World's Prison Capital is Also #1 in For-Profit Prisons

Joe Wright

Activist Post



The world's prison capital is not the United States, per capita,
although it leads the world for its overall prison population. One state
far outdoes America itself and incarcerates nearly double the national
average.

First among Americans means first in the world. Louisiana's
incarceration rate is nearly triple Iran's, seven times China's and 10
times Germany's. (Source)

The U.S. prison business has become the essence of predatory corporatism: it privatizes profits and socializes losses.
This combination has led to a situation where correctional facilities
have very little incentive to correct the behavior of those who reside
within their walls, but every incentive to ensure that new bodies arrive
as fast as possible, and keep them in a state of indentured servitude.



Naturally, this is exactly what is happening in Louisiana, as the vast majority of inmates are not housed in state-run prisons, but in those owned by private corporations. The social fallout has been profound.



Corrections Corporation of America has led the charge
toward creating a sound business model for those who would profit from
crime and punishment since it won the first private prison contract from
Tennessee in 1984. CCA has expanded nicely, recently submitting letters
to 48 states with an offer to buy their prisons: "In exchange ... for a
20-year management contract, plus an assurance that the prison would
remain at least 90 percent full." (Source)



America already holds 25% of the world's prison population, with the
number of these prisoners held in private prisons rising dramatically
over the past 10 years from 2,000 housed in 5 private prisons, to more
than 60,000 housed in 100. It is a number expected to rise to 360,000
prisoners over the next decade. (Source) Moreover, as the economy declines, there has even been a revival in debtors prisons, formally abolished in the early 1800s. Perhaps more troubling is the heightened criminalization of children for behavior which previously was considered merely a nuisance, not something worthy of handcuffs and the big house.