Majority of the things that go on we never hear about or know about. It’s almost like it’s kept as a secret or a mystery on what goes on behind prison doors. My perspective about Davis arguments in chapter 5 are prisons obsolete she has some pretty good arguments. Her arguments that were provided in this book made sense and were well thought out.
Private prisons were constructed as a response to the overcrowding in federal prisons during the 1980s; many people speculate whether or not private prisons are good or bad. Critics argue that private prisons like any business are driven by profit, and prisons profit from the amount of criminals they are able to contain which gives the private prisons and their shareholders incentive to keep the prison population high and expenses low. The National Council on Crime and Delinquency estimates that over the next ten years state and federal expenditures on prisons will amount to $351 billion6. These government subsidies along with the support of private prison shareholders allow the prison industrial complex to keep their power and influence
Private prison began booming in the 1980s, under the presidential terms of Ronald Reagan and Bush Sr., however, it slowed down in 1990. When prison sales began to slow down in the 1990's, Clinton who was the acting president, wanted to cut the program but the Justice Department took over and began contracting private prison out to corporations again. Private prisons are the largest business in the prison industry. About 18 corporations guard 10,000 prisoners in 27 states.
The privatization of the prison system has made it so that individuals who have committed a crime are no longer seen as people but as profits. Prisons receive more money and more laborers (which they grossly underpay) with the addition of new inmates, so it is in the best interests of prison corporations to increase the volume of prisoners as well as expanding the length of sentences. Private prisons started out as a cost-effective way to house inmates, but after yielding large investments and profits, they began lobbying for new and harsher punishments resulting in America having the highest levels of incarceration in the world. In 1984, the first private prisons were created, the founders claimed that the prisons funded by the government but run privately would cost considerably less than prisons run at the county, state, and federal level.
The demand for private prisons has grown tremendously over the years. The government has relied on prison privatization to help address growing issues of overcrowding and financial stress in public prisons. However, many believe that privatizing prisons has led to and will continue to cause legal issues for our judicial system. In this paper I will discuss three potential legal issues associated with privatizing prisons. Privatization of prisons affects inmates negatively by neglecting and violating their rights.
Every day thousands of people are sent to prison in America. Upwards of 2.3 million inmates are housed, fed and policed in prisons all across America (Conflict of Interest 1). In recent decades public prisons have become bloated with inmates, which has led to a privatization of the American prison system. Though this seems to be an easy solution to a time sensitive problem it may be causing additional problems.
A private prison does not care about rehabilitating prisoners, as they provide prisoners with the bare minimum standard of living, at a cost that is completely offset by the massive profits made by what is essentially slave
United States Prisons: A Mental Cage The United States is one of the world’s most recognized and powerful superpowers since its industrial and commercial production along with their nearly limitless military budget make them practically invincible. This demonstrates the power of the United States on foreign soil and problems, yet many internal problems in the United States are left disregarded and neglected, simply thrown away. Citizens and lawmakers remain silent on several key social issues and on one of the biggest shameful topics of neglect, America’s incarceration rate.
Private prisons do not save money, have numerous performance problems, and are morally and ethically wrong. A. Private prisons promise cost efficiency. These promises are not true. B. Private prisons have poor performance because they cut corners on training, housing, and basic human rights. C. Private prisons are about profit.
There has constantly been a fight between whether or not private prisons should be legally allowed in America since 1984, when the first private prison was created. Although some private prisons may help with jobs within the prison, rehabilitation and benifiting “the inmates with some acquired skills that they could use during their reintegration process that [helped] welcomed them back to the society” (logan, 1990). Despite numerous advantages of private prisons, such as cost effectiveness and relieving public prisons of overcrowdedness. A variety of disadvantages exist that ultimately hinder the process of privatization. For instance; neglected prisoners, patrens turn into profit, and do not always keep staff training up to date.
Around the world, when someone commits a crime of any sort, this person is been judged and placed in a prison. This method has been used for thousands of years. Although in the past, killing was also used as punishment against some crimes that were consider unforgivable. As people evolved, killing someone for a crime became and felt inhuman, so as result, death sentence has become less popular and some can say even rare. In exchange, more prisons were built and this became a norm.
Private prisons tend not to house costlier inmates, due to the higher cost of supervising them. Scott Merryman states that, from 1990 to 1995, the overwhelming numbers of inmates in private facilities were classified as minimum-security, and this condition is still relevant today. Public prisons consist of twenty percent maximum-security inmates compared to the five percent in private prisons. Also, public prisons have thirty-five percent of their inmates in minimum-security, while the private prisons have sixty-five percent of their inmates in minimum-security. There are states that have private prisons that choose not to have any high maximum-security inmates at all.
Within this quote we see that in St. Clair prison, inmates get raped and stabbed. These are reasons why prisons should be reformed. Prisoners shouldn’t be hurt for whatsoever problems. Conversely, Penal Reform International article suggested different reasons to reform prisons one that stood out to reform the particular prison in Alabama was this, Provide a healthy, safe environment. “Spaces that are filled with sunlight, outside views, therapeutic color schemes and normalized materials, encourage inmates’ participation, reduce stress, incidents and assaults and decrease staff absenteeism.”
Open prisons are usually for prisoners who were moved from closed prisons for rehab purposes. There are no external protection to an open prison. The prisoners with good conduct in the work force belong in this kind of prison area. Enforcement officers can go out under the supervision and protection, and also it is possible to discuss freely with visitors. Prisoners in the open prison are required to work hard labor for the government, it can also be community service.
