Further: who ever thought it was a good idea to do anything with stockholders but put them in a blender and hit “puree”?
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I know you’re being sardonic, but I couldn’t resist posting this:
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As of 2014 federal prisoners in private facilities numbered 30,500, and state/local prisoners in private facilities numbered 91,200. So it’s only a fraction, though a sizable one.
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Republicans. [duh]
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Sodexo?
About 30k in private prisons, 195k in the federal system overall.
Ah, just saw @abnercadaver already answered your question.
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A ray of sunshine!
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The stockholders, duh.
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If these privately run prisons were substandard, doesn’t that at least partially mean that the agencies hiring them were just not writing good contracts and properly overseeing them? At least theoretically, there was the stick of firing the operator if they weren’t operating to the standards agreed upon. I think this is as much an indictment of the federal prison system itself as of the concept of private prisons.
That said, over-incarceration leading to over-crowding is the real issue here. That 13% of the federal population is still going to have to go somewhere. Many of them should probably be sent home.
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There was a wonderful quote from The Lost Fleet series; the politician is advising the fleet captain that the stereotypical impression of the government as being thousands of hands directed by a single mind is completely inaccurate, and that he should think of it inverted–a single, clumsy hand, directed by the combined thoughts of thousands of minds acting in opposition.
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yes. that’s the plan. set up oversight by law, remove all funding, delegate all decisions to committee, then complain about ineffective government. profit.
the sec is a great example. the fec is a pretty good one too.
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Thing is, Federal prisons are much better than state prisons as well. I’ve been told on numerous occasions by people working in the federal system that they take pride in their job, because they teach inmates skills that are both legal and useful outside of prison. Private prisons can’t do anything but fuck people up. It’s a symptom of American crab-thinking to decide that prisons will do nothing but ruin the good in people.
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If you saw this later, why not ask @Mindysan33? She’s an historian after all. She must have an ability to put it all in perspective to get this far. I’d trust her explanation.
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As out-sourcing of public tasks is often justified with “better cheaper faster” but the private investor demands profits I would argue that the loopholes in contracts and supervision are by design.
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Don’t worry. The companies will sue claiming that ‘The prisoners will suffer without us!!’ and it will drag on and on for years
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so true and sad at the same time.
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I think this was not posted already?
The prison story cost Mother Jones about $350k, banner view generated about $5k.
The funding for journalism is broken. We need a better model.
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Something that needs to be addressed at the legislative level is public records fees and sunshine laws. We should be subsidizing these as the cost of a responsible and accountable democracy. There shouldnt be fees, or they should be minimal. Right now, they’re designed to deter reporting and citizen inquiry.
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The Federal Government = Twitch Plays Pokemon
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