61 replies to this topic

[madmax]

I am wondering if the Conservatives are going to turn tail on the Private Prisons and Contracting out of the gravy services.



CSC officials last May urged Public Safety Minister Vic Toews to discuss Canada’s “interest in considering the privatization of penitentiary services on a limited basis,” according to a memo Bloomberg obtained under a freedom of information request.

The Guardian reports that among the companies lobbying Ottawa for a piece of the prison action is Geo Group, a Florida-based corporation whose lobbyist met with Toews last year.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/07/13/prison-privatization-canada_n_1670755.html

"The company is the target of a class-action lawsuit alleging that one of its youth facilities in Louisiana was plagued by sexual abuse. The suit alleges that guards engaged in sex with inmates -- who at that facility range in age from 13 to 22 -- and smuggled drugs into the prison. The facility allegedly denied health care and education services to inmates as well. A federal judge described the Geo Group prison as "a cesspool of unconstitutional and inhuman acts." "

[cybercoma]

Of course. That's the only way the Tory crime policies make any sense whatsoever. They're certainly not to make the streets safer. They're to make our prisons profitable.

[Manny]

Of course. That's the only way the Tory crime policies make any sense whatsoever. They're certainly not to make the streets safer. They're to make our prisons profitable.

Yes that is indeed a concern and i read an article recently on stock market investment in private prison corporations. The value of stock is tied to, among other things, the number of prisoners held in the system.

[TwoDucks]

Yes that is indeed a concern and i read an article recently on stock market investment in private prison corporations. The value of stock is tied to, among other things, the number of prisoners held in the system.

That is kinda disturbing. Not surprising, though.

[cybercoma]

And just think, if the crime rate goes up, people are making money. So why would you want the crime rate to be reduced if your financiers are getting wealthy off it?

[Manny]

Since crime is apparently going down, that's a bit of a problem. So what you do is bring in mandatory minimum sentences, even for non-violent crimes. Yes, it all makes perfect sense, to a corporatist.

[Wilber]

Of course. That's the only way the Tory crime policies make any sense whatsoever. They're certainly not to make the streets safer. They're to make our prisons profitable.

I'm not in favour of privatized prisons but how does one make prisons profitable?

[cybercoma]

I'm not in favour of privatized prisons but how does one make prisons profitable?

By putting more people into prison with laws that have proven to be an utter failure in other jurisdictions and are largely criticized by lawyers, judges, and criminologists everywhere.

Does it not seem funny to people that we need to constantly tweak and revamp laws for a few pot plants or petty crimes like stealing chump change out of registers at corner stores, but you rarely hear about any serious attempts to change laws that have to do with corporate crime or white collar crime?

One of the reasons is that the vultures go after the weak. Those without the money or ability to defend themselves.

Another is that as long as the power brokers can keep people looking down the ladder, instead of up the ladder where the greatest impact of crime is, they can keep the heat off themselves.

What has a greater impact on society? The guy who steals a few hundred bucks from a gas station at knife point or the white collar criminal that embezzles millions and ruins people's investments and retirement funds? Or how about the guy who gets on a bus and shoots 3 people versus the company running an oil rig that knowingly pencil whips safety reports resulting in an explosion that kills 11 workers and dumps thousands of gallons of oil into the waterways?

As a society, we tend to be focused on the first examples in the dyads, considering them worse and more worthy of millions in resources to fight than the latter examples. However, it is those latter examples that create the greatest impact on society.

In any case, the laws passed most recently focus on the petty crimes of the underclass. They seem to have the aim of filling up prisons, rather than preventing crime and combating recidivism. If stock prices go up when the prisons are fuller, then creating the conditions for those prisons to fill up also creates the conditions for those investors to make money. If those investors happen to be the financiers of your political party, all the better.

Edited by cybercoma, 15 July 2012 - 10:38 PM.

[Wilber]

By putting more people into prison with laws that have proven to be an utter failure in other jurisdictions and are largely criticized by lawyers, judges, and criminologists everywhere.

Does it not seem funny to people that we need to constantly tweak and revamp laws for a few pot plants or petty crimes like stealing chump change out of registers at corner stores, but you rarely hear about any serious attempts to change laws that have to do with corporate crime or white collar crime?

One of the reasons is that the vultures go after the weak. Those without the money or ability to defend themselves.

Another is that as long as the power brokers can keep people looking down the ladder, instead of up the ladder where the greatest impact of crime is, they can keep the heat off themselves.

Nice rant but it doesn't answer the question.

[Shakeyhands]

Nice rant but it doesn't answer the question.

It doesn't make "us" any money, it makes the investors money via sweetheart deals with the gov't. By filling up prisons with people they charge 'x' dollars per inmate while only spending 'y' on the housing of said prisoners.

[bleeding heart]

I'm not in favour of privatized prisons but how does one make prisons profitable?

Our taxes...they just need to make sure the quality of the incarceration is cheaper than the money they're bringing in. It's a cold business, but a practical one (from a profit perspective.)

And, in some cases, slave or near-slave labour. That's profitable as well.

Edited by bleeding heart, 16 July 2012 - 10:36 AM.

[punked]

Our taxes...they just need to make sure the quality of the incarceration is cheaper than the money they're bringing in. It's a cold business, but a practical one.

And, in some cases, slave or near-slave labour. That's profitable as well.

This is how southern states who are getting tough on illegal aliens are making their farms work now. Pay prisons for slave labour, make huge profits, funnel money into lobbyist to push a "tough on crime agenda" fill your prisons up more to offer more slave labour. Scary thought.

[Wilber]

Our taxes...they just need to make sure the quality of the incarceration is cheaper than the money they're bringing in. It's a cold business, but a practical one.

And, in some cases, slave or near-slave labour. That's profitable as well.

Private prisons might save some money for the tax payer. My concern would be oversight, something this government doesn't seem big on.

What kind of slave labour? Do you really think private prisons will be able to hire out inmates or force them to work in salt mines? This is not NAZI Germany or the Gulag.

[punked]

Private prisons might save some money for the tax payer. My concern would be oversight, something this government doesn't seem big on.

What kind of slave labour? Do you really think private prisons will be able to hire out inmates or force them to work in salt mines? This is not NAZI Germany or the Gulag.

Yep and if we pretend that isn't already going on south of the boarder you might have an argument. We aren't that different from our Southern cousins in the Old USA of A.

http://www.krcrtv.com/living/Vidalia-farmers-turn-to-prisoners-for-harvest-help/-/14286362/15453324/-/29xmoh/-/index.html

Oh you didn't want an example of this happening today in a democracy so close to us. Well this is what happens when you go down that slippery slope.

Edited by punked, 16 July 2012 - 06:41 AM.

[GostHacked]

Private prisons will be run at a profit, correct? More inmates better revenue?