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PROFITS FROM INCARCERATION
Section Objective
This section discusses how the State generates and encourages profits from incarceration. It also explores how prison guard unions benefit by securing a "tough on crime" Agenda.
Chapter
Outline
Download entire "Profits from Incarceration" chapter
of Defending Justice (PDF, 429KB)
Summary
Over the past twenty years an idea has grown that entrepreneurs can-and
should-make money from prisons. Several factors have contributed to this
expectation. First is the idea that State services could be privatized, which in
theory could decrease government size, save money and provide those services
more efficiently. While the prison system has traditionally been a State industry,
conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation have suggested that
even prisons could benefit from privatization. Also, changes in federal drug
laws and increased convictions with mandatory sentences helped contribute
to overcrowded prisons, and a lagging economy decreased revenues available
for new prison building. Finally, a handful of specialized corporations, including
Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and GEO Group (formerly
Wackenhut), have developed a private prison industry that has cornered a
small but visible portion of the prison "market;" about 7% of all prisoners
are in private prisons in the United States.
Pages 215-226 of Defending Justice, edited by Palak Shah
- Role of the State: Creating the Market
- Role of the Right: California Correctional Peace Officers Association
- Organizing Advice: Opposing Private Prison Construction, a Q&A with Citizens Education Project
- Additional Resources
Defending Justice is a publication of Political Research Associates (PRA), an independent nonprofit research center that exposes the Right and larger oppressive movements and institutions. PRA produces research and analytic tools to inform and support progressive activism. Copyright © 2005 Political Research
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