The purpose of prisons should be for rehabilitation, not for profits, for anyone, state or otherwise.
If your worried about the costs to the state, then the solution is pretty obvious.
Get rid of the useless laws that are taking away our freedoms that account for the majority of people in prison.

Originally posted by Pigraphia
I don't like the idea of a company running a prison and mandating 90% capacity.

What I do like is turning prisons into work houses.
They say a big problem with prisons is the prisoners are bored and that leads to violence.
Make the prisons produce to the point of making a profit for the states.
In California many prisons have open land near them that they can grow crops for their own food.
Wash laundry for local hospitals at a discounted rate.
Open the shops back up and manufacture.

As some has already stated this has being going on for decades in the U.S, I had a look around again and found this little gem, thanks for the offer of a star but i'm only posting someone elses work here and I dont want to take credit for something I didnt write. How on earth do people come up with this and sleep at night?


In the United States, prison privatization in its current form began in 1984 as a result of the War on Drugs. While crime rates otherwise remained steady dating back to 1925, the number of arrests quickly exploded. While the War on Drugs initially had a small impact on incarceration, it was President Reagan’s Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 that kickstarted the prison boom.

CCA houses over 80,000 inmates in more than 60 facilities across the US.
From 1970 to 2005, the prison population rose 700 percent, while violent crime remained steady or declined.Between 1990 and 2009, the populations of private prisons shot up 1,600 percent] Today, the US has the highest incarceration rate in the world – 754 inmates per 100k residents as of 2008. This is roughly 600% that of the rest of the civilized world, with England and Wales having 148, and Australia 126 inmates per 100k residents. As of 2010, private corporations house over 99,000 inmates in 260 facilities nationwide.

Corrections Corp. of America and other private contractors became members of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a non-profit 501(c)(3) association that advocates “tough on crime” legislation. In their 2010 report to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Corrections Corp. of America discussed how drug policy reform threatens their business model:

'The demand for our facilities and services could be adversely affected by the relaxation of enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction or parole standards and sentencing practices or through the decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by our criminal laws. For instance, any changes with respect to drugs and controlled substances or illegal immigration could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted, and sentenced, thereby potentially reducing demand for correctional facilities to house them”

To ensure those pieces of legislation aren't passed, Corrections Corp. of America spent $970,000 and GEO Group spent $660,000 lobbying Congress in 2010 alone. In Corrections Corp. of America’s Feb 2011 press release, CEO Damon Hininger stated, “...we are pleased our populations have remained strong, in excess of the 80,000 inmate milestone we surpassed late in 2010.” With the 3.2% increase in inmate population over the previous year, Corrections Corp. of America was able to make $511.26M profit, earning their CEO over $3,000,000 in compensation.

Private prison proponents claim that private corporations are able to provide the same service more efficiently than the government. However, according to the Department of Justice’s “Emerging Issues on Privatized Prisons” report, private prisons offer at best a 1% cost savings over their government operated counterparts, while at the same time having 49% more assaults on staff and 65% more assaults on other inmates

Corporations owning correctional facilities is not the only way that prisons and the War on Drugs have been used as a source of income. For instance, even in government-ran facilities, inmates and their families are regularly subject to price gouging by phone carriers. While the average cost of a phone call in the United States is 3 cents per minute, inmates and their families end up paying between 16 cents and $5.00 per minute. The profits are then split between the carrier and the government body who awarded the contract. In fact, it is not uncommon for the government body to receive a signing bonus from the carrier, like $17M in the case of Los Angeles County. Unlike the public, the Federal Communications Commission has no safeguards against price gouging when it applies to those behind bars.

In the federal prison system, all able-bodied inmates who are not a security risk are forced to work for UNICOR or another prison job. UNICOR, also known as Federal Prison Industries, is a government-created corporation that provides many products and services, including clothing, electronics, furniture, and data entry. UNICOR enjoys a “mandatory source clause” that according to US laws & regulations, forces all federal agencies with the exception of the Department of Defense to purchase products offered by UNICOR instead of the private sector. In fiscal year 2008, UNICOR generated $854.3M in sales – of which 4% went to inmate salaries. Much of this money later ends up in the hands of the local government, as the inmates use their salary to pay for phone calls home. In New York, inmates refusing work assignments have been known to be placed in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day until work is resumed. At the same time, it is illegal to import products made using prison labor into the United States

*waves around the american flag and shouts* I'm free! I'm free! I live in a democracy! Yippee!!!

I would like to add that the people running these corporations for the sake of profits are not human beings anyhow. The ones that profit off other human beings misery. They are not human beings, but demons walking among us.

Originally posted by ofhumandescent
More proof..........another very good video.

Follow the money.

They will spend every dime they have to buy politicians and that is what TPTB have done.

Corporations are not human beings, they should not be allowed to spend a dime on our politicians............there is a solution and it is offered in this video.

edit on 9-3-2012 by ofhumandescent because: (no reason given)

I think prisoners should be required to work in prison if they are capable. They should get very little pay because of the cost of their stay. In the end they should get a little money so they can return to society without a need for crime. There should also be a program that monitors these people and if they become a positive influence in the community their record should be removed except for situations where it applies. (You don't want to give a person who has deceived others a job in a bank). This policy should apply to all prisons including federal prisons where those who have committed big crimes live. Seems like the rich and powerful don't have the same quality housing as the regular guy under current policies. The ones who make the laws don't want to have it hard if they get caught doing something deceitful.

I remember when prisoners worked on the prison farm and also made license plates. Big business got rid of this practice because they saw opportunity for other businesses to form who are then supportive of their big brother who gave them the opportunity. I can't see what kind of punishment that is when you don't have to get a job and get free room and board. For some people it is better than from where they came. I had to work to make a living, why shouldn't they.

Our prison system creates many jobs. Can't we find a better way to create jobs? What about factories?

Yeah, I see it coming. That's why I'm glad I'm on the winning side. I'll be on the outside of those bars.

In all seriousness, all I see is fear mongering. While it's rather effed up to want to fill the jails for reasons A, B, and C, I can see where it would be helpful. Do you know how many criminals that commit a crime that could easily land them in jail, but instead they're let go because what they did wasn't worth doing all that paper work over? Quite a lot more than you would expect. Shocked the hell out of me when I first found out. Made me question, once again, the justice system. But, thinking about it now, with this wanted increase, these minor offenders that could be sent to jail, probably will. Is that bad? No. Not bad at all. You commit the crime and get caught, you're going to pay for it. Simple enough.

Comparing US population to China's is erroneous at best.

Many of the offences that inmates are in prison for in the USA (such as drug offences) carry an automatic death sentence in China, no imprisonment required.

In USA death penalty cases last 20 years or more, in China, it's less than a week.

Does Chinese prison population figures include those who are in hard labor camps, or just in prisons? I bet if you include those in labor and political reeducation camps the Chinese numbers would be far greater.

It costs America billions of dollars a year to keep the Federal prison system.

You realize that if it went private, with Federal oversight, it would free up those billions of dollars, with which would help the government help more people, don't you?