NH House Votes to Prohibit Private Prisons

[buck naked]

perhaps you know of a private prison that does not get any federal or state funding?


The entire idea of “private” prisons is actually a bit of a misnomer, as the prisons are not fully “private” in nature. They do not operate in a market setting and are essentially public prisons that have had their operations outsourced to a private corporation. Rather than have public officials run the prisons in the public trust, privatized prisons are run by a board of directors motivated by one thing: profit.

The government pays the private prison corporation for each prisoner’s room and board, as well as the costs of managing the prison.

This is not a new idea. Private prisons have been around since before the Civil War. Convicts were leased as slave labor....and they STILL ARE.

Prisoners can be hired for 10 cents to 40 cents an hour.

The best workers are typically prisoners serving life sentences, mainly because they are the most stable.

AZ's famous "papers please" law was written by a lobbyist for private prison interests. Increase the prison population that can be exploited for profit.

[BlueD72]

Originally Posted by buck naked

AZ's famous "papers please" law was written by a lobbyist for private prison interests. Increase the prison population that can be exploited for profit.

Looks like more government corruption as the issue rather than privatization. When you reread your statement, please ask yourself, "Is privatization the problem? Or is it the law 'written by the lobbyist' that is more at fault?" In most of these scenarios I have found it to be the latter.

[buck naked]

Within a year, a state audit of Lake Erie Correctional Institute, the nation’s first privately owned state prison, found rampant abuse and abysmal conditions well below state standards.


Over 18 Months, Nation's First Privately Owned State Prison Has Declined Rapidly | ThinkProgress

[buck naked]

A study by the US Bureau of Justice Statistics found that private prisons do not save any money. The research shows that for-profit prisons actually cost taxpayers more $. Private prisons generally refuse to hold dangerous inmates and they are moved to public prisons asap because it's too expensive to house them.

The Kids for Cash program was caught in a huge scandal. The privately run prison paid off judges to send children to jail for cheap labor.
Kids for cash scandal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[pauloman]

does this mean my wife will have to unchain me and let me out of the basement?

[downnice]

Originally Posted by pauloman

does this mean my wife will have to unchain me and let me out of the basement?

That sounds like a you problem




Saw this scrolling through threads and glad to see NH do the right thing

[unit731]

These private prisons have to be paid.
Who pays the private prisons?

Private prisons are profit making entities. There are stock holders that may require shareholder dividends. Where does the profit and dividends come from?

[buck naked]

Taxpayers pay for the prison to be run, no matter who runs it.


When a prison is run for profit, the goal is to keep prisoners in, and not rehabilitate them. Prisoners could be charged $5. for a 1 minute phone call, yet only make $1 a day in prison labor.

Basically, taxpayers always foot the bill, but when it's for profit, taxpayers also have to pay the profits and dividends in addition to regular costs.

[buck naked]

Sadly, there is another reason not to privatize.

A private business has the same rights as a real person. However, when things go wrong, a business rarely has to take responsibility in the same way as a person would have to.

So, if a prisoner is mistreated or dies.....who is prosecuted? The private company? or the State that pays the private company?

[GregW]

Some services and functions, like prisons and police, are most efficiently and economically provided by government and not the private sector. They are typically activities that do not produce a product for sale.