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Partially privatized. According to a 2012 source [1], there are 1.6 million prisoners in the US and roughly 8% of them are in privately-owned prisons. That numb
by allencoin 11y ago
Partially privatized. According to a 2012 source [1], there are 1.6 million prisoners in the US and roughly 8% of them are in privately-owned prisons. That number, however, unfortunately keeps growing.
[1] http://www.propublica.org/article/by-the-numbers-the-u.s.s-growing-for-profit-detention-industry http://www.propublica.org/article/by-the-numbers-the-u.s.s-g...
- jordigh 11y agoHuh, I was under the impression that most prisoners in the US were in privatised prisons. If that is not the case, then this does not seem to explain either the prison boom.
- Shivetya 11y agoPrison boom is easy to explain. Politicians like to be seen doing something. Punishing bad people is easy. Building prisons is the cost but politicians don't pay this cost and people don't understand the financial cost of the prisons nor the cost it inflicts on those imprisoned and their families. Politicians also like to control people. You do this through laws and regulations. Combined with punitive measures you coerce people into thinking and behaving as you need them. Those who don't or are less desirable; poor who don't fund campaigns and such; are easy targets. Politicians also want to put groups against each other, distracting both sides from all the other activities that the politician may be engaged in. TL;DR Politicians crave power and money, it is simple to "protect" the people by making it easier to put people in jail claiming a problem solved.
- jordigh 11y agoBut the politicians aren't the ones doing the sentencing. They just write the laws. The Slate article suggests that it's the judges who are handing out increasingly Draconian sentencing. Why are judges doing that?
- phire 11y agoJudges and prosecutors are elected too (it varies from state to state) so technically they are politicians too.
- jordigh 11y agoAren't they frequently appointed or they run unopposed?
- phire 11y agoIt varies from state to state (perhaps even county to county) In some places they are appointed, in others they are elected. When they are elected, even if they run unopposed they still tend to act tough on crime. If a judge or prosecutor started acting weak, the could very quickly find themselves opposed in the next election.
- adrusi 11y agoThey're "supposed to" be appointed. This is the way it used to be and the way it constitutionally has to be at the federal level. But I think more than half of states have elected judges. True, they often run unopposed, but that doesn't free then from political pressure; if they make an unpopular decision, any lawyer could opt to run against them by simply campaigning as not the other judge. They would usually win and get a fantastic résumé boost.
- Amezarak 11y ago> if they make an unpopular decision, any lawyer could opt to run against them by simply campaigning as not the other judge In many localities there is no requirement that a judge have any prior legal training or experience. So anyone, not just any lawyer.
- admiun 11y agoIf you're interested in this, John Oliver did a piece on elected judges: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poL7l-Uk3I8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poL7l-Uk3I8
- baddox 11y agoAll those things are true in other democratic countries as well, but most of them don't have anywhere near the incarceration of the United States.
- happyscrappy 11y agoThe US is by far the most violent western nation.
- pm90 11y agoAlso by far the most populous. You have to think about this in the context of history. The US has largely been diverse throughout most of its history. Most developed countries are largely dominated by one race.
- ta0967 11y agoi don't understand this argument, can you elaborate? it looks like you're suggesting that usa is a nexus of interracial violence and other race-motivated crimes.
- bzbarsky 11y agoExcept for homicide, this is not true nowadays. See http://economicpolicy.oxfordjournals.org/content/26/67/347.abstract http://economicpolicy.oxfordjournals.org/content/26/67/347.a... for a recent study on the subject, which notes your opinion as a "common perception" that does not match the actual data.
- happyscrappy 11y agoThe private prison meme is far larger than the actual number, which is eight percent. Elsewhere in this people are asking how much of US manufacturing is from prison labor, I doubt it is large enough to accurately measure.
- spacemanmatt 11y agoJust how large is the meme, in units that can be reasonably compared to the percent of prisoners in privately-owned prisons?
- happyscrappy 11y agoSomeone would have to do a survey but I would guess that 90% of Europeans buy into it. Of course they also believe that they will be carjacked if they come to the US so I don't think their opinions are useful.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- happyscrappy 11y agoDon't impugn the ACLU with your lack of understanding of how percentages work. Edit: LesZedCB just deleted his comment where he adds two different percentage groups from the ACLU site.
- rayiner 11y agoNot only that, but the private prison population was very small in the 1980's and early 1990's when the vast majority of the prison boom happened. Private prisons are mostly a late-90's and 2000's reaction to the desire of states to save money housing their huge prison populations.
- Lawtonfogle 11y agoWhat percentage is publicly owned but largely privately ran?