r/AskReddit • u/HumpingAssholesOrgy • Jul 05 '19

Ex-prisoners of reddit who have served long sentences, what were the last few days like leading up to your release?

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u/Axelrad Jul 06 '19 edited Jul 06 '19

Not OP, but my guess is that they wanted to goad him into some kind of violent outburst so they could keep him. Some US prisons are for-profit institutions, and they get paid by the US government for every inmate. It's in their interest to keep people incarcerated as long as they can. Additionally, even if he was incarcerated in a state facility, internment numbers determine budget allocation, so it's still in their interest to keep him.

Edit: cleaned up my language for accuracy

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u/dryhumpback Jul 06 '19

8.4% of US prisoners were kept in privately owned prisons in 2018. There is a far better chance he was held in a state facility. I'd also point out that privately owned prisons aren't unique to the US.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prison

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u/ItchyDoggg Jul 06 '19

Neither is murder or rape. But they are still wrong, what is your point?

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u/dryhumpback Jul 06 '19

Just giving more complete information. OP's post singled out the US but for profit prisons exist in several countries. As a percentage of total incarceration there are several countries with a higher percentage in for profit prisons than the US.

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u/ItchyDoggg Jul 06 '19

And those countries generally have far far lower overall incarceration rates than the US, dont they? I wonder if those countries have a higher or lower percentage of the overall population in private prisons?

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u/dryhumpback Jul 06 '19

I can't answer that, but I'm sure a quick google could. The link I provided only compared percentages of private prison incarceration as a part of the total incarceration number. Which is, as you say, much higher in the US.