Private prisons suing states for millions if they don’t stay full

[Stan.Dupp]

The prison-industrial complex is so out of control that private prisons have the sheer audacity to order states to keep beds full or face their wrath with stiff financial penalties, according to reports. Private prisons in some states have language in their contracts that state if they fall below a certain percentage of capacity that the states must pay the private prisons millions of dollars, lest they face a lawsuit for millions more.

And guess what? The private prisons, which are holding cash-starved states hostage, are getting away with it, says advocacy group, In the Public Interest.

In the Public Interest has reviewed more than 60 contracts between private prison companies and state and local governments across the country, and found language mentioning “quotas” for prisoners in nearly two-thirds of those contracts reviewed. Those quotas can range from a mandatory occupancy of, for example, 70 percent occupancy in California to up to 100 percent in some prisons in Arizona.

It is very interesting and telling that so few major national news organization are willing to report on the monstrous, ravenous and criminal system that is devouring hundreds of thousands of black and brown boys. Even those who do not subscribe to conspiracy theories have looked askance at this shocking report.

Welcome to the greatest manifestation of modern-day slavery, ladies and gentlemen.

One of those private prisons, The Corrections Corporation of America, made an offer last year to the governors of 48 states to operate their prisons on 20-year contracts, according to In the Public Interest.

What makes these deals so odious and unscrupulous? Take a look:

1) The offer included a demand that those prisons remain 90 percent full for the duration of the operating agreement. You know what that means: if there are not enough prisoners then there will be an unspoken push for police to arrest more people and to have the courts send more to prison for petty, frivolous and nonviolent crimes. There will also be a “nudge” for judges to hand down longer or maximum sentences to satisfy this “quota.”

2) Private prison companies have also backed measures such as “three-strike” laws to maintain high prison occupancy.

3) When the crime rate drops so low that the occupancy requirements can’t be met, taxpayers are left footing the bill for unused facilities.

The report found that 41 of 62 contracts reviewed contained occupancy requirements, with the highest occupancy rates found in Arizona, Oklahoma and Virginia.

In Colorado, Democratic Gov. John Hinklooper agreed to close down five state-run prisons and instead send inmates to CCA’s three corrections facilities. That cost taxpayers at least $2 million to maintain the unused facilities.

It is getting more difficult to rationalize the societal cost of keeping prisons full just to satisfy private investors who treat prisoners as commodity and cattle .

Link to News Article

[gnadfly]

Looks like someone should have read the contract before they inked it.

I've got as much sympathy for these idiots as I do for the idiots who promised a decade of sellouts for NFL franchise to move to their city, spent half a billion dollars on the stadium and now are pleading poverty or that their schools are in disrepair.

[Guest123018-4]

So did the governments fall through on their promises that they could make sure there were more than enough criminals to keep them profitable? Looks like they need to institute the trace is a case standards with more mandatory sentencing.

Guaranteeing prison population and budgets based on fines is not what government should do.

[Sidewinder]

The flip side is this: When states build prisons, they sign up for the cost of ownership and operation, regardless of how full or empty those prisons may be.

The construction bonds have to be paid. The electric bills have to be paid, even if Ol' Sparky isn't on the payroll any more. The guards have to be paid.

[I B Hankering]

Originally Posted by The2Dogs

Guaranteeing prison population and budgets based on fines is not what government should do.

+1

[Yssup Rider]

Lets see...

Taxes bad. Privatizing institutions good.

Government bad. Private industry good.

Criminals bad. Prisons good.

WTF Do you bitches want?

I've seen these private prisons fill up with overflow transfers from other counties, states and federal prisons. That's how small counties in rural Texas get a modern facility without having to build, staff and manage it themselves. Creates jobs, keeps taxes down, allegedly.

It's EXACTLY the kind of model you crusty fucks have been whining for for years.

[Guest123018-4]

I have never ever been in favor of private prisons. This is one area that for profit businesses should not exist. If the people decide that the crimes are sufficient to incarcerate a person it should be the responsibility of the people as in government to do it.

If prisons are overbuilt then mothball them. The goal of a society should be to never have to incarcerate anybody. It is unfortunate that there are those that violate the rules of our society and even more unfortunate that we have created rules that should not have been created most often to further a political career or expand a branch of the government.

[I B Hankering]

Originally Posted by The2Dogs

I have never ever been in favor of private prisons. This is one area that for profit businesses should not exist. If the people decide that the crimes are sufficient to incarcerate a person it should be the responsibility of the people as in government to do it.

If prisons are overbuilt then mothball them. The goal of a society should be to never have to incarcerate anybody. It is unfortunate that there are those that violate the rules of our society and even more unfortunate that we have created rules that should not have been created most often to further a political career or expand a branch of the government.

Gotta agree, 2Dogs, and said as much before: http://eccie.net/showpost.php?p=1232747&postcount=14

History has shown "for profit" prison systems to be notoriously prone to corrupting influences.

[gnadfly]

I wonder if anyone wrote an "out" clause if the state decided to decriminalize certain crimes such as "possession" that currently make up a significant portion of the prison population.

Nah, they are state bureaucrats and just aren't that smart.

[WTF]

If we criminalize ignorance, half you fuckers would be locked up.

[gnadfly]

if we criminalized wit, you'd never be convicted.

However you are serving a lifetime sentence of moronic buffoonery.

[Guest123018-4]

Ignorance is the lack of knowledge.
Stupidity is having knowledge but not understanding it.

[i'va biggen]

So you are saying the government does a better job running prisons than a private company?

[WTF]

Originally Posted by i'va biggen

So you are saying the government does a better job running prisons than a private company?

He has the knowledge of the situation but no understanding of it! In other words he doesn't know wtf he is saying.

Originally Posted by The2Dogs

Ignorance is the lack of knowledge.
Stupidity is having knowledge but not understanding it.