- https://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2015/07/c...
- https://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-w-whitehead/prison-priva...
- https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1998/12/the-pri...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/28/...
According to the ACLU 7% of state prisoners and 18% of federal prisoners are in for-profit prisons[1]. Federal prisoners make up less than 20% of the total prisoners. So a minority of a minority are prisoners of the federal "prison-industrial complex".
I of course also hear the rebuttal that public prisons are supplied by private companies. Which is of course true. The government does not grow food or produce security cameras. Perhaps we'll accuse Georgia Pacific of being a beneficiary of the "collegiate-industrial complex" as well as the "prison-industrial complex" because they supply paper products.
I believe our prisons are broken. I believe our prisons are cruel and immoral. But I do not believe there is a vast conspiracy of private interests locking people away for the sake of profit. Nor do I believe that those interests influence our politicians in any meaningful way.
Ask yourself, is it likely that our politicians are completely beholden to an industry that makes up a fraction of a fraction of a percent of our economy? Or is it much more likely that our representatives believe private prisons could, should, or do work?
1. https://www.aclu.org/issues/mass-incarceration/privatization...
> "In 1994, it was a major force behind the passage of Proposition 184, California’s “Three Strikes” initiative. In the same election cycle, it spent a record amount on former Gov. Pete Wilson’s successful reelection campaign…"
Since 2011 it seems to have reduced its spending on elections. However, this article [2] says that in the 2016 election they upped their spending again, and suggests that they had been splitting "members’ contributions among a half-dozen or more PACS" to somewhat obscure their advocacy.
[1] http://capitolweekly.net/ccpoa-transition-powerful-low-profi...
[2] http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-wor...
If and when they donate to candidates for harsher sentences, then yes, they are.
Most businesses and people that work for said businesses tend to vote in a matter that leads to their continued employment.
>Ask yourself, is it likely that our politicians are completely beholden to an industry that makes up a fraction of a fraction of a percent of our economy?
Absolutely. You're thinking of the wrong economy. The economy that matters the most to a politician is the one that gives the most donations during the election.
