Does anyone actually think that putting a publicly-traded, for-profit company (for which the only metrics for success are GROWTH and PROFIT) in charge of keeping human beings locked in cages?
Aren’t there just some things that should always be done by the government? We aren’t talking about trash collection. When you create a huge profit incentive to increase the number of inmates, what do you think will be the long-term result?
The Wackenhut name should be very familiar to anyone who regularly reads the news. Here in Texas the state terminated a contract to run a prison pending the expected criminal indictment of Wackenhut staff for sexually abusing inmates.
We got to see the “profit motive” in full effect in Pennsylvania… two judges were shown to have taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in return for basically sending every kid that sat in his court to lengthy rehabilitation stays in private prison facilities.
America is supposed to be the land of the free. Why then do we have, by a large margin, the highest incarceration rate of the modern world? It is precisely because we introduced the profit motive.
Please join me in voicing your opinion against the continued expansion of private prisons in America. Granting immunity to private workers such as CCA or Wackenhut prison guards is insane.
The more you read about the way our criminal justice system functions the more you may want to tamp your enthusiasm for locking other people in cages. There are plenty of valid reasons for someone to be in prison but the raw efficiency with which our criminal justice system chews up and never spits out those without means is frightening. Unless a person has the disposable income needed to hire a skilled lawyer the deck will be terrifyingly stacked against them.
Why do you think so many people plead guilty to crimes they did not commit (besides terrible legal representation)? Because they know, and it was made abundantly clear to them, that if they try to fight the DA’s office and lose the reprocussions will probably be catastrophic. Federal prosecutors have over a 95% conviction rate… if you were truly innocent how would you feel playing against those odds with the highest of stakes? You’d probably plead guilty too.
Does anyone actually think that putting a publicly-traded, for-profit company (for which the only metrics for success are GROWTH and PROFIT) in charge of keeping human beings locked in cages?
Aren’t there just some things that should always be done by the government? We aren’t talking about trash collection. When you create a huge profit incentive to increase the number of inmates, what do you think will be the long-term result?
The Wackenhut name should be very familiar to anyone who regularly reads the news. Here in Texas the state terminated a contract to run a prison pending the expected criminal indictment of Wackenhut staff for sexually abusing inmates.
We got to see the “profit motive” in full effect in Pennsylvania… two judges were shown to have taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in return for basically sending every kid that sat in his court to lengthy rehabilitation stays in private prison facilities.
America is supposed to be the land of the free. Why then do we have, by a large margin, the highest incarceration rate of the modern world? It is precisely because we introduced the profit motive.
Please join me in voicing your opinion against the continued expansion of private prisons in America. Granting immunity to private workers such as CCA or Wackenhut prison guards is insane.
Why would defense lawyers worry about a decision that could earn them so much more money?
If you go to prison, you shouldn’t have any rights! You forfeited them. Case closed……NEXT!!!!
The more you read about the way our criminal justice system functions the more you may want to tamp your enthusiasm for locking other people in cages. There are plenty of valid reasons for someone to be in prison but the raw efficiency with which our criminal justice system chews up and never spits out those without means is frightening. Unless a person has the disposable income needed to hire a skilled lawyer the deck will be terrifyingly stacked against them.
Why do you think so many people plead guilty to crimes they did not commit (besides terrible legal representation)? Because they know, and it was made abundantly clear to them, that if they try to fight the DA’s office and lose the reprocussions will probably be catastrophic. Federal prosecutors have over a 95% conviction rate… if you were truly innocent how would you feel playing against those odds with the highest of stakes? You’d probably plead guilty too.
Matt, how much time did you get.
Ha! Fortunately I have never had the displeasure. If you want a good read check out the story of medical examiner Dr. Steven Hayne in Mississippi.