervasive corruption is associated with the way public policy gets set . So we can be aware of our political environment. So we can over come. Yes we can.

    • 12 months ago
  • Dailydummie1
  • coolplanet
  • gump
  • coolplanet
    • 0
      coolplanet  
    • gump:

      The full title of the book is The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century, by Pulitzer Prize winning author Steve Coll (2008).
      I picked up my hardback copy at Big Lots for $1.

    • 12 months ago
  • JanforGore
    • +4
      JanforGore  

    • http://ir.correctionscorp.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=117983&p=irol-newsArticle&...

      "CCA (NYSE: CXW) (the "Company" or "Corrections Corporation of America"), America's leader in partnership corrections and the nation's largest provider of corrections management services to government agencies, announced today its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2011.

      Financial Review - First Quarter 2011 Compared with First Quarter 2010 -- Diluted EPS up 23.3% to $0.37 from $0.30 -- Net income up 15.5% to $40.3 million from $34.9 million -- EBITDA increased 13.4% to $110.5 million from $97.4 million -- Adjusted Funds From Operations Per Diluted Share up 22.1% to $0.83 from $0.68
      For the first quarter of 2011, CCA generated net income of $40.3 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, compared with net income of $34.9 million, or $0.30 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2010.

      Total management revenue for the first quarter of 2011 increased 5.5% to $426.6 million from $404.4 million during the first quarter of 2010, primarily driven by a 5.8% increase in average daily inmate populations.

      Management revenue from our federal partners increased 5.9% to $182.4 million generated during the first quarter of 2011 compared with $172.2 million generated during the prior year period. The increase in federal revenue primarily resulted from the commencement of a new contract with the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) at our Nevada Southern Detention Center combined with higher USMS populations in certain facilities predominantly located in the southwestern region of the United States".
      _____________

      The more inmates they get, the more money they make.

    • 12 months ago
  • JanforGore
  • Admirable
    • +4
      Admirable  

    • The result of the "War on Drugs"? In addition to the exorbitant costs of supporting armies and military resources around the world for drug interdiction. The continued assault on the constitution and bill of rights. It just never seems to end.

    • 12 months ago
  • uShine
  • JanforGore
  • Ricky84
    • +2
      Ricky84  

    • Personally I think a lot of people are passing the buck by placing all the blame on the private prison industry and not acknowledging years worth of voter approval for "tough on crime" politicians.

    • 12 months ago
  • JanforGore
    • +5
      JanforGore  
    • Ricky84:

      Sure. And judges that are the same as well. And sentencing laws. And racism. And poverty. And lack of opportunity. And lack of education. Those are all reasons that are a part of the atmosphere leading to this. The unconstitutional treatment in prisons however is being conducted and condoned by this privitized system for which profit at any cost is the only motive.

    • 12 months ago
  • gump
    • 0
      gump  
    • Ricky84:

      Ya we need all round education of our voteing population. So people donot vote for blustering flimflam crooks that want to destroy and torture our people for profit.

    • 12 months ago
  • northernexpat
    • +5
      northernexpat  

    • The United States have more prisoners per capita than any other country. You have to ask yourself why? A number of prisoners are only guilty of being poor and uneducated and were found guilty because they ended up with lousy Public Defenders as lawyers.

      The three strike law in California should not apply to minor offenses but only for the harden criminals. I am glad the Supreme Court made the right decision on this issue.

      Prisons should never be for-profit facilities. It allows for abuse in the system and corruption. Private prisons also have under-trained and under-paid staff as this increases their profit.

    • 12 months ago
  • letsliveinpeace
  • JanforGore
    • +6
      JanforGore  
    • northernexpat:

      Yes, and they also need to be using more resources to rehabiliatate and cut recidivism rates, but that has gone downhill now as well because they need to keep that population up to keep their stock portfolios going up. The private prison corporations are listed on the stock market and making profit off these bodies occupying the cells. It's just sick.

    • 12 months ago
  • northernexpat
  • JanforGore
    • +6
      JanforGore  

    • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWxpQ87C4t4
      *There is a warning at the beginning of the video*

      They are also torture chambers in many instances. This expose' is from about five years ago, but the abuse goes on in our corporate owned prisons where you are not considered human regardless of why you are there or whether you are mentally or physically handicapped. This is the shame of the American justice system.

    • 12 months ago
  • August_K
    • +3
      August_K  
    • JanforGore:

      Thanks Jan. I wanted to stop watching it but I kept going.
      I'm not surprised that this is going on.
      I image the only way to get the "private" prisons to change their ways is to keep
      suing the hell out of them and keep exposing what's going on.

      We also need more people to see that Billions are wasted on housing people that have done nothing but been caught with pot. It just doesn't make sense that tax payers are asked to
      pay $40-50 thousand per year to house people and treat them worse than animals when rehab would cost less and make more sense. As long as the motive is profits......it's not going to get better and now that it's been exposed that some GOP Governors are getting big money from these private prison corporations ..... we'll see more of it.

    • 12 months ago
  • JanforGore
    • +1
      JanforGore  
    • August_K:

      The amount of corruption and greed involved in this is staggering. So yes, the only way to have any chance at changing this is to expose it. And I agree, it was hard for me to watch it all, but I did. And it made me cry, and it did that because you realize today how easy it would be for one of your children or even you to wind up there just for a minor non violent offense, or to wind up there and be completely innocent just because the prison company will make a cool fifty thousand from your body occupying a cell. It is insanity The other point to this is, mentally handicapped individuals should not be in these prisons. Period.

    • 12 months ago
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