Liberal Democrat

Liberal Democrat
Individual Freedom For Everyone

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

The Young Turks: Ana Kasparian & Michael Shure: 'Scary: Private Prison Presentation For Investors'


Source:The Young Turks- with a piece about CCA.

"Corrections Corp of America (CCA), a huge private prison business, has a presentation for investors that just might creep you out. How much money is made by locking people up? Ana Kasparian and guest host Michael Shure discuss the prison industrial complex, the failed drug war, and the incentive to push for profits over a safer society." 


"It was from Barclays' analyst Manav Patnaik, and it was on the private prisons business.

Specifically, it was a "virtual tour" of the Metro Davidson County Detention Facility, which is managed by Corrections Corp of America (CXW) one of two companies that that has a "duopoly" on the private prisons business.

As he notes, tours of facilities are often useful for investors, but a prison tour is unusual, since investors aren't typically inclined to do wander into a prison.

So he did it for them and described the experience." 


I said this many times this year already, but apparently it needs to be said again: one of the core functions of government, at any level, is law enforcement. One of the core functions of state and the Federal Government, is also criminal justice. They're supposed to house and hopefully rehabilitate our criminals, especially our repeat offenders, longtime felons, and violent criminals. 

Private, for-profit, corporations (which is what the Corrections Corporation of America is) is in the business to make as much money as they can. Which is great, in a free, capitalist, society, like America. But not at the expense of taxpayers and our convicted felons.  

You want to save money on criminal justice in America: 

Stop locking people for simple drug obsession and for being addicts. 

Stop sending mentally handicapped people to prison.

Put our prison inmates to work in prison, so they can learn the skills that they need to do well on the outside legally, but also so they can pay for their room and board while in prison.

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