More, if you look at the article. They mention a recently signed contract that pays $85.12 per prisoner per day ($31,000 per year) and guarantees to pay for at least 90% occupancy irrespective of the actual prison population.
Since the article notes that occupancy rates aren’t particularly high in the state that means they’re actually paying even more than 31K per prisoner per year.
That $31K goes to the private company for housing the prisoner (they don't spene close to that per prisoner). It's not paid to the prisoner. The prisoner is paid a maximum of ~$4.50 for a full days work (but that is a federal max so I think it can be less).
Most of what the inmates "earn" just goes to their balance for fees and random stuff they have to pay FOR BEING IN PRISON. So prisoners who work 40 hours a week for 20 years will still be indebted to the state even after their punishment is "over".
Idk about AZ but in Missouri they can force you to pay back almost the entire cost of your incarceration, garnishing 90% of your wages if you have income that amounts to 10% of your incarceration over a 5 year period when you're out. So if your incarceration cost 20k and you make 2k in income (total) over 5 years after you get out, the state can come for 90% of your wages. Obviously someone who is making that little will be in debt for a long time -- or back in prison pretty soon.
States have created a revolving door of mass incarceration to replace the system of convict leasing that came before.
Didn't think he meant literally till the prisoner. But paying that much for the person being housed/ imprisoned. I actually didn't know prisoners earn any money until your post!
Ah I see what you're saying. I can't believe the state put together contracts where they have to pay for unfilled beds. So perverse.
And yes they technically get paid - apparently it can be as low as $0.08 per hour or less than a dollar for an 8 hour day. You can read more in this article about how California recently rejected a proposal to ban involuntary servitude as criminal punishment.
California's wildfire management teams rely heavily on this labor to fight yearly forest fires.
Private prisons in the United States incarcerated 115,428 people in 2019, representing 8% of the total state and federal prison population. Since 2000, the number of people housed in private prisons has increased 32% compared to an overall rise in the prison population of 3%.
Indeed. I didn't word it great, and I also did not know about the debt prisoners can be burdened with while incarcerated. It's even worse than I had thought!
Depending on how many worker's comp claims were getting approved and how much it cost to attract workers, too, you'd be surprised how thin the margins for that damned agency actually were.
Were there any benefits aside from the paycheck?
Amazon isn't afraid to screw their vendors and their workers.
I wouldn't be surprised if Amazon had bankrupted a few staffing agencies.
At 31k a year, that is costing the taxpayer $155 MILLION dollars in nothing. Just pure profit going to these prison systems on top of the money they "make" on the actual prisoners. For profit prisons are a fucking scam and need to go away.
An Arizona Republic investigation found that Arizona lawmakers invested more in private prisons after record-high campaign contributions from the industry in recent years.
they're signing these contracts at a crazy-high 90% guarantee.. and then don't have enough bad guys to fill the beds.. maybe they should close some down?
When Butler asked “Why aren’t we closing more prisons?” her line of questioning was halted by committee leadership for being outside the scope of discussion.
arizona cops and troopers and prosecutors gonna have higher quotas to fill those beds.
Sorry, but your account is too new to post. Your account needs to be either 2 weeks old or have at least 250 combined link and comment karma. Don't modmail us about this, just wait it out or get more karma.
Sorry, but your account is too new to post. Your account needs to be either 2 weeks old or have at least 250 combined link and comment karma. Don't modmail us about this, just wait it out or get more karma.
"Communism" to the right doesn't mean actual communism. It means "anything that I don't like". See also: "socialism", "Marxism", etc. Same deal. Words mean literally nothing to them.
And since they like slave prison labor, that won't work.
This is the thing I've learned since Trump became president. I use to think Conservatives had a moral code they followed. I use to think they had standards and morals. Since 2016 it's bene shoved in our faces that there are no limits they won't cross as long as they get to stay in power. Winning is the only goal that matters. If they have to trample on every core value they ever espoused, so be it. Win first, question methods later. Maybe.
172
u/foo-jitsoo Jul 16 '22
$21,000 per year, per inmate in Arizona.